Atmosphere of Celestial Bodies - Revision history

Jarogers2001 at 18:11, 7 August 2008

2008-08-07T18:11:56Z

Strangelv: categorization

2008-06-22T08:04:59Z

categorization

96.231.155.111 at 02:15, 9 December 2007

2007-12-09T02:15:40Z

96.231.155.111: New page: An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body. The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body. It must be strong eno...

2007-12-09T02:08:03Z

New page: An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body. The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body. It must be strong eno...

New page

An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body. The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body. It must be strong enough to hold on to the gases.

Another factor that impacts an atmosphere is proximity to the parent star (the Sun in our case). Any object close the Sun will be cooked by intense sunlight and blasted by coronal mass ejections. Either of these can carry off atmospheric molecules and deplete an atmosphere over time. Thus Titan, which circles distant Saturn, has retained its atmosphere while the planet Mercury (a similar body at 3,031 miles) has lost its atmosphere. Our Moon looses on both counts: it is smaller and much closer to the Sun than Titan.

* Moon
Atmosphere: essentially non-existent
Oceans: none (the mares are lava filled basins)
Diameter: 2,160 miles (3,476 km)
Gravity 0.166 of Earth

* Titan (Saturn’s largest moon) (pg 83)
(The only moon in the Solar system with a true atmosphere)
Atmosphere: Nitrogen and Methane
Oceans (liquid methane)
Diameter: 3,200 miles (5,150 km)
Gravity: 0.28 of earth (estimate)

* Earth
Atmosphere: nitrogen 78%, oxygen 21%, and carbon dioxide 450PPM
Oceans (water)
Diameter: 7,926 miles (12,756 km)

* Mars
Atmosphere: CO2 (95%) and inert gasses
Atmospheric pressure <1% of Earth’s
Oceans: none at present (Water oceans may once have existed there.)
Diameter: 4,217 miles (6,786 km)
Gravity 0.38 of Earth’s

'''References'''
# 1. The Universe Explained - The Earth-Dwellers Guide to the Mysteries of Space, Colin A. Ronan, C 1994, Henry Holt & Company

# 2. The Atlas of the Universe, Patrick Moore, Rand McNally & Co., C1970

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body.  The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body.   It must be strong enough to hold on to the gases.
-Another factor that impacts an atmosphere is proximity to the parent star (the Sun in our case).  Any object close the Sun will be cooked by intense sunlight and blasted by coronal mass ejections.  Either of these can carry off atmospheric molecules and deplete an atmosphere over time.  Thus Titan, which circles distant Saturn,  has retained its atmosphere while the planet Mercury (a similar body with a diameter of 3,031 miles) has lost its atmosphere.  Our Moon looses on both counts: it is smaller and much closer to the Sun than Titan.
+Another factor that impacts an atmosphere is proximity to the parent star (the Sun in our case).  Any object close the Sun will be cooked by intense sunlight and blasted by coronal mass ejections.  Either of these can carry off atmospheric molecules and deplete an atmosphere over time.  Thus Titan, which circles distant Saturn,  has retained its atmosphere while the planet Mercury (a similar body with a diameter of 3,031 miles) has lost its atmosphere.  Our [[Moon]] looses on both counts: it is smaller and much closer to the Sun than Titan.
 * Moon

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:04, 22 June 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
−
	An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body. The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body. It must be strong enough to hold on to the gases.		An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body. The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body. It must be strong enough to hold on to the gases.

Line 33:		Line 32:

	# 2. The Atlas of the Universe, Patrick Moore, Rand McNally & Co., C1970		# 2. The Atlas of the Universe, Patrick Moore, Rand McNally & Co., C1970
		+
		+	[[Category:Solar System]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 An atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding a star or any other celestial body.  The most important requirement is the gravitational attraction of the body.   It must be strong enough to hold on to the gases.
-Another factor that impacts an atmosphere is proximity to the parent star (the Sun in our case).  Any object close the Sun will be cooked by intense sunlight and blasted by coronal mass ejections.  Either of these can carry off atmospheric molecules and deplete an atmosphere over time.  Thus Titan, which circles distant Saturn,  has retained its atmosphere while the planet Mercury (a similar body at 3,031 miles) has lost its atmosphere.  Our Moon looses on both counts: it is smaller and much closer to the Sun than Titan.
+Another factor that impacts an atmosphere is proximity to the parent star (the Sun in our case).  Any object close the Sun will be cooked by intense sunlight and blasted by coronal mass ejections.  Either of these can carry off atmospheric molecules and deplete an atmosphere over time.  Thus Titan, which circles distant Saturn,  has retained its atmosphere while the planet Mercury (a similar body with a diameter of 3,031 miles) has lost its atmosphere.  Our Moon looses on both counts: it is smaller and much closer to the Sun than Titan.
 * Moon
@@ Line 11: / Line 10: @@
     Gravity 0.166 of Earth
-* Titan (Saturn’s largest moon) (pg 83)
+* Titan (Saturn’s largest moon)
      (The only moon in the Solar system with a true atmosphere)
      Atmosphere: Nitrogen and Methane