WEEK #8 October 19,

2019
How Planetary Systems Form:
The most important clues of the formation of the solar system are those that cannot be observed in the
present day. The key is to search for clues from ancient materials so that we could model or reconstruct
what happened long ago.

Evidence for a successful theory of formation of the Solar System:

 Clues from geometry

 Clues from motions
 Clues from composition
 Clues from morphology (shapes)
 The theory must match with what we observe.

Since the Copernican revolution, we have known that the Sun is the dominant object in the Solar
System. The planets appear to move across a thin strip of sky called the ecliptic. The planets have
different sizes and compositions, and there are also a lot of small bodies such as asteroids and comets
non-uniformly distributed.

 The mass of the Sun is an important factor for attraction and semi-major axis of planets that
revolve around it.

The accumulation disk:

The plane of the planet`s orbits is also the plane of the Sun`s rotation. The material that now makes up
the Sun was distributed thinly in interstellar space in the form of a large disk-shaped cloud of gas and
dust. The Sun and the planets have formed from the same plane of dust and gas by accumulation. The
cloud is denser in its inner than outer parts.

 The Sun started out as a small pocket of gas about 4.6 billion years ago.

A cloud of gas and dust in space is called a nebula. The disk-shaped nebula that surrounded the early
Sun is called the solar nebula. These models are called nebular models. This shows how from a nebula a
solar system is formed.

Why does a cloud of gas contract?

 Particles in the middle of a cloud have other particles around it.

 Particles on the edges of the cloud have less particles attracting them towards the outer side.
 Particles will tend to be gravitationally pulled towards the center (towards other particles).
 As the move, the cloud slowly shrinks.

In the rotation of a gas cloud, any gas will have at least some residual rotation. A large spherical cloud
that is rotating slowly will eventually become rapidly rotating flat disk. Contraction and rotation
combined shape gas clouds.
Nice Model

 A solar system formation model published in 2005

 Uranus and Neptune were originally formed closer to the Sun, Uranus being the farthest.
 When Jupiter and Saturn ended up in 2:1 resonance, Uranus and Neptune migrated to their
current locations.
 This caused the Late Heavy Bombardment era that geologist have shown to take place ~700
million years after the planets formed.

Observing exoplanets in other planetary system helps us understand the formation of all solar systems.
Not all solar systems have the same number of planets or the same size scales.

Moon and Rings

Only three moons orbit all the terrestrial planets (our Moon, Deimos, and Phobos). The Jovian planets
have hundreds of moons as well as many rings, which contain a multitude of tiny moons. Moons range
from “small” rocks to planetary-sized bodies.

 Moons are natural satellites that orbit a larger object (planet).

Our moon is one of the largest and most massive satellites in the Solar System, relative to its primary
planet. It causes the tides in the oceans of the Earth by its gravitational pull, and solar eclipses every
once in a while. Because the Moon`s core is cold and it has no atmosphere, its surface has preserved its
early development and cannot support life as we know it.

The Moon formed from a debris after a Mass-sized planet (esimal) impacted the Earth not long after the
earth`s formation. The Moon is tidally locked, which means that it always shows the same face towards
the Earth.

 This is very common also with other moons of the solar system.

The dark areas are called “Mares” (the seas).

 There are mares only on the Earth`s side of the Moon.

Two moons encircle the planet Mars: Phobos (named after the Greek god that is the personification of
fear) and Deimos (named after the Greek god of terror).

Asaph Hall at the U.S. Naval Observatory discovered the two moons in 1877. Deimos, the outer moon,
circles mars in 30.3 hours. Phobos circles mars in 7.67 hours. Phobos is one of the few moons that orbit
their parent planets faster than the planets spin.

