TuesdayOctober 23, 2012

(Lunar History – The Formation of the

Moon)

The Launch PadTuesday, 10/23/12

Identify the

region of the Solar Syste

m where these objects are

found.

Top Row All Kuiper Belt

Kuiper Belt

Asteroid Belt

The Launch PadTuesday, 10/23/12

Label the four parts of the Solar System.

planetary region

Kuiper Belt

Scattered Disk

Oort Cloud

AnnouncementsHappy Fall

Assignment Currently Open

Summative or

Formative?Date Issued Date Due Date Into

GradeSpeed Final Day

Quiz 6 S1 10/5 10/5 10/26

Quiz 7 S2 10/12 10/12 10/26

WS – Dwarf Planets

F3 10/18 10/22 10/24

Quiz 8 S3 10/19 10/19 11/2

WS – Trans-Neptunian

Regions of the Solar System

F4 10/22 10/26 10/26

Recent Events in ScienceOrionid Meteor Shower Wows Weekend Stargazers

http://www.space.com/18154-orionid-meteor-shower-weekend-stargazers-photos.html

Read All About It!

The Orionid meteor shower rained bits of the famed Halley's Comet

on Earth last weekend to the delight of stargazers around the

world.The 2012 Orionid meteor shower

peaked early Sunday (Oct. 21), with forecasters predicting up to 25

meteors an hour for patient stargazers with clear skies well

away from city lights.In Norway, photographer Tommy Eliassen captured a spectacular view of the Orionids and Earth's

dazzling northern lights.

Earth’s MoonMare

Highlands

Earth’s Moon Lunar History

The current hypothesis suggests that a giant asteroid collided with the

Earth to produce the Moon. The older areas have a higher

density.The younger areas are still smooth.

The Formation of the MoonThe current preferred hypothesis regarding the

Moon’s formation is the ‘collision’ theory. It is, so far, the best at explaining how compositions of rock from the Earth and rock from the Moon differ.According to the collision theory, at the dawn of the Solar System a heavenly body the size of Mars hit

the young Earth.As a result, material from the rocky mantle of the heavenly body and of the Earth was hurled into

space.This collected in the shape of a ring on a path

closely orbiting the Earth where it then gradually ‘clumped together’ to form the Moon.

The Formation of the Moon

Earth’s Moon Lunar History

The Moon evolved in three phases:1. original crust (highlands)

As the Moon formed, its outer shell melted, cooled, solidified, and became the highlands - about 4.5 billion years ago.

2. formation of maria basins Maria basins are younger than the highlands – they formed between 3.2 and

3.8 billion years ago.3. formation of rayed craters

The material ejected from craters is still visible as rays - e.g., Copernicus and Tycho (rayed craters).

WorksheetOur Solar System

Our Solar System

What is the Kuiper Belt?The Kuiper Belt is a disk-

shaped region beyond the orbit of Neptune that

contains masses of ice and icy rock

believed to be the source of comets with orbital periods of 

less than 200 years.

What is the Oort Cloud?The Oort Cloud is a hypothesized spherical cloud

of comets which may extend to roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri,

the nearest star to the Sun. The Kuiper belt and scattered disc, the other two reservoirs of trans-

Neptunian objects, are less than one thousandth of the Oort cloud's distance. The outer limit of the Oort cloud

defines the cosmographical boundary of the Solar System and the region of the Sun's gravitational

dominance.

Our Solar System

What is the Scattered Disk?

The Scattered Disk is a distant region of the Solar System

that is sparsely populated by icy dwarf planets, a subset of the broader family of trans-

Neptunian objects. The scattered disc objects (SDOs)

have orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8,

inclinations as high as 40°, and perihelia greater than 30

astronomical units.

Our Solar System

What three characteristics does a Scattered Disk

Object (SDO) have?orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8

orbital inclinations as high as 40°

perihelia greater than 30 astronomical units

Our Solar System