Exosolar Planets

An Exosolar planet is a planet that is not in orbit around our star.

How they are formed
Planets are formed from the protoplanetary disk surrounding a star soon after its formation. The disk is mainly composed of dust particles. Over time the these particles attract each other and the dust to clump together creating planetesimals( a planet-like form to small to be considered a dwarf planet or a planet). Eventually (time can vary for different planets) the planetesimals can form into full planets.

The image shows the evolution of planets from dust to planets.

Types of planets

Terrestrial

Examples
all the inner planets(Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars)

Composition
Core and Mantles of molten metals
Crust of metals and rock
Atmosphere of Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen, Oxygen

Gas Giant
Examples
Jupiter, Saturn

Composition
Core of Ice
Mantle of Metallic Hydrogen (caused by pressure)
Envelope of gasses (Hydrogen & Helium)


Examples
Uranus, Neptune

Composition
Core of rock and ice
Mantle of water, methane, and ammonia
Envelope of gasses (helium, methane)

Note: most data on water worlds and gas giants is theoretical only

If you want to find out more follow the links at the end to watch a National Geographic episode on the formation of our solar system and why the planets are what they are and where they are.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Detection

Doppler Shift (Stellar Wobble)

When the star is moving closer to the observer the light given off turns red, but when it goes away from the star it turns blue. By the amount of wobble scientists can determine the size and mass of the planet and its distance from the star. Based on this the type of planet can be determined

A real life example of this is if you are standing on a sidewalk as an ambulance goes past. When the ambulance is approaching you the sound you hear is a different pitch than it is when it is moving away from you. This example uses sound instead of light but the principal is the same.

Land based telescopes are used for this method

This image shows a land based telescope picking up the light wave from a star as it orbits a central point in space.

Transit Method

If a planet moves directly between the observer and a star the stars brightness dims.Scientists then determine the mass, size and distance from the star by how large the dip was and how long it lasted.

You can see this anytime if you hod an object that is smaller than the light between you and a light source.

Telescopes in space use this method

In the image you can see the stars usual brightness the planet entering the observation line and the planet directly in front of the star.

Corona Graphing (Direct Detection)

By putting a physical mass to block a stars sunlight we can see the corona of that star. Then without the stars light in the way planets orbiting that star are illuminated by the corona and we can directly see them.

This was originally invented for the purpose of studying our stars corona without he need to wait for a solar eclipse. One of these could be tried at any time the sun is shining.

Both land and space telescopes use this method.

In the image there is a physical mass blocking the stars light and the corona is illuminating the planet that the scientist is looking at.

If you want to learn more or need a better explanation go to either of these two links.
Text
Video

Missions

Kepler -current

• Uses Transit Method
• Launcehed March 6 2009
• one meter diameter telescope
• monitor approximately of sky covered by an hand held at arms length( two big dipper scoops)
• NASA funded

Hubble-current

• uses transit method
• Launched April 1990
• monitors amount of sky covered by a grain of sand at arms length
• NASA, ESA CSA funded
• Extreamly famous for pictures of nebule

James Webb-future

• infa red imaging
• can observe atmospheric composition
• gathers data on planets
• planed launch 2013
• NASA, ESA, CSA developed
• 6.5 meter telescope

Naming process

The name of the star -(letter in order of discover starting with b)(-a is the star)

Because of order of discovery naming it can you can end up where e is closer to the star than b

Examples

Gliese 581g

Located 20 light years

Announced by NASA on September 29th 2010

Terrestrial planet that may support water

11 years of observation was put into the discovery and analysis effort An artist rendition

has multiple other planets in the system

Most likely discovered planet to support life

Fomalhaut b

Located 20 light years away in the southern fish

Gas giant

Announced by NASA November 13th 2008

First exosolar planet to be photographed

one year on Fomalhaut b is equivalent to 872 earth years

Still a protoplanetary disk in around the star

The first real image taken of an exosolar planet the actual image is in the little box, its those bright red dots.

Kepler 10b

560 light years away

Terrestrial and first that is most defiantly rocky

only 40% larger than earth

orbit distance is 1/20 of Mercuries

called a scorched planet

Artist rendition of Kepler 10b

Interesting facts

main reason for interest is to see if we are alone in the universe

PSR 1257+12 B was the first exosolar planet ever discovered

PSR 1257+12 B orbits a pulasar

Over 530 exosolar planets have been found

Most planets are huge (many times the size of Jupiter)

Check moodle for homework

ExoSolar Planet Notes

Saturn

This blog post is about the 6^th planet from the sun, Saturn.

This is Saturn

Cronus, the Greek titan and god of agriculture and time, is the name given

One year on Saturn is about 30 years on Earth and one day is about 10to Saturn. The Roman god name is Saturn.

Saturn is the second largest planet, after Jupiter, off course. Its diameter is 120,5

36 km long at

the equator. Its mass is 5.69²⁶ kg, and its density is 687 kg/m³, which makes it the only planet to float on water!

hours on Earth.

