Lab 6

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Purdue University, Northwest *

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263

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Astronomy

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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5

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ASTR 263 Name _______________________________________ Lab Activity 6 : Formation of the Solar System, Earth, Moon 1. Log onto Mastering Astronomy and click on “Study Area”. Click on “Self-guided Tutorials” and “Formation of the Solar System.” Do Lessons 2 and 3 and answer the following: a. Approximately how large are star-forming clouds? Some may be over 1,000 AU across b. Explain why the cloud flattens (becomes disk-like) and all particles orbit in the same direction. The reason it warms up is because potential energy is converted to kinetic energy and heat as the gas falls inward. Although the gas is cold initially, after collapse the inner region can have a temperature of thousands of degrees. In the cloud's initial state, individual gas clumps move in all directions and at various speeds (even though the cloud has a net rotation - meaning that more clumps are moving in one direction than in any other direction). Therefore, gas clumps often collide. c. Which region of the collapsed disk is hottest? About how hot is it? The dense central region of the disk, which is hottest and contains most of the gas, will form the Sun. At this point it is called the protosun (or protostar). d. What is the frost line ? A boundary at about 3.5 AU separates the outer region, where hydrogen compounds can freeze, from the inner region where it is too hot for ices to form. This boundary is called the frost line. e. Where can the following exist in frozen (solid) form? Rocks & metals: _______________ Terrestrial planets ___________________________ Hydrogen compounds: ______________ Jovian planets ____________________________ Hydrogen & helium: _________________ Jovian planets _________________________
ASTR 263 Name _______________________________________ f. Which region contains the largest planetesimals? Why? The region beyond the frost line Since there are more solid flakes in this region (because the relatively abundant ices are present as well as rocks and metals), larger and more massive planetesimals can form. g. Why didn’t the terrestrial planets acquire a thick atmosphere of H and He? The terrestrial planets had too little mass to capture these gases. h. What happened eventually to stop the planets from growing any further? The remaining gas was swept out into interstellar space before the planets had a chance to collect it. This sweeping was done by the solar wind (or stellar wind), which is a stream of charged particles continually ejected by the Sun. i. Explain in your own words why we have two general types of planets (terrestrial and jovian). Temperatures were ideal for the metal and rock to condense on the surface of terrestrial planets which formed close to the Sun. The jovian planets also formed outside what is known as the frost line, which is where the low temperatures were suitable for ice condensation. 2. Below is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a 5 million year old star (that’s young!). a. What aspect(s) of this image supports the solar nebula theory? The Solar Nebula Theory has been supported by the presence of dust and clouds in a young star. b. If you wanted to find out the composition of the material in the disk, what would you do? The composition of the materials in the Nebula Disk can be determined by studying the light spectrum coming from it.
ASTR 263 Name _______________________________________ c. If you wanted to determine if the material is rotating , what effect would you look for? ( Hint : Rotating means part of the disk is moving towards you and part is moving away from you.) If the objects in the Nebula are rotating, then the cluster of gas that's orbiting them should be moving in the same direction as the cloud. 3. The greenhouse effect is often confused with global warming. a. Describe the process of the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases are responsible for heating up the surface of Earth. When the Sun's energy hits the atmosphere, some of it is absorbed and reradiated by the greenhouse gases.
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