Space Physics
Space Physics
Space Physics
1 The Earth
• The Earth orbits the sun in 365 days
• The Earth spins on its own axis in approximately 24 hours
[23 h 56 min 4.09053 s]
Day and Night
• If you stand on the North pole
and face South pole. The sun
appears to rise from the East
and set in the West
• 21 June is the longest day and
21 December is the shortest
Orbit of Earth
• Orbit is an ellipse
• Equinox [day and night equal length in time-found at A and B]
• Take approximately one month for the moon to orbit the earth
[27 Days]
Time for Light to Reach Earth
• Takes 500 seconds for sunlight to reach the Earth
[8 min 20 sec]
Ellipse Orbit
Earths Tilt [reason for Seasons]
• In June the Earth’s Northern
hemisphere is close to the sun
hence receiving more radiation.
Despite being at a larger distance
from the sun compared to
winters. The tilt makes it get
more exposure of the sun’s
radiation hence heating it up
more.
• In December, the Northern
hemisphere is at the farther end,
receiving less radiation from the
sun despite being closer due top
elliptical orbit, hence ending up
being colder.
• While Southern Pole experiences
the Opposite seasons
Visual Aids
• Why we have seasons ?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgHmqv_-UbQ
• Moon Phases:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz01pTvuMa0
Average Orbital Speed
Solution
6.1.2 The Solar System
• Contains
– Star – Sun
– Planets [8] - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
[Pluto not a Planet anymore]
– Minor Planets – Pluto [Dwarf Planet] and Asteroids
Dwarf Planet – High mass to make themselves round shaped due to their own
mass
Asteroids – Massive objects but not high enough gravitational strength to be
shaped into a round shaped object
– Asteroids – Belt of rocks and freely roaming in their own orbits
– Moons – Orbiting their respective planets
– Comets
[Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbit the
Sun]
– Natural Satellites
[The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth. A satellite is a body that orbits
around another body in space.]
The Sun
• More than 99% of the total mass of the Solar
System is concentrated in the Sun itself, so it
exerts a very high gravitational attraction that
keeps objects, such as the planets, orbiting
around it.
• Newton’s Law of Gravitation – Every massive
particle of matter in the universe attracts other
massive particle with a force known as
Gravitational Force. This force provides the
necessary Centripetal Force to keep every thing in
our solar system orbiting the sun.
Barycenter
• The imaginary pivot of our solar system that enforces
the idea that the sun is responsible for 99% mass of
our solar system.
The Planets
• Planets placed closer to the Sun [star] are called inner planets and the
ones after the asteroid belt are called outer planets
• Inner Planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
[small, rocky, solid, multi layered, warmer, high density]
• Outer Planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
[large, colder, made of gas, low density]
• Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet. Why ?
[strong enough mass to make itself round under its own gravity, but has
not cleared its path of orbit by absorbing asteroids In its orbital belt, its
orbit is tilted In comparison to other 8 planets which does not make it a
planet by definition]
Asteroids
• The asteroids are pieces of rock of
various sizes which mostly orbit the Sun
in the asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter; their density is similar to that of
the inner planets. If they enter the
Earth’s atmosphere they burn up and fall
to Earth as meteors or shooting stars.
The largest asteroid, Ceres, is classed as
a dwarf planet.
Moon
• The Moon is Earth's only natural
satellite. Together with Earth it
forms the Earth-Moon satellite
system. It is about one-quarter of
Earth in diameter.
Comets
• Comets are cosmic snowballs of
frozen gases, rock, and dust that
orbit the Sun.
• Comets consist of dust embedded
in ice made from water and
methane. Their density is similar
to the outer planets and they orbit
the Sun in highly elliptical orbits
and are much closer to it at some
times
• On approaching the Sun, the dust
and gas are blown backwards by
radiation pressure from the Sun
and the comet develops a bright
head and long tail pointing away
from the Sun than others.
Natural Satellites
• A natural satellite is an ibject that is in orbit around another
object. It is not man made.
– The earth is a natural satellite for the sun
– All planets, comets, moons, asteroids and dwarf planets are natural satellites
of the sun.
– The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth
– Jupiter has 64 natural satellites
[its own moons]
[its has 79 discovered moons but only 53 have been named officially]
• A satellite is a body that orbits around another body in space.
They orbit due to gravitational force exerted by their parent
object.
Overview of our Solar System
Gravitational field strength of a planet
• Newton proposed that all objects in the Universe having mass attract each
other with a force called gravity. The greater the mass of each object and
the smaller their distance apart the greater is the force: halving the
distance quadruples the force.
• For a planet the gravitational field strength at its surface depends on its
mass, and is nearly uniform across its surface. The strength of the
gravitational field decreases as the distance from the planet increases.
Gravity and planetary motion
• It is the force of gravity between the Sun and the object
[planet, moon, satellite, asteroid] that provides the necessary
centripetal force. More than 99% of the total mass of the
Solar System is concentrated in the Sun itself, so it exerts a
very high gravitational attraction.
• The strength of the Sun’s gravitational field decreases with
distance so the further a planet is away from the Sun, the
weaker the centripetal force. This results in a lower orbital
speed and longer orbital periods. The Moon is kept in a
circular orbit around the Earth by the force of gravity between
it and the Earth.
Relationships from Planetary Data
Relationships from Planetary Data
• A planet’s year (i.e. orbit time around the Sun) increases with distance
from the Sun.
• The orbital speed decreases with distance
Neptune travels much more slowly than Mercury.
• Surface temperatures decrease markedly with distance from the Sun with
one exception. Venus has a high surface temperature (460°C) due to its
dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide acting as a heat trap (i.e. the
greenhouse effect).
• Mars is tilted at 24 Degrees and that is the reason it has seasons.
Summary
• The Earth is a planet which orbits the Sun once in approximately 365 days and
spins on its axis, which is tilted, once in 24 hours
• The Moon orbits the Earth once in approximately one month
• The motion of the Earth explains day and night and the rising and setting of the
Sun
• The force that keeps an object in orbit around the Sun is due to the gravitational
attraction of the Sun and that the Sun contains over 99% of the mass of the Solar
System
• The strength of the Sun’s gravitational field weakens, and orbital speeds of planets
decrease, as the distance from the Sun increases.
• Calculate average orbital speed
• Planets, dwarf planets and comets orbit the Sun, while moons orbit planets
• Calculate the time taken for light to travel over a large distance, such as between
objects in the Solar System
• Interpret planetary data and use it to solve problems
• The Earth has an elliptical orbit around the Sun
6.2.1 Sun as a Star
• The Sun is a medium-sized star which consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. The
radiant energy it emits is mostly in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet regions of
the electromagnetic spectrum. This radiation is emitted from glowing hydrogen
which is heated by the energy released in nuclear reactions within the Sun.
• Stars are powered by nuclear reactions. Stable stars such as our Sun are hot and
dense enough in their centre (core) for nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium to
occur. The high temperature in the core required to sustain the nuclear reactions is
maintained by the large amount of energy released in the fusion process; the Sun
is powered by nuclear fusion.