Cronus/Saturn

Climate on Saturn has a very weird climate. It has one of the fastest winds in the solar system going up to

30 km/m. The Great White Spot happens every year on Saturn, which means it is every year on Earth. It was discovered in1933 by the British comedian Will Hay.

This video is about the Great White Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvgNM9oZ83Y

Saturn is the second gas planet in the solar system. It is composed out of 96.3% hydrogen and 3.25% helium. It also has some sulfur in it because sulfur makes it look yellow.

Saturn is 1.35 billion km away from the sun at the minimum. It is also known as 9.02418482 AU. The maximum distance from the sun is 1.5 billion km which is also 10.026872 AU.

Discoverer: unknown

Discovered in: unknown

Saturn

has a lot of moons. It has 62 moons, 53 named moons and 9 provisional moons. All the moons are named after Saturn’s brothers and sisters.

Titan is Saturn’s lar

gest moon. It is the 2^nd largest in the solar system. Its revolution around Saturn is 16 days. It als

o has clouds and an atmosphere. It was discov

ered by Christiaan Huygens on March 25, 1655.

Hyperion(above) is the largest irregular body in the solar system. It has a potato shape. It is thought to be the remaining of a bigger moon that had a collision and it was discovered by William Lassell in 1848, and also William Cranch Bond and his son George Phillips Bond.

Enceladus is a very cold moon because it reflects almost 100% of the sun light

that hits its surface. It also has an atmosphere. Some ice particles where found on the South Pole if th

e moon. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1789.

Saturn has the most complex rings in the solar system. To learn more about the rings go here http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Saturn&Display=Rings or http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturnrings.htm

There were four missions sent to Saturn. Pioneer 11 was the first in 1979. Then Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. And then there is the Cassini.

Cassi

ni arrived on July 1, 2004. It finished its 4 year orbit in 2008 and it finished the first extended mission in 2010. The Cassini Solstice Mission will be the 2^nd extended mission that will go until September 2017

Sickle

Interesting Facts:

Galileo Galilee though that Saturn has ears- rings- 1610

Christiaan Huygens corrected Galileo by finding the rings with the telescope he built with a magnification of 50 – 1655

London underground logo takes from Saturn with its rings

Saturn has southern lights

It rained methane on Titan

Link to Moodle: http://zagreb.ceesa.net/course/view.php?id=189

Tuesday, May 3- Haumea and Makemake

Haumea and its two moons

Hi Everyone,

During class on Tuesday, I presented on Haumea and Makemake. Those are two different dwarf planets located far, far away from our planet, even further away than Pluto! They both have some things in common, like being dwarf planets is one example, but on the other hand, there are many other things that make them different.

Haumea is a dwarf planet discovered in 2004 by Michael E. Brown’s team. In 2005, J.L. Orbitz’ team also discovered it. Since it was discovered around Christmas time, the scientists decided to name it “Santa”. When it got its real name, Haumea, it was named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth and fertility.

Haumea is known to be made up completely of rock.

Haumea’s symbol is a simplification of Hawaiian petroglyphs of “woman” and “childbirth”. It looks like this:

Haumea’s diameter is 1960 km at the equator, and 2500 km at the poles. You might think that this is weird. This is because Haumea’s shape is like an American football. Scientists believe that this is because Haumea has a very fast rotation (3:55) which stretched out the planet. The mass of Haumea is 10²¹kg, and the density is 2,600-3-300 kg/m³

Haumea is a very cold planet – it is approximately -241 degrees Celcius! The land is also hard, cold, and rocky.

Haumea has two moons, Namaka and Hi’iaka. Just like the planet itself, these moons have “Santa names” – Rudolf and Blixten, two of Santa’s reindeer. The diameter of the moons is….? As you can see, Hi’iaka is larger than Namaka. Haumea is a dwarf planet and can, because of that, not have rings.

Haumea is located in the Kuiper belt and actually passes Pluto’s orbit. It also passes Neptune’s orbit, since it is a TNO (Trans-Neptunian Object).

All the Trans-Neptunian Objects to Scale

Haumea is the third brightest object in the Kuiper belt after Pluto and MakeMake, and was officially categorized as a dwarf planet in 2008.

<--Makemake
Name and Discovery

• Before Makemake was given an official name, it was called Easterbunny, because it was discovered close to Easter time. Makemake got its name from the fertility god in the mythology of Rapanui (Easter Island). Makemake was discovered by Micheal E. Brown, C.A Trujio, and D. L. Robinowitz on March 31, 2005.

  Size

  Makemake’s diameter is between 1300 and 1900 km approximate mass is about 4x10^21. Its density is approx. 2,000 km/m^3.

  Symbol

  The symbol of Makemake looks like the letter M on Roman petro glyphs and the face of the god Makemake. (to the left is the symbol)

  
  

  Revolution and Rotation

  Rotation- 22.48 Earth hours

  Revolution- 305.34 Earth years

  Climate

  Makemake’s temperature is approximately -240°C.

