These gases cause the brilliant color bands on the planet. If a probe were sent through Jupiter, it would find no solid surfaces, and as it traveled further through Jupiter, the gaseous material would become denser. Jupiter has a simple ring system and a huge magnetic field. Near Jupiter are many radioactive particles that make up radioactive belts.
The outer magnetosphere extends out 20 times the diameter of Jupiter. Jupiter has winds that reach an excess of km per hour and cause swirling patterns of clouds that change positions quickly in as little as a few hours. Like other planets, Jupiter has distinguishing features.
Its main one is a complex storm known as the Giant Red Spot that is about the size of the entire surface area of Earth! It rotates in a continuous counter-clockwise direction. The Red Spot is made from phosphorus, which condenses five miles above surrounding clouds.
This altitude is cool enough to create the red color we see. Table 1. Facts about Mars and Jupiter. Watch this activity on YouTube. Where do Mars and Jupiter fall in the order of planets from the Sun?
Answer: Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. What are some of the characteristics of Mars and Jupiter? Possible answers: Mars is called the "red planet," is the planet that is the most like the Earth, and has seasons like Earth, but the seasons go from very cold to even colder.
Jupiter is the largest of all the planets in our solar system, has more than 60 known moons, and is made of mainly hydrogen and helium gases. Many people think Mars is an important planet to study because there is water and potentially life on Mars.
Mars may be the planet that is the most like Earth and some people think it may be the next planet that humans could live on. Why couldn't we live on Jupiter? Well, the intense radiation, toxic gases, atmospheric pressure strong enough to crush a human, and the fact that there is no solid surface means Jupiter is not a place that is very friendly to human habitation.
What types of engineers help us learn about the planets in our solar system? Possible answers: Aerospace, aeronautical, mechanical, electrical, computer, etc. Engineers design the spacecraft, telescopes and the sensitive instruments and cameras that help us study the environment of the planets and take cool pictures of them!
Jovian system: Moons that make up a miniature solar system around Jupiter. Discussion Question : Solicit, integrate and summarize student responses. Ask students to think about the night sky:. Tally the votes and write the totals on the board. Give the right answer. Next Mission to Mars : Have students think about what they learned about Mars.
What characteristics of Mars make it a possible place for humans live? What would we need to create in the Mars environment in order for humans to live there comfortably? Have students make a list of three or four inventions they would like engineers to create to enable people to live on Mars.
Ideas: Ways to provide air for people to breathe. Ways to keep people warm. Ways for people to grow their own food. Ways to manufacture enough water for drinking and cleaning. Ways to travel on the red dirt and in the Mars atmosphere. Have students visit the exploratorium website and find out how much they would weigh on Mars. Have students visit the exploratorium website and learn how much they would weigh on Jupiter. Findi more curricular material and activities on the topic of Mars in the grade 7 Mission to Mars unit.
Show students the many great images of Mars and Jupiter available on the Internet or print a few photographs to help them really understand what the planets look like. Couper, Heather and Nigel Henbest. How the Universe Works. Accessed February 7, Exploring the Planets: GalleryEntrance. National Air and Space Museum.
Lafontaine, Bruce. Exploring the Solar System. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space. Meghan is a senior writer at Space. She joined Space. Meghan earned an MA in science journalism from New York University and a BA in classics from Georgetown University, and in her free time she enjoys reading and visiting museums.
Follow her on Twitter at meghanbartels. We know it does have some clouds because they have been photographed by every orbiter, rover and lander that has ever been there, and occasionally Mars dust storms brew up that can cover the whole sky for months.
The winds on Mars are also something that planetary scientists are keen to learn more about. Generally speaking the Martian night sky would usually be as clear as a clear desert sky here on Earth. You would see two moons in that sky instead of one, and there would be a lot less interference from satellites.
On the downside, twilight lasts longer on Mars because of all the extra light-scattering dust in the air. That same dusty atmosphere will also reduce the brightness and visibility of the stars at low altitude, just as low-lying fog does here. Emerging from the base at dusk, the first thing you would see over the rocky landscape would be a beautiful sunset.
On Earth, sunset skies are painted a Turner-esque palette of copper and gold, with the Sun looking like a bloated orange ball. On Mars, thanks to the dusty atmosphere, you would see a sunset dyed purple and blue, with the faraway Sun reduced to a shrunken blue coin before it set behind the extinct volcanoes silhouetted on the horizon. If Earth was showing a full or gibbous phase , through your telescope you would clearly see its familiar green continents and blue oceans on the dayside, and the lights of its cities glinting on the nightside.
And just imagine what an incredible sight a crescent Earth would be through your highest-powered eyepiece. Mars is so close to Earth that none of the stars would look any brighter or fainter than they do from Earth. As there is no shift in parallax to rearrange the constellations into new shapes, you would still see Cassiopeia, Orion the Hunter, and all your other favourites.
What is a year? The earth is in motion. Actually, several different motions all at once. There are two that specifically interest us. First, the earth rotates on its axis, like a spinning top. Second, the earth revolves around the sun, like a tetherball at the end of a string going around the center pole. The top-like rotation of the earth on its axis is how we define the day. The time it takes the earth to rotate from noon until the next noon we define as one day. We further divide this period of time into 24 hours, each of which is divided into 60 minutes, each of which is broken into 60 seconds.
There are no rules that govern the rotation rates of the planets, it all depends on how much "spin" was in the original material that went into forming each one. Giant Jupiter has lots of spin, turning once on its axis every 10 hours, while Venus takes days to spin once.
The revolution of the earth around the sun is how we define the year. A year is the time it takes the earth to make one revolution - a little over days.
We all learn in grade school that the planets move at differing rates around the sun. While earth takes days to make one circuit, the closest planet, Mercury, takes only 88 days.
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