The Geography of the Moon

Formation

The Moon is Earth's one and only moon. No one knows exactly how it was formed, but there are different theories for it. The main theory, the "Giant Impact Hypothesis" was that a planet of a similar size to Mars known as Theia crashed into Earth. Theia's core was destroyed, and the gravity attracted the particles together to form a Moon.

Characteristics

      Structure

The Moon has a very similar internal structure to the Earth, as well as having a layer between the Mantle and the Outer Core known as the "Partial melt". This area is partly molten and partly solid. Its inner core is 400 kilometres in diameter and contains mainly iron, but it could also contain sulphur. The Outer Core and Partial melt as mentioned before are semi-solid and are 500 kilometres in diameter. The mantle is over 1300 kilometres in diameter and contains metals such as magnesium and iron. Finally, the crust is 70 kilometres deep.

 

         Atmosphere

The Moon's atmosphere is extremely weak. According to Space.com, the Moon has approximately 100 molecules per cubic centimetre in comparison to the Earth which has 100 billion billion   molecules per cubic centimetre. Some of the gases in its atmosphere include potassium and sodium.

Life?

Possible, though unlikely. It is very close to the Earth, three days of Space travel would get us there, However, its thin atmosphere would be impossible for us to live in and it would take years to terraform it. It is also barren and lacking in resources, which would make it somewhat useless to live on.

Sources used: Wikipedia.com, Space.com, airandspace.si.edu, nasa.gov
Images used: http://www.shawacademy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Photograph-the-Moon.jpg, http://hildaandtrojanasteroids.net/TA068mooninterior.jpg

Geography of Neptune

Formation

One theory for the formation of Neptune is the "core accretion" model. Although this sounds complexed, all it is is the creation of the solar system. The solar system began as a "solar nebula", which was the cloud of dust where the sun formed. Gravity pulled most of the gravity into the sun in the centre of the nebula. The remaining particles where pulled together by gravity, and solar winds blew lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium further away. This would explain why most rock based planets are closer to the sun as the rock particles where heavier than the hydrogen and helium particles which formed gas giant planets such as Neptune.

Characteristics

                      Structure

Neptune's structure is completely different to any rock based planet or moon. Most of its atmosphere is part of its structure. It does not have a crust. Its mantle contains liquids such as water and ammonia, as well as methane ices. Its core is its only solid part, containg rock and ice.

                       

Atmosphere

Neptune's blue colour is because of its composition of gases in its atmosphere such as helium, hydrogen and methane.

  Rings

Although many people think that Saturn is the only planet in the solar system which has rings, this is wrong. Neptune does, in fact, have 5 hard to spot rings, containing mostly dust as well as small rocks. They are all named after famous astronomers.


Photos of rings taken by Voyager.

Life?

Neptune is unlikely to contain or support life. It is firstly, a gas planet meaning there would be no possible place to land or even move about on. Secondly, its atmosphere is not suitable for human life as it contains no oxygen and has poisonous methane gases. Other reasons that Neptune would be unsuitable for life is that it is too far away from Earth, which would make a trip to Neptune take around 20 years It is also far to cold, with an average surface temperature of -218 degrees celsius.

Sources used: Wikipedia.com, Space.com, Universetoday.com, airandspace.si.edu
Images used: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Neptune_Full.jpg/260px-Neptune_Full.jpg, http://planets2011.weebly.com/uploads/6/7/2/1/6721099/2246162_orig.jpg, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Neptune_ring_arcs.jpg/280px-Neptune_ring_arcs.jpg

The Geography of Titan

Formation

Titan is one of Saturn's many moons. Titan formed in a nebula near Saturn. The nebula was so cold that nitrogen was able to freeze and become solid. This was how Titan formed.

Characteristics

                  Internal structure

      Titan has an interesting structure compared to most other planets. Its core is actually the largest part of the planet, being 2000 kilometres in diameter and contains what is known as hydrated silica, which is a form of silicon oxide. Interestingly, this is the same material used in toothpaste! Titan also has different layers of ice, as well as a water ocean beneath the surface. Its surface contains water-ice. 

                

  Atmosphere

Titan's atmosphere contains mainly nitrogen, similarly to Earth. It also contains a small amount of methane as well as trace amounts of carbon and hydrogen. Titan has the largest atmosphere of any moon in the solar system.

Life?

Actually, yes. Life is possible on Titan. Titan contains a thick atmosphere containing mostly nitrogen that blocks global cosmic rays, or GCRs. We are protected from GCRs on Earth by the water in our atmosphere. Global cosmic rays come from the sun and can cause brain damage. As well as that, Titan has a weaker atmosphere than most other planets and moons, which means humans would not need pressure suits. We would need oxygen, as Titan does not contain this, but Titan does contain water as well as hydrocarbons that could be used a fuel sources.




Sources used: Wikipedia.com, Space.com, Nasa.gov.com
Images used: https://nai.nasa.gov/media/site-content/reports/2009/asu/y4slrvjgc2_habit-task-5-fig.JPG, https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/internal_resources/403/

                  

Geography of the Sun

Formation

The sun is the star in the centre of the universe and has huge effects on the earth and other planets in the solar system. the sun formed 4.6 billion years ago. The sun formed the same way that Neptune formed. The particles of hydrogen and helium where drawn together by gravity to form the sun. As we already know, the rest of the particles left over, some 0.1 per cent of the original amount, formed the rest of the planets in the solar system.

Structure and atmsophere

The sun has a very different internal composition to planets or moons. The sun has 6 main layers: the core, the radioactive zone, the convective zone, the photosphere, the chromosphere and the corona. The core contains hydrogen atoms at over 15 million degrees celcius. Thermonuclear, or nuclear fusion, occurs here. This is where the sun produces its energy from. The energy from the core collects radioactive molecules here. The convective zone brings energy from the radioactive zone to the surface by convection currents, similar to the convection currents that Earth has under its crust. The photoshere is the surface of the sun and the part we see from eart. Here, the temperature is a much cooler 6000 degrees celcius. The chromoshere is above the photosphere and can only be viewed with the naked eye during a total solar eclipse. The final layer, the corona, is mostly made up of plasma. Plasma, by the way is a different state of matter to solids liquids and gases. Again, the corona is difficult to see.

Life?

No way! There is absolutely no possible way of humans ever living on, let alone surviving on the sun. The main issue is the temperature. Even in the coolest regions, it is over 6000 degress celcius meaning we would incinerate instantaneously. other problems we would encounter include the massive levels of radiation, no oxygen in the atmosphere and no water.















Sources used:Wikipedia.com, Space.com, airandspace.si.edu, passmyexams.com
Images used:http://www.pmfias.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Sun-Internal-Structure-Atmosphere.jpg, https://www.mindmeister.com/images/download/22040693

Hello my name is Chris and this is my blog on The Geography of the solar System. In this blog we will be looking at different planets and moons in the solar system, their formation and characteristics.