  Land/Atmosphere

  Sometimes Makemake has an atmosphere and it sometimes doesn’t. Makemake has an atmosphere when it is closer to the Sun and it doesn’t when it is farther away from the Sun due to its orbit that enters Pluto’s orbit and exit Pluto’s orbit.

  Location in Solar System

  Makemake is a Kuiper Belt Object. The Kuiper Belt is an area beyond Neptune which is extremely cold and icy. Makemake enters only Pluto’s orbit during its revolution.

  Moon

  Makemake has no moons and no natural satellites.

  Rings

  And also has no rings.

  Surface:

  Makemake is covered with frozen methane, and iron oxide which gives it a red color as you can see in the picture on the side. It is the second brightest object from the dwarf planets.

  Other interesting facts

  Makemake is the fourth dwarf planet recognized in our solar system. It is about 2/3 the size of Pluto, and only slightly further away from the sun compared to Pluto.

  It is the only dwarf planet in the region without satellites.

  Makemake is known as a “plutoid” which is a name for all the dwarf planets further away than Neptune, and Haumea is as well.

  It was one of the first planets to get a non-Greek/Latin name.
  

  Last plutoid to be discovered

  _________ :D ____________
  

  Here are some links that will inform you more about the Red Spot on Haumea and more about dwarf planets in general, and a link to Moodle. There you can also find the notes for Haumea and Makemake.
  

  
  
  
  
  

Reza's Reflection Post Quarter 4

During the two years that I have been part of our science class blogs I feel that I learned a few things about blogging. One thing that I feel that I have improved my skills to make my post more reader friendly. I did this by changing fonts and making the fonts bigger. I have also learned to use hyper links instead of just putting the link. I think that in ways blogging can contribute to learning in a class. One way that blogging does this is that the students can add extra information by putting in videos to their post. They also can help their fellow classmates who were sick or away by telling them the homework. We could also use our class blog to share ideas on how to study for tests and things like that. My overall writing has also been affected by these two years of blogging. I now feel that I should write on a more personal note when I write on the internet. I think that this is necessary because people will read the post if it sounds interesting. I think that by commenting on peoples work every week in week out has helped how I look at other peoples work. I feel that I can look at work from different perspectives. I look at the science of their post. I look at how their pictures, videos, and captions cover what was covered in class. I look at what extra information they have added. Overall I think that the most thing that I have learned from blogging is that you should always write in detail and slowly to make sure that the reader understands what you are trying to say.

CERES PRESENTATION DONE ON THURSDAY 21 APRIL

(Sorry about the size of the picture I couldn't figure out how to make it smaller.)

Discovery:

Ceres was the first thing to be discovered in the asteroid belt. Sicilian astronomer Father Giuseppe Piazzi first saw this dwarf planet in 1801. When more objects were discovered in the same area they were called asteroids or minor planets. Ceres was first called a planet but was then renamed as an asteroid. In recognition of its planet like aspects it was designated a dwarf planet in 2006 along with Pluto and Eris.

(Ceres' Symbol above)

Overview:

Ceres is described by scientist as the embryonic planet. Gravitational perturbations from Jupiter eons ago prevented it from becoming a normal sized planet. Ceres ended up among the debris left over from planetary formation in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The Hubble Space Telescope observed the planet and it demonstrated and orbit that suggests it has a nearly round body. Its diameter is larger at the equator than at the poles. This planet is around the size of Texas. Pluto is 24 times bigger than Ceres.

Composition:

Ceres does not have the same composition as the rest of its neighbors. It I made up of three layers the first being its dusty outer layer than the water ice inner layer and finally the stone core. Astronomers believe that there is water within Ceres because the density of the planet is less than that of the Earth’s crust. Another reason is that the surface of Ceres shows evidence of water bearing minerals.

Ceres' composition

The numbers:

Orbit size

Metric: 413,690,250 km

Scientific Notation: 4.1369025 x 10⁸ km (2.7653485 x 10⁰ A.U.)

Perihelion (closest)

Metric: 380,951,528 km

Scientific Notation: 3.80952 x 10⁸ km (2.547 x 10⁰ A.U.)

Aphelion (farthest)

Metric: 446,428,973 km

Scientific Notation: 4.46429 x 10⁸ km (2.984 x 10⁰ A.U.)

Mass

Metric: 947,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg

Scientific Notation: 9.47 x 10²⁰ kg

Density

Metric: 2.09 g/cm³

Surface area

Metric: 2,849,631 km²

Scientific Notation: 2.8496 x 10⁶ km²

Length of Day

0.378 Earth days

9.07417 hours

Length of Year

4.6 Earth years

Orbit Eccentricity(the shape of the orbit)

0.079138251

Orbit inclination (what its angle is from our perspective)

10.59

Links to Moodle