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Craters on Mars

Craters on Mars. Many craters Closer to asteroid belt No water erosion Older surface Cratering is not uniform More in southern hemisphere. Southern Cratered Terrain. Comparable to Lunar Highlands More worn down. Erosion of Craters. Regions on Mars. Southern Hemisphere

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Craters on Mars

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  1. Craters on Mars • Many craters • Closer to asteroid belt • No water erosion • Older surface • Cratering is not uniform • More in southern hemisphere

  2. Southern Cratered Terrain • Comparable to Lunar Highlands • More worn down

  3. Erosion of Craters

  4. Regions on Mars • Southern Hemisphere • Heavily Cratered • Northern Hemisphere • Medium Craters • Tharsis Region • Fewest Craters Q. 39: Age of Mars Regions

  5. The Tharsis Region • Elevated region • Volcanic outflows • Volcanoes nearby • Probably extinct • So large they can be seen easily from space

  6. Olympus Mons • Giant Volcano • Largest Mountain in Solar System • Top sticks out of atmosphere

  7. Olympus Mons • Three times taller than Mt. Everest • Bigger than North Carolina

  8. Olympus Mons Q. 40: Mars’s Volcanoes

  9. Mars Volcanoes • Smaller planets cool more quickly • Mars probably has no active volcanoes now • But it did within past billion years or so

  10. Mars Composition • Mars has virtually no global magnetic field • No protection for life from cosmic rays Internal Structure: • Crust, thicker than Earth (?) • Mantle, most of the volume • Solid core near the center

  11. Valles Marineris • Largest Valley in the Solar System • As big across as USA • Crack caused by weight ofTharsis Bulge

  12. Valles Marineris

  13. Candor Chasma

  14. The Polar Caps on Mars • Carbon dioxide (dry ice) layer on top • Water ice underneath

  15. The Northern Polar Cap • Size of cap changes seasonally • Carbon dioxide evaporating and refreezing • Causes large change in atmospheric pressure (50%)

  16. Global Dust Storms • Atmosphere flow causes huge dust storms • Can envelope entire planet

  17. Clouds on Mars

  18. Dust Devils on Mars • Mini-tornadoes • Leave tracks across surface

  19. Sand Dunes on Mars

  20. Water on Mars • Current pressure slightly too low for liquid water to form • Mars Phoenix confirmed there is permafrost near poles • We also have seen frost on the ground • Was there liquidwater on thesurface in thepast?

  21. Past Evidence of Water

  22. Craters and Evidence for Water • Some craters look like they were made in mud • Teardrop shaped islands look like terrestrial islands in rivers

  23. Dried up Lakes

  24. Water-based Minerals • “Blueberries” are hematite • Mineral normally only forms in water • Strongevidenceof pastwater

  25. Civilization on Mars! Cydonia Region The Face Natural Features

  26. Life on Mars! • Mars has water – could it have life? • A meteorite found in 1984 is one of several known to have come from Mars • This meteorite contained what some thought were fossilized bacteria • Scientists divided

  27. Life on Mars? • The conditions on Mars are rather different from Earth • Mostly colder temperatures • No oxygen, low air pressure • No liquid water • No large form of life on Earth survives these conditions • But some bacteria on Earth live in similar conditions! What would life on Mars look like? • Bacterial, too small to see without a microscope • Probably live well below the surface (cosmic rays) • Water-based

  28. Mars Moons • Two small moons • Phobos • Deimos • Probablycaptured asteroids • Phobos the size ofWinston-Salem

  29. Jupiter and Saturn Images • Spectacular ring system • Complex striped appearance

  30. Jupiter and Saturn – How we know Jupiter: • Pioneer 11 and 12 (flyby ’73-’74) • Voyager 1 and 2 (flyby ’79) • Galileo (orbiter ’95–’03) • Galileo probe (’95) • Cassini (flyby, ’00) • New Horizons (flyby, ’07) • Juno Mission (orbiter since ’16) • Telescopes (ongoing) Saturn: • Pioneer 11 (flyby ’79) • Voyager 1 and 2 (flyby ’80 – ’81) • Cassini (orbiter ’04–’17) • Huygens (probe ’05) • Telescopes (ongoing)

  31. Past Spacecraft at Jupiter Galileo Galileo Probe • Galileo spacecraft orbited Jupiter • Galileo probe parachuted into Jupiter’s atmosphere • New Horizons on way to Pluto New Horizons

  32. Current and Future Missions to Jupiter Juno • Juno mission in orbit since 2016 • Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer launches in 2022 • Europa Clipper in 2025 JUICE Europa Clipper

  33. Spacecraft at Saturn Voyager 1 and 2 Cassini • Voyagers flew past • Cassini in orbit • Huygens probe went to surface of Titan Huygens on Titan

  34. Jupiter and Saturn – Size and Mass • Size – 11  Earth (Jupiter) and 9  Earth (Saturn) • Mass – 318  Earth (Jupiter) and 95  Earth (Saturn) • Jupiter significantly less dense than Earth • Saturn much less dense than Earth • Orbits: • 5.2 AU, 9.6 AU • 12 years, 29 years

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