Transcript 30-4 Satellites of other Planets

The Outer Planets
Also called the Jovian planets or
gas giants.
Similarities
Mainly composed of gas
Somewhere at the center is a core of liquid
metals.
The outer planets all have numerous moons &
rings
All of the outer planets’ atmospheres contain
hydrogen and helium
All the planets except Mercury &
Venus have moons
Mars’ 2 Moons
• Phobos
Deimos
Galilean Moons
of Jupiter
• Seen by Galileo
with his
telescope.
Jupiter
• Mass = 300x Earth’s mass.
• Jupiter has the most moons – 63+
• Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in
the sky
• Has a very stormy atmosphere.
– One major storm, the Great Red Spot, is as
big as the Earth.
“Io” – the most volcanically active
body in the solar sytstem
• It is being
pulled apart by
Jupiter’s
gravity.
Saturn
• Has distinctive, large rings.
– Although all of the outer planets have rings,
Saturn’s are the most visible ones.
• Has the lowest density of any planet in our
solar system
Uranus
• It is the only planet to rotate on its side
like a bowling ball
– Scientists are unsure why it rotates that way,
Uranus
Neptune
Neptune
• Neptune’s winds are the fastest of any
planets in the Solar System
– Can reach more than 1,200 mph.
• Neptune and Uranus contain ices of water,
ammonia, and methane.
• The methane in Neptune and Uranus is
what gives the planets their blue color.
Pluto
The 3 criteria to be a full-sized
planet are:
1- It is in orbit around the Sun.
2- It has sufficient mass to
assume hydrostatic equilibrium
(a nearly round shape).
3- It has "cleared the
neighborhood" around its orbit.