tuesday october 23, 2012 (lunar history – the formation of the moon)
TRANSCRIPT
TuesdayOctober 23, 2012
(Lunar History – The Formation of the
Moon)
The Launch PadTuesday, 10/23/12
Identify the
region of the Solar Syste
m where these objects are
found.
Top Row All Kuiper Belt
Kuiper Belt
Asteroid Belt
The Launch PadTuesday, 10/23/12
Label the four parts of the Solar System.
planetary region
Kuiper Belt
Scattered Disk
Oort Cloud
AnnouncementsHappy Fall
Assignment Currently Open
Summative or
Formative?Date Issued Date Due Date Into
GradeSpeed Final Day
Quiz 6 S1 10/5 10/5 10/26
Quiz 7 S2 10/12 10/12 10/26
WS – Dwarf Planets
F3 10/18 10/22 10/24
Quiz 8 S3 10/19 10/19 11/2
WS – Trans-Neptunian
Regions of the Solar System
F4 10/22 10/26 10/26
Recent Events in ScienceOrionid Meteor Shower Wows Weekend Stargazers
http://www.space.com/18154-orionid-meteor-shower-weekend-stargazers-photos.html
Read All About It!
The Orionid meteor shower rained bits of the famed Halley's Comet
on Earth last weekend to the delight of stargazers around the
world.The 2012 Orionid meteor shower
peaked early Sunday (Oct. 21), with forecasters predicting up to 25
meteors an hour for patient stargazers with clear skies well
away from city lights.In Norway, photographer Tommy Eliassen captured a spectacular view of the Orionids and Earth's
dazzling northern lights.
Earth’s MoonMare
Highlands
Earth’s Moon Lunar History
The current hypothesis suggests that a giant asteroid collided with the
Earth to produce the Moon. The older areas have a higher
density.The younger areas are still smooth.
The Formation of the MoonThe current preferred hypothesis regarding the
Moon’s formation is the ‘collision’ theory. It is, so far, the best at explaining how compositions of rock from the Earth and rock from the Moon differ.According to the collision theory, at the dawn of the Solar System a heavenly body the size of Mars hit
the young Earth.As a result, material from the rocky mantle of the heavenly body and of the Earth was hurled into
space.This collected in the shape of a ring on a path
closely orbiting the Earth where it then gradually ‘clumped together’ to form the Moon.
The Formation of the Moon
Earth’s Moon Lunar History
The Moon evolved in three phases:1. original crust (highlands)
As the Moon formed, its outer shell melted, cooled, solidified, and became the highlands - about 4.5 billion years ago.
2. formation of maria basins Maria basins are younger than the highlands – they formed between 3.2 and
3.8 billion years ago.3. formation of rayed craters
The material ejected from craters is still visible as rays - e.g., Copernicus and Tycho (rayed craters).
WorksheetOur Solar System
Our Solar System
What is the Kuiper Belt?The Kuiper Belt is a disk-
shaped region beyond the orbit of Neptune that
contains masses of ice and icy rock
believed to be the source of comets with orbital periods of
less than 200 years.
What is the Oort Cloud?The Oort Cloud is a hypothesized spherical cloud
of comets which may extend to roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri,
the nearest star to the Sun. The Kuiper belt and scattered disc, the other two reservoirs of trans-
Neptunian objects, are less than one thousandth of the Oort cloud's distance. The outer limit of the Oort cloud
defines the cosmographical boundary of the Solar System and the region of the Sun's gravitational
dominance.
Our Solar System
What is the Scattered Disk?
The Scattered Disk is a distant region of the Solar System
that is sparsely populated by icy dwarf planets, a subset of the broader family of trans-
Neptunian objects. The scattered disc objects (SDOs)
have orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8,
inclinations as high as 40°, and perihelia greater than 30
astronomical units.
Our Solar System
What three characteristics does a Scattered Disk
Object (SDO) have?orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8
orbital inclinations as high as 40°
perihelia greater than 30 astronomical units
Our Solar System