Both Phobos and Deimos have heavily cratered surfaces. These craters, because of their size and count,
indicate that they are at least 4 billion years old and have not been “modified” since the cratering. Mars
may have captured both moons from high-eccentricity asteroids that passed close by.
The Moons of Jupiter

Jupiter possesses at least 15 moons. The largest first discovered with a telescope by Galileo. The Galilean
moons have orbits close to our liner of sight, in the following order:

 Io (surface has a lot of volcanoes)

 Europa (thick layer of ice)
 Ganymede (icy surface and is the largest)
 Callisto (icy surface)

Saturn`s Mons

Saturn has at least 62 confirmed and several suspected moons. Other moons could be discovered as
scientist continue analyzing the voluminous Voyager and Cassini encounter data. Titan is the biggest and
most intriguing.

Titan:

 It has a thick, hazy, orange-colored atmosphere that is mostly nitrogen, with hydrocarbons such
as methane.
 It is made of rock and ice, holding temperature of approximately 94 K.
 Cassini saw mountains, river channels, and methane/ethane lakes in it.
 Data suggest an internal ocean and volcanic outgassing.

The other largest moons of Saturn are believed to be mainly water ice. With the exception of Enceladus,
all of the others are heavily cratered. Geysers at a hot spot at the south pole of Enceladus shoot ice
crystals far out, perhaps providing evidence of beneath surface water.

Hyperion looks the oldest, with evidence of meteoric bombardment. Iapetus has icy and dark material
on opposite sides. Irregular shapes of small moons indicate they are fragments of shattered larger
bodies.

Neptune`s Moons

Neptune has at least 14 moons. Triton is the largest and most interesting of the 14. Voyager data
showed that Triton has methane ice on its surface. Infrared measurements showed carbon monoxide
and carbon dioxide, along with carbon dioxide ices. Active geyser like eruptions shoot invisible nitrogen
gas and dark dust particles up several kilometers.

Uranus` Moons

Uranus has at least 15 moons. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon are the five major moons of
Uranus. Voyager 2 transformed our view of Uranus` moons much as it did our view of the moons of
Jupiter and Saturn. Miranda is the smallest and closest moon to Uranus.

Jupiter`s Rings
Voyager 1 discovered Jupiter`s ring system. Since the rings are so thin, they are essentially transparent.
We do not know yet what the ring system of Jupiter is made of. It appears to be made of very small
particles.

Saturn`s Ring

Saturn`s ring lie in the planet`s equatorial plane, and therefore are tipped about 26 degrees to the
orbital plane. Although thin, Saturn`s rings are wide, making the three main ones in visible from Earth.
They are constantly renewed by the icy dust in the area, and at the same time slowly diminishing.

 There are many rings that are named with letters.

Neptune`s Rings

Voyager showed clearly for the first time Neptune`s somewhat mysterious ring system. Neptune`s ring
system contains five rings.

Eclipses, Transits, and Occultations

An eclipse is an event in which a body goes through the shadow of another body. The most frequently
observed are the lunar eclipses, and the eclipses of the large satellites of Jupiter.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun. A lunar eclipse occurs when the
Earth is between the Mon and the Sun. if the sun gets between the earth and the Moon, it is called the
apocalypse.

Occultations are when a larger object passes in front of a smaller celestial body. A transit is when a
smaller object passes in front of a larger celestial body.

Generally, occultations can be seen only in a narrow strip. An eclipse is visible wherever the body is
above the horizon. An eclipse is visible wherever the body is above the horizon. A solar eclipse is actually
an occultation. If the whole disk of the Sun is behind the Moon, the eclipse is total, otherwise it`s partial.

A lunar eclipse is total if the Moon is entirely inside the umbral shadow of the Earth, otherwise the
eclipse is partial. Two to seven eclipses occur annually. This cycle was already known by the ancient
Babylonians and, for historical reasons, it is known as the Saros.

 A lunar eclipse is not an occultation.

Occultations are also caused by planets and asteroids. Predictions of these events are complicated
because such event is visible only in a very narrow path. Uranus` rings were found during an occultation
in 1977, and the shape of some steroids has been studies during some favorable events, timed exactly
by several observers located along the predicted path.

Transit is an event in which Mercury or Venus moves across the Solar disc. A transit can occur only when
the planet is close to its orbital node at the time of inferior conjunction. The next transit of Mercury will
be on November 11, 2019. The next transit of Venus will be on December 11, 2117.