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AST 101 Lab 10
Overall Structure of the Solar System
Lab 10
Overall Structure of the Solar System
PURPOSE
This laboratory exercise will allow the student to explore the general characteristics of
objects in the solar system and relate them to a theory of solar system formation.
REFERENCES
●
Exploring the Planets
, Hamblin & Christiansen, 1990
BACKGROUND
How did the solar system form?
When did this happen?
Why are the objects in
the solar system arranged in the particular order we find them in?
While it is indeed difficult to interpret events billions of years in the past from the
evidence available to us today, it can be done.
A combination of careful observations of
present conditions and knowledge of physical principles allows us to reconstruct the
history of the solar system.
Observations of variables such as temperature or mass
density are crucial to our understanding of how the solar system works.
We will use these variables to build a storyline of the solar system’s formation and
evolution.
First we will examine the densities of objects and compare them to the
densities of known materials.
Then we will relate this to the temperature structure of the
solar system.
Finally, we will attempt to draw some basic conclusions about the solar
system and its history.
EQUIPMENT
●
ruler
PROCEDURE
Exercise 1: The Mass Density Profile of the Solar System
It is well established that different objects in the solar system are made from
different materials.
Is this due to random causes, or is there a reason for this?
We will
explore this issue by plotting the density of objects as a function of two different
variables.
Table 10-1 contains density data from selected objects in the solar system.
Using
this table, plot density as a function of distance from the Sun and plot density as a
function of object diameter.
AST 101 Lab 10
Overall Structure of the Solar System
Table 10-1: Density Gradient of the Solar System
Object
Distance from Sun (AU)
Density (g/cc)
Diameter (km)
Mercury
0.387
5.44
4880
Venus
0.723
5.25
12,104
Earth
1.000
5.52
12,756
Moon
1.000
3.34
3476
Mars
1.524
3.93
6787
Jupiter
5.203
1.3
143,800
Io
5.203
3.50
3640
Europa
5.203
3.03
3130
Ganymede
5.203
1.93
5280
Callisto
5.203
1.79
4840
Saturn
9.54
0.69
120,660
Mimas
9.54
1.4
392
Enceladus
9.54
1.2
500
Tethys
9.54
1.2
1060
Titan
9.54
1.88
5150
Comet Halley
18
~0.1
16 by 8
Uranus
19.18
1.28
51,120
Miranda
19.18
1.35
470
Ariel
19.18
1.66
1150
Oberon
19.18
1.58
1520
Neptune
30.07
1.64
49,560
Triton
30.07
2.01
2700
Pluto
39.44
2.06
2284
Charon
39.44
2.06
1192
Exercise #2: The Temperature Profile of the Solar System
The fact that the temperature of objects in the solar system changes with distance
from the Sun is obvious - objects closer to the Sun are hotter and objects further from the
Sun are cooler.
A more difficult question to ask is how the temperature of the original
solar nebula behaved with increasing distance from the protosun.
This is a more
fundamental question, as it addresses why different objects are made of different
materials in the solar system.
Astronomers assume that the composition of the original nebular disk was the
same as that of the present-day Sun.
The Sun consists mostly of hydrogen and helium
gas, but only the jovian planets have similar compositions.
All other objects in the solar
system are much smaller than jovian planets and are generally made up of various
combinations of solid materials.
Why are small objects not made of hydrogen and
helium?
AST 101 Lab 10
Overall Structure of the Solar System
To approach a solution, we must consider the temperature conditions of the early
solar nebula.
The central region that contained the protosun was extremely hot, as was
the rest of the nebula.
The nebula cooled from the outside-in, with objects condensing
out of the nebula.
The closer the protoplanets were to the protosun, the higher their
temperatures; the further from the protosun, the lower their temperatures.
Materials
which condense at low temperatures could not do so close to the protosun, so they tend to
be found relatively far from the Sun.
Materials which condense at high temperatures
could do so close to the protosun, so they tend to be found relatively close to the Sun.
We will plot two graphs to examine this hypothesis.
The condensation
temperatures and densities of various materials are listed in Table 10-2, along with the
distances from the protosun at which these materials could condense. First plot the
density of the materials as a function of condensation temperature and then plot the
condensation temperature as a function of distance from the Sun.
Table 10-2:
Physical Properties of Various Substances
Condensation
Condensation
Substance
Density (g/cc)
Temperature (K)
Distance (AU)*
Iron-Nickel alloy
7.9
1470
0.36
Oxide minerals
3.2
1450
0.37
Feldspars
2.8
1000
0.61
Troilite
4.6
700
0.98
Carbonates
2.9
400
2.07
Water ice
0.92
273
3.44
Carbon Dioxide ice
1.56
216
4.70
Ammonia ice
0.82
195
5.39
Methane ice
0.53
91
14.9
Nitrogen ice
0.88
63
24.3
________________________________________________________________
*
Assuming the temperatures at Mercury (r = 0.39 AU) and Jupiter (r = 5.2 AU) were 1400 K and 200 K
during the condensation phase of the solar system, respectively, other distances were estimated from a
simple power law formula.
Exercise 3: Atmospheres of Objects in the Solar System
The ability of an object to hold on to an atmosphere mostly depends on three
items: its mass, its temperature (determined by its distance from the Sun) and the
components of the atmosphere.
Because liquids require specific ranges of temperatures
and pressures to exist, atmospheres are also key to understanding the presence or absence
of various liquids on a planet’s surface.
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