Planet Comparison Essay

The best technology available today for studying the chemical composition of stars and planets is spectroscopy, a scientific tool that dissects light into its component colours (Astronomy mag. P.31). “A planet within 100 light-years of Earth is close enough to provide sufficient light for scientists to dissect light into its component colors” (Ray Villard, Astronomy ). Spectrographs are used by astronomers to observe discrete spectra. Discrete spectra are produced by gases, such as … when specific wavelengths of light are absorbed or emitted by the gases. This causes dark bands to appear on the spectrum where the specific wavelengths of light are absent. A scientist can

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Fittingly, it was named after the king of the gods in Roman mythology. The distance from the Sun to Jupiter is approximately 779 million km, or 484 million miles. The exact number is 778,547,200 km. The most obvious features on Jupiter are the alternating bands of white and colored clouds, zones and belts. Analysis of data at many wavelengths shows that the white regions have higher thicker, clouds than the redder regions.

In last couple year’s evidence of water on mars has grown exponentially. The geography of Mars suggests that water was once there. This is because they have found runoff channels in the southern highlands and outflow channels that are almost exact to how they are on Earth, which obviously does have water. The Mars Reconnaissance Observer and Mars Express found deposits of clay in the southern highlands that some researchers say is a strong sign that water was there. Some others argue that the clay could be formed by other elements on Mars, such as wind. Also, the Mars Express detected hydrated’ chemical compounds in the surface of rocks over large areas, which means it

All the habitable zone estimates assumes that these planets have an atmosphere. The exoplanet must accrete enough volatiles during formation to create an atmosphere and must be massive enough to sustain the atmosphere. The atmosphere also needs to be dense enough to stabilize surface temperature through climate feedback, such as the greenhouse effect. The atmosphere should absorb in the infrared spectrum but not in the visual

Since ancient times, the universe had captivated people’s imagination and curiosity. With the limitation on technology, early sky watchers were only capable of classifying objects they observed as either a star or a planet. During the twentieth century, with advancement in telescopes to see further into space with more accurate details, scientists were able to find numerous stars and planet like objects within the solar system. Scientists had no trouble classifying objects such as Uranus and Neptune as planets. However, the real trouble came when they discovered a planetary object called Ceres. Objects like Ceres and Pluto behaved similarly to regular planets. Because of the limitations on the technology at the time, it was very difficult

As mentioned previously, planets are extremely faint light sources compared to stars and what little light comes from them tends to be lost in the glare from their parent star. So in general, it is very difficult to detect and resolve them directly from their host star. Planets orbiting far enough from stars to be resolved reflect very little starlight so planets are detected through their thermal emission instead. It is easier to obtain images when the star system is relatively near to the Sun, the planet is especially large (considerably larger than Jupiter), widely separated from its parent star, and hot so that it emits intense infrared radiation; the images have then been made at infrared where the planet is brighter than it is at visible

There are only minute traces (0.07%) of methane, water, ammonia and rock dust. Mantle: Pressurized hydrogen in the mantle may generate electric currents that generate Jupiter's powerful magnetic field. The outer mantle is liquid hydrogen; the inner mantle is liquid metallic hydrogen.

The first exoplanet found, Peg 51 b, challenged the then present theory of giant planet formation. Models of giant planet formation stated that Jupiter-like planets form at distances of 4-5 AU, AU being the distance from

of other planets such as Saturn or Mars are a great way of studying other planets surfaces

Uncovering the mysteries of Jupiter is a crucial step for a greater understanding of our Solar System. Being the massive planet that it is, this mysterious planet may hold many answers to how our the Solar System formed and evolved. The understanding of the origins of the universe includes answers even to the formation of Earth itself. Many believe that the research of Jupiter will lead to discoveries on planet formation and the role of giant planets on the formation f stars and other smaller bodies. Mysteries of Jupiter include its composition, what is under its clouds, what is in its core and its magnetic field. Research on the amount of water in the planet will tell us about the

Jupiter is a gas planet with a possible chance of a core. On the outside of Jupiter, what we can see, is its atmosphere. Jupiter’s atmosphere is layered. It contains hydrogen, helium (a

There are many differences among our planets and moons in our Solar System. The geologic activity, composition, interior structure, magnetic field, and atmosphere are all factors that help give these planets and moons there identity. We have sent probes over the years to help examine these properties.

Furthermore, scientists have this big prediction in which they think that in about ten years they will prove themselves right. Technology develops more and more each day and in about ten years scientist might have advanced tools to travel through space and discover more. In some planets that scientists have discovered, they had found a gas giant. “A gas giant is a planet that is mainly composed of Helium and Hydrogen.” An example of a planet that has gas giants would be Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. If a gas giant is found in a planet, the gas giant can give many characteristics to the planet. A planet that contains a gas giant could be big and cold, sometimes the characteristic of the planet gives scientist a big clue that there is no life in that planet. For example, if the weather is to cold in that planet or if there is

our solar system, but they are unimportant compared to the nine major planets. In this paper I will discuss the planets and how they are each unique.

The knowledge of what the inner core is made up is still and will remain unknown until we can create a satellite that can make into the atmosphere of Jupiter and the other gas planets. Jupiter's atmosphere was also found to be quite turbulent. It is also know that Jupiter spins faster than any other planet. This indicates that Jupiter's winds are driven in large part by its internal heat rather than from solar input as on Earth. The vivid colors seen in Jupiter's clouds are probably the result of subtle chemical reactions of the trace elements in Jupiter's atmosphere, perhaps involving sulfur whose compounds take on a wide variety of colors, but the details are unknown. The colors correlate with the cloud's altitude: blue lowest, followed by browns and whites, with reds highest. Sometimes we see the lower layers through holes in the upper ones. Then we have the Great Red Spot that everyone can identify as Jupiter. This reddish color of the “Great Red Spot” is a puzzle to scientist, but several chemicals, including phosphorus, have been proposed as a reason. In fact, the color and mechanisms driving the appearance of the entire atmosphere are still not well understood. This spot has been seen by Earthly observers for more than 300 years. Robert Hooke discovered it in the 17th century. The GRS is an oval about 12,000 by 25,000 km, big enough to hold two Earths. Another interesting feature about Jupiter is that it