Science channel on the planets now

[newtonian]

Channel 284 on DirecTv, forget what channel on Dish.<br /><br />It will repeat today a few times, next at 8 AM CST.<br /><br />I will post notes later.<br /><br />It considers various space probes to various planets.<br /><br />Nice photos.

 

[newtonian]

Some notes:<br /><br />Science channel “The Planets”<br /><br />Nice photos of Mars, from Mariners. No notes on this <br /><br />VENUS<br /><br />Then nice 3-d photos of Venus - large volcanoes, very many volcanoes - very unlike earth.<br /><br />350 km huge circular features which include many volcanoes [once?] oozing lava.<br /><br />Lava channels.<br /><br />Pancake type volcanic features.<br /><br />When did these form - the whole planet seems the same age (I.e. the surface impact craters indicate this)<br /><br />One idea - Venus catastrophically resurfaced a few hundred million years ago - hotly debated.<br /><br />Will the surface erupt again - volcanoes not active now.<br /><br />MERCURY - cratered and dead, outside hot, inside cold.<br /><br />CALLISTO- Voyager images. Unchanged for years.<br /><br />Ganymede - similar<br /><br />Io - seemed routine, but then a huge plume noted - interesting first photo proving huge volcanic plume - 270 km high!<br /><br />Entire moon covered with volcanoes and multicolored lave flows.<br /><br />Why wasn’t Io cold inside? Not enough radioactive material as what heats earth’s interior.<br /><br />Gravity effects on Io from Jupiter causes heat..<br /><br />Io’s geology changes from day to day!<br /><br />EUROPA - no craters at all, but large cracks on surface.<br /><br />From Jupiter’s gravity?<br /><br />Does Jupiter’s gravity also heat Europa and cause liquid water? [Likely]<br /><br />Next probe {?} shows close up of Europa.- likely has eruptions of water similar to earth’s volcanic ridges (e.g. mid-Atlantic ridge) - no eruption observed.

 

[newtonian]

More notes:<br /><br />Galileo’s 6 flybys of Io - amazing photos.<br /><br />Ends mission diving into Jupiter!<br /><br />Cassini - Huygens follows Voyagers images of Saturn’s moons.<br /><br />Voyager, Neptune’s moons, Triton. Dark streaks on Nitrogen ice in recