PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 6: Mercury, Venus, & Mars
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PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 6: The Terrestrial Planets:
Mercury, Venus, & Mars
Next Lecture: Earth and Moon
School: Michigan Technological University
Professor: Robert Nemiroff
Online Course WebCT pages:
http://courses.mtu.edu/
This class can be taken online ONLY, class
attendance is not required!
You are responsible for…
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Lecture material
Listed wikipedia entries
 But not higher math
APODs posted during the semester
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APOD review every week during lecture
Completing the Quizzes
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Homework quizzes 1 & 2 already due
Homework 3 quiz due before 5 pm today
See WebCT at http://courses.mtu.edu/
Wikipedia entries:
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Mercury_(planet)
Venus
Mars
Phoenix Lander
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Terrestrial Planets
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, & Mars
Mostly composed of rock
All in the inner Solar System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_planets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Solar_System#Inner_Solar_System
Orbits of the Terrestrial Planets
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Mercury
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First rock from the Sun
Very hot
Little atmosphere
Orbits once in 88 Earth days
Rotates once in 59 Earth days
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3:2 orbital resonance of elliptical orbit
Visited by
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Mariner 10 in 1974-75
MESSENGER in 2008
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Will orbit Mercury in 2011
Mercury Over Leeds
Credit & Copyright: Tony Cook
APOD: 2005 March 7
Mercury Spotting
Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2004 June 6
A Mercury Transit Sequence
Credit & Copyright: Dominique Dierick
APOD: 2003 May 27
Mercury: A Cratered Inferno
Credit: Mariner 10, NASA
APOD: 2004 September 12
Southwest Mercury
Credit: Mariner 10, NASA
APOD: 2003 February 16
Messenger Launch
Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper
APOD: 2004 August 14
Mercury in Accentuated Color
Credit: MESSENGER, NASA, JHU APL, CIW
APOD: 2008 March 19
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A Spider Shaped Crater on Mercury Credit: MESSENGER, NASA, JHU APL, CIW
APOD: 2008 February 4
Mercury's Faults
Credit: NASA, JPL, Mariner 10,
Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton (LANL)
APOD: January 21, 1996
Mercury's Caloris Basin
Credit: NASA, JPL, Mariner 10
APOD: 1996 January 20
Venus
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Second rock from the Sun
Size and mass similar to Earth
Covered by highly reflective clouds
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Mostly Carbon Dioxide
Orbits once in 224.7 Earth days
Rotates once in 243 Earth days
Venus
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Surface atmosphere hot and dense
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Surface temperature: 750 K
Surface pressure: 90 times Earth
Caused by greenhouse effect
Landing by Soviet Veneras in 1970s
& 1980s
Venus Express (ESA) arrived in
2006
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Studying clouds
A Quadruple Sky Over Great Salt Lake
Credit & Copyright: Michael Wilson
APOD: 2005 September 13
The Belt of Venus over the Valley of the Moon
Credit & Copyright: Christine Churchill
APOD: 2006 July 23
Space Station, Venus, Sun
Credit & Copyright: Tomas Maruska (SAAD)
APOD: 2004 July 20
A Picturesque Venus Transit
Credit & Copyright: David Cortner
APOD: 2004 June 23
S is for Venus
Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel
APOD: 2005 January 7
Venus Express Arrives at Venus
Credit: ESA/MPS, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
APOD: 2006 July 17
Venus: Earth's Cloudy Twin
Credit: Galileo Spacecraft, JPL, NASA; Copyright: Calvin J. Hamilton
APOD: 2004 May 16
Venus Unveiled
Credit: Magellan Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2005 September 3
Venus' Once Molten Surface
Credit: E. De Jong et al. (JPL), MIPL, Magellan Team, NASA
APOD: 2005 April 10
Atete Corona on Venus
Credit: Magellan Spacecraft Team, USGS, NASA
APOD: 2002 March 12
Lava Flows on Venus
Credit: Magellan Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2004 March 23
One Hundred-Kilometer Terrain on Venus
Credit: Magellan Spacecraft, USGS, NASA
APOD: 2001 May 7
A Venus Landing
Credit: Soviet Planetary Exploration Program, NSSDC
APOD: 2003 November 30
Venus Express in Venus orbit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Venus_Express_in_orbit.jpg
Swirling Clouds Over the South Pole of Venus
Credit: ESA/MPS, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
APOD: 2007 May 1
Mars
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Fourth planet from the Sun
Once thought inhabited by Martians
making canals
Orbits in 687 Earth days
Rotates in 24 h 40 m
Thin atmosphere
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Mostly Carbon Dioxide
Coldest: -140 C; Warmest: 21 C
Surface pressure 1% of Earths
Earth Webcam Catches Mars Rotation
Credit: Howard C. Anderson (Astroshow.com)
APOD: 2003 August 26
Retrograde Mars
Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel
APOD: 2003 December 16
Z is for Mars
Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel
APOD: 2006 April 22
Mars Then and Now
Credit & Copyright: Tom Ruen, Eugene Antoniadi,
Lowell Hess, Roy A. Gallant, HST, NASA
APOD: 2003 November 12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kirks_Soap_Yerkes_Mars.jpg
Mars Moons
Credit & Copyright: Johannes Schedler (Panther Observatory)
APOD: 2003 October 24
Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA
APOD: 2004 November 19
Deimos: A Small Martian Moon
Credit: Viking Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2001 September 2
Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars
Credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA
APOD: 2006 July 30
A Digital Opportunity Rover on Mars
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA
Rover Model: D. Maas - Synthetic Image: Z. Gorjian et al.
APOD: 2005 December 14
Earth or Mars?
Earth Image Credit & Copyright: Filipe Alves;
Mars Image Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2005 April 12
Red Mars from Spirit
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2004 January 7
Heat Shield Impact Crater on Mars
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2005 February 9
Steep Cliffs on Mars
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al.,
Mars Express, DLR, ESA
APOD: 2005 March 15
Unusual Plates on Mars
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA
APOD: 2005 February 28
Water Ice in a Martian Crater
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA;
Image created for and Copyright: Nature
APOD: 2005 July 20
A Dust Devil Crater on Mars
Credit: Malin Space Science Systems, MGS, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2003 December 30
A Martian Dust Devil Passes
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2005 April 26
Global Dust Storms Threaten Mars Rovers
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2007 July 25
Victoria Crater on Mars Credit: Mars
Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2007 October 22
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Inside Victoria Crater on Mars
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2007 September 17
Phoenix Digs for Clues on Mars
Credit: Phoenix Mission Team, NASA, JPLCaltech, U. Arizona, Texas A&M University
APOD: 2008 June 15
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Phoenix and the Snow Queen Credit:
Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo, Phoenix
Mission, NASA, JPL, UA, Max Planck Inst.,
Aviation Week and Space Technology
APOD: 2008 June 12
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A Face On Mars
Credit: The Viking Project, NASA
APOD: 1998 April 6
Mars Express Close-Up of the Face on Mars
APOD: 2006 September 25