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SCI1314 Astronomy Professor Kenny L. Tapp Page 1 of 5 Exploration 2: The Planets To complete this assignment, you must type and organize your answers in a document, save it using the following naming structure: lastname_02 , and submit this assignment as a PDF in the Blackboard Assignment folder for Exploration 2. Only a single PDF version will be accepted and graded. GRADING CRITERIA Make sure to complete and combine these parts into a single submission: ¨ Part 1: Touring the Terrestrial Planets. a. (15 pts.) Complete the table of physical characteristics for Mercury, Venus, Mars. b. (10pts.) Answer Q1-Q5. ¨ Part 2: Touring the Jovian Planets. a. (20 pts.) Complete the table of physical characteristics for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. b. (10 pts.) Answer Q6-Q10. ¨ Part 3: Our Solar System. a. (15 pts.) Answer Q1-12. b. (30 pts.) Q13: Sketch a diagram of the planets defined in the instructions. i. (5 pts.) Include arrows that identify rotation of each planet. ii. (5 pts.) Include arrows that identify revolution of each planet. iii. (20 pts.) Planets are labeled and their distances from Sun are drawn to a scale. Total Homework Exploration #2 Points: 100

SCI1314 Astronomy Professor Kenny L. Tapp Page 2 of 5 PART I: Touring the Terrestrial Planets Go to NASA’s “Eyes on the Solar System” website to explore a planet in its current location within our solar system: http://eyes.nasa.gov/ Go to NASA’s “Solar System Exploration” website to explore all NASA Science of our solar system: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov You should spend extra time playing with the website to become familiar with using its features and tools, how to select and fly to objects (planets, asteroids, spacecraft, etc.), and how to find additional information once you are exploring the object (in most cases, it will provide you with an external link that will open up a different NASA webpage in a new browser window). Find the following PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MERCURY, VENUS, MARS : Radius (km) Mass (kg) Orbit Size (mean distance from Sun; miles & AU) Sidereal Day (period of rotation) Solar Day (noon to noon on surface) Length of Year Current Distance from Earth Surface Gravity Orbit Velocity (mph) Orbit Inclination (degrees) Minimum Surface Temperature (°F) Maximum Surface Temperature (°F) # of Moons Q1: While navigating the planet in 3D, what do you notice and how would you describe the landscape and surface of Mercury? Now fly to the Messenger Spacecraft that is in orbit around Mercury. Adjust the “Speed + Rate” to determine how many days that it takes the Messenger spacecraft to complete 1 orbit around Mercury. Q2: Messenger Orbital Period Around Mercury: ______________ days Mercury closely resembles Earth's moon. It is pockmarked with many impact craters of both meteoroids and comets. 12 hrs

SCI1314 Astronomy Professor Kenny L. Tapp Page 3 of 5 Q3: While navigating the planet in 3D, what do you notice and how would you describe the landscape and surface of Venus? Q4: While navigating the planet in 3D, compare and contrast the landscape and surface of Mars to the other Terrestrial planets, including Earth. Q5: Locate the following geographic features of Mars and describe where they can be found on Mars (N, S, E, W): Valles Marineris, Olympus Mons, North Polar Ice Cap, South Polar Ice Cap. PART II: Touring the Jovian Planets Continue using NASA’s “Eyes on the Solar System” website to explore the Jovian planets in their current locations within our solar system & collect the following data: Find the following PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, & NEPTUNE : Radius (km) Mass (kg) Orbit Size (mean distance from Sun; miles & AU) Sidereal Day (period of rotation) Solar Day (noon to noon on surface) Length of Year Current Distance from Earth Surface Gravity Orbit Velocity (mph) Orbit Inclination (degrees) Minimum Surface Temperature (°F) Maximum Surface Temperature (°F) # of Moons Q6: While navigating the planet in 3D, what do you notice and how would you describe the bands and the Great Red Spot of Jupiter? Venus is very hot and dry. It is mostly plains with the exception of several mountains and volcanoes it is covered in old lava flows. Due to it's dense atmosphere acting like a greenhouse Venus keeps a mean temperature of 847%. Like the other terrestrial planets Mars is rocky, with volcanoes, dry lake beds, canyons and craters all over. Unlike the others due to the iron content of Mars most of it's surface is covered in red dust. Valles Marineris: 13.9s, 59.2oW; a system of canyons, over 4,000km long, 200km wide, runs just below the equator Olympus Mons: 18.39°N 226.12°E; a large shield volcano, over 21.9 km high, just of the Northwest edge of the Tharsis bulge. North Polar ice cap. Planum Borerm about 1000 km sross, nearly center a gene Jupiter's light colored bands are zones, where gases, in the atmosphere rise up. The dark bands are called belts. The colors of the bands are caused by difference of temperature and their chemical make up. The Great Red Spot is a high-pressure storm, the biggest in the Solar System, the source of it's red color is still unknown.

SCI1314 Astronomy Professor Kenny L. Tapp Page 4 of 5 Q7: Determine the length of a solar day on Jupiter:_______________ Determine the length of one year on Jupiter: _______________ Q8: Navigate to Jupiter’s Moon Io and find the following characteristics: Percentage of volcanoes covering Io’s surface Number of active volcanoes found by Voyager I Average surface temperature of Io Temperature near active volcanoes Maximum height (elevation) of volcanic eruption plumes Q9: While navigating the planet in 3D, how would you describe the varied structure of Saturn’s rings? What physical characteristics does it share with Jupiter? Q10: Using the information about the solar day of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, how does that impact wind systems and storms on those planets? How would they compare to the storms and wind generated on Earth? 9.93 hours 11.84 years abort 25% more than 150 active volcanoes 9 active volcanoes 392% 1200°C 500km The rings are made up of water-ice, and rocky debris, coated in other materials, such as dust, ranging in size from grains of sand to giant chunks. They are thought to be made up from pieces of destroyed moans that were broken apart before they could make impact with the planet. Jupiter and Saturn both have rings, and are both made up of gases. The fast rotation of Saturn causes strong jet streams that develop into massive long-lasting storms Uranus' extreme axial tilt causes tilted, irregular wind patterns. The planet orientation causes regions to experience extended periods of continuous sunlight or darkness, impacting heat distribution and potentially influencing storm formation Neptune's atmosphere has powerful and persistent storms, the famous Great Dark Spot, similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is a massive storm system. When compared to Earth, the axial tilts and rotation periods, causes more complex, dynamic wind systems and storm patterns, on these gas giants. With Earth's stable climate and weather patterns, influenced by moderate axis tilt, results in seasons and typically consistent weather.