Term
| Contents of interstellar cloud |
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Definition
| Mostly Hydrogen and Helium, dust (heavier elements, remnants of previous star cycles) |
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Term
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Definition
| force which causes collapse of the dust cloud into a protostar and accretion disk |
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Term
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Definition
| force of attraction between particles of matter |
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Term
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Definition
1)cloud collapse
2)spinning due to conservation of angular momentum
3) spherical center which gets hotter and hotter
4) star ignites |
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Term
| Parts of the solar system |
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Definition
1)sun
2)terrestrial planets and asteroid belt
3)gas and ice giants
4)Kuiper belt
5)Oort cloud |
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Term
| Why are planets different in composition? |
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Definition
| Disk has differential in temperature, being hotter near the center. Only rocks/metals can survive the inner disk as solids. Ices survive in the outer disk |
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Term
| Why are the inner planets rock? |
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Definition
| Because in the inner hot region of the accretion disk, only rocks and minerals can be solids |
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Term
| How did the gas giants form? |
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Definition
| thought to have had an original inner core of icy and rocky material around which hydrogen and helium gathered, since they are in the outer region of the planets, where the protoplanetary disk was cooler |
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Term
| Why is the protoplanetary disk hotter near the center? |
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Definition
| The material falling in to the center of the disk has farther to fall and converts more gravitational energy to thermal (kinetic) energy |
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Term
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Definition
Heavily cratered
No moons
No atmosphere
Wildly varying temperature (hot on one side, cold on the other)
No moons |
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Term
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Definition
Close in size to Earth
Dense atmosphere - CO2 runaway greenhouse makes it very hot
Thought to have little water, dry rocky surface, volcanism
No moons |
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Term
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Definition
Rocky planet unusual for having large Moon
Atmosphere
Is unique in having plate tectonics |
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Term
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Definition
Thin atmosphere
Rocky planet with ice present
Volcanism
Two tiny moons, prob. captured asteroids |
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Term
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Definition
| area either two low in material for accretion into planet, and too disturbed by Jupiter's gravity to be stable |
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Term
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Definition
Both have many moons, ring systems
Giant - Primarily gas, although may have liquid/high pressure cores of water and heavier materials
Still collapsing, they emit slightly more thermal energy than they take in from sun |
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Term
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Definition
Sometimes called ice giants - mix of H and He with water, ammonia, methane ices
Big, although not as big as J & S
Rings and moons
Rocky/icy core
Uranus is unique in having rotational axis |
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Term
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Definition
A region of icy planetesimals beyond the orbit of Neptune, largely in the planetary plane
These objects may become comets when disturbances send them toward the Sun
Pluto and other similar objects are part of the Kuiper belt |
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Term
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Definition
| A spherical region of icy planetesimals located 50-100,000 AU from the sun. |
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