What is meant by differential rotation?
In a rotating solid body, regions that are adjacent at one point in time will remain adjacent as the body rotates. This means that points further from the rotation centre will travel at greater speeds than those closer in.
What is differential rotation in the Sun?
However, unlike Earth which rotates at all latitudes every 24 hours, the Sun rotates every 25 days at the equator and takes progressively longer to rotate at higher latitudes, up to 35 days at the poles. This is known as differential rotation. The Sun rotates in the same direction as Earth.
What is the cause of differential rotation?
Differential rotation is caused by convection in stars. The movement of mass is due to steep temperature gradients from the core outwards.
What is differential rotation quizlet?
Differential rotation. The tendency for a gaseous sphere, such as a jovian planet of the Sun, to rotate at a different rate at the equator than at the poles. More generally, a condition where the angular speed varies with location within an object. Great Red Spot.
How do you determine differential rotation?
There are many ways to measure and calculate differential rotation in stars to see if different latitudes have different angular velocities. The most obvious is tracking spots on the stellar surface. By doing helioseismological measurements of solar "p-modes" it is possible to deduce the differential rotation.
Who discovered differential rotation?
Christoph Scheiner Christoph Scheiner (“Rosa Ursine sive solis”, book 4, part 2, 1630) was the first to measure the equatorial rotation rate of the Sun and noticed that the rotation at higher latitudes is slower, so he can be considered the discoverer of solar differential rotation.
What is differential rotation in astronomy?
Differential rotation is seen when different parts of a rotating object move with different angular velocities (rates of rotation) at different latitudes and/or depths of the body and/or in time. This indicates that the object is not solid. In fluid objects, such as accretion disks, this leads to shearing.
Does Earth rotate differential?
The "effective" rotation of Earth thus increases as we move poleward, and thus Earth's atmosphere and ocean are said to be in differential rotation. We take this effect into account by allowing the Coriolis parameter, f, to equal twice the vertical component of the rotation.
What is differential rotation and how is it observed on Jupiter quizlet?
What is differential rotation, and how is it observed on Jupiter? Differential rotation: rotation of a planet is not constant from one location to the other. (Equatorial zones rotate faster on Jupiter, the interior rotates at the same rate as the polar regions).
Why is Uranus and Neptune blue?
Both planets have methane in their atmospheres, which is what makes them appear blue in the first place (the gas absorbs red from the sun's light, leaving blue behind), but one of Uranus' methane layers is twice as thick as the layer on Neptune.
What does differential rotation tell us about Jupiter?
What is differential rotation, and how is it observed on Jupiter? Differential rotation: rotation of a planet is not constant from one location to the other. (Equatorial zones rotate faster on Jupiter, the interior rotates at the same rate as the polar regions).
How does Jupiter exhibit differential rotation?
Jupiter also exhibits differential rotation. A solid body rotates at a single angular speed, but a liquid or gaseous body need not rotate as a solid. In the case of Jupiter, rotation is slightly faster at the equator than at the poles.
Who is the twin of Earth?
Venus Venus: Earth's twin planet?
Why is Pluto not a planet?
Answer. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a dwarf planet because it did not meet the three criteria the IAU uses to define a full-sized planet. Essentially Pluto meets all the criteria except one—it “has not cleared its neighboring region of other objects.”
Why does Jupiter spin the fastest?
When Jupiter formed, it accreted its atmosphere (over 95% of the planet's total mass!) from the hydrogen and helium gas in the protoplanetary disk surrounding our Sun. As Jupiter ate up this gas mass, it must have begun to spin faster as it also ate up the gas's angular momentum.
Does Venus have differential rotation?
Compared to Earth, Venus twirls at a leisurely pace on its axis, with its surface taking 243 Earth days to complete one rotation. However, the hot, deadly atmosphere of Venus spins nearly 60 times faster than its surface, whirling around the planet once every 96 hours, an effect known as super-rotation.
Why is Uranus called the tilted planet?
The Uranian system has a unique configuration because its axis of rotation is tilted sideways, nearly into the plane of its solar orbit. Its north and south poles, therefore, lie where most other planets have their equators.
Who is Earth’s brother?
Maybe one day humans will visit or even live there, but, until then, we can continue to learn about our brother, Mars, a special part of the family of planets in our solar system.
Which planet Colour is red?
Mars Mars is often known as the Red Planet, but is it really red? This 60-second video answers one of the most frequently asked questions about our planetary neighbor.
Are there 6 dwarf planets?
Currently, there are six dwarf planets officially designated by the IAU: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and 2015 RR245, discovered in July.
How was Pluto destroyed?
FYI: Pluto is not destroyed, it is no longer considered a planet as per the definitions of astronomy, and now it comes under the category of "Dwarf Planet". Actually, the farthest planet of the solar system Pluto has neither died nor has been destroyed.
Why is Pluto no longer a planet?
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a dwarf planet because it did not meet the three criteria the IAU uses to define a full-sized planet. Essentially Pluto meets all the criteria except one—it “has not cleared its neighboring region of other objects.”
What is the slowest spinning planet?
Venus Venus is the slowest – it rotates once every 243 days —- by far the slowest rotation period of any of the major planets. Sun is the nearest star. Planet with the slowest rotation: Venus.
Why does Uranus spin backwards?
Uranus was likely hit by a very large planetoid early in its history, causing it to rotate "on its side," 90 degrees away from its orbital motion.
Are there any planets that don’t rotate?
All eight planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in the direction of the Sun's rotation, which is counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole. Six of the planets also rotate about their axis in this same direction. The exceptions – the planets with retrograde rotation – are Venus and Uranus.
What planet crashed into the Earth?
Theia Theia is a hypothesized ancient planet in the early Solar System that, according to the giant-impact hypothesis, collided with the early Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, with some of the resulting ejected debris gathering to form the Moon.
What planet crashed into Jupiter?
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 A big, frequently battered planet In July 1994, for example, fragments of the broken-apart Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 famously slammed into Jupiter, creating big bruises in the planet's thick atmosphere that lasted for months.
Who is Earth’s evil twin?
Venus Venus has been called Earth's "evil twin" because it is about the same size as Earth and probably was created out of similar stuff; it might have even had at one time oceans of liquid water. But Venus appears to have suffered a runaway greenhouse effect.
Did Earth ever have a twin?
Early in Earth's life, over 4 billion years ago – our planet had a twin called Theia. Theia gave Earth the chance to harbour life. About the size of Mars, Theia was on a similar orbit to Earth. As the force of gravity between the two planets grew, they began pulling …
Is Mars Hot or cold?
Temperatures on Mars average about -81 degrees F. However, temperatures range from around -220 degrees F. in the wintertime at the poles, to +70 degrees F.