Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Earth and Space Science to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Earth and Space Science to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune collectively make up the group known as the jovian planets. The general structures of the jovian planets are opposite those of the terrestrial planets. Rather than having thin atmospheres around relatively large rocky bodies, the jovian planets have relatively small, dense cores surrounded by massive layers of gas. Made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, these planets do not have solid surfaces.
Diagram 1.
Unlike the spherical shapes of terrestrial planets, the jovian planets are all slightly oblong. The jovian planets rotate much faster than any of the terrestrial worlds. Gravity by itself would make a planet spherical, but their rapid rotation flattens out their spherical shapes by flinging material near the equator outward.
Observations of clouds at different latitudes suggest that the jovian planets rotate at different speeds near their equators than near their poles.
Source: https://lasp.colorado.edu/outerplanets/giantplanets_whatandwhere.php
Diagram 2.
Source:
NYS Earth Science Reference Table, 2011
What pattern do scientists notice about the planets’ distance from the Sun and their time to orbit?
Explain why Mercury takes less time to go around the Sun than Jupiter does.
Students compared the time each planet takes to go around the Sun.
Planet | Time for One Revolution (in Earth Years) |
|---|---|
Mercury | 0.24 |
Earth | 1 |
Jupiter | 11.9 |
Neptune | 165 |
What pattern do you see between a planet’s distance from the Sun and its revolution time?
Claim: Planets farther from the Sun take longer to orbit it.
Write your evidence and reasoning to support this claim.
Evidence:
Reasoning:
Which planet takes the shortest time to orbit the Sun?