Just the planets 4
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School
St. Petersburg College *
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Course
1000C
Subject
Astronomy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
4
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The Planets
Name ___Bernisha____________________________________
Planet
AU
from
the Sun
Period of
revolution
Period of
rotation
Diameter
(mi)
Mass
relative to
Earth
Density
Number
of
moons
Mercury
0.4
88 D
59 D
3015.06
0.056
5.4
0
Venus
0.7
224.7 D
244 D*
7526.18
0.82
5.2
0
Earth
1
365.25 D
1 D
7919.88
1
5.5
1
Mars
1.5
687 D
1.02 D
4216
0.108
3.9
2
Jupiter
5
11.86 Y
0.4097 D
88700.3
317.87
1.3
79
Saturn
10
29.46 Y
0.426 D
75000.16
95.14
0.7
82
Uranus
20
84 Y
0.718 D
28999.88
15.56
1.2
27
Neptune
30
165 Y
0.669 D
28900.06
17.21
1.7
14
D is Earth days
Y is Earth years
*Retrograde – Venus is spinning clockwise not counterclockwise. Density is mass per unit of volume water has a density of exactly 1, ie one gram per cubic centimeter. Look at the densities of the Jovian versus the terrestrial planets. 1)
What is the average density of the Jovian planets?
Density 3.626
2)
What is the average density of the terrestrial planets?
Density 17.075
3)
Why are they so different?
Jovian plants outer gas in the solar system
Terrestrial planets inner , made of rocks
Remember that period of rotation is how long it takes a planet to spin. It can also be thought of as how long a day is. The unit “D” for period of rotation is Earth Days. 4)
How long is a day on Mercury?
59 days
5)
How long is a day on Neptune?
66 days
6)
Does distance from the Sun have anything to do with the period of rotation?
No connection between the two.
7)
Do Jovian planets have longer or shorter days than terrestrial planets?
Yes, there longer than terrestrial planets
8)
So, are they spinning faster or slower than terrestrial planets?
Jovian spin much faster than Terrestrial
Revolution is how long it takes a planet to go around the sun. This is a year on that planet.
9)
How long is a year on Mercury?
88 days
10)How long is a year on Neptune?
165 earth days
11)Is the period of revolution related to distance from the sun? If so How?
The squares of the period are proportional to the cubes. The more distance the planet the longer it takes to revolution.
Remember that Kepler’s third law relates how far a planet is from the sun to its orbital period. P
2
=D
3
where P is the period and D is the distance to the sun in AUs. So if a planet is 2 AUs from the sun; P
2 = D
3
P
2 = 2
3
P
2 = 8
P = √
8
P= 2.8 Earth Years
So it takes the planet 2.8 Earth years to go around the Sun
12)What is the orbital period of a planet that sits 3 AUs from the sun?
3x3x3x3= 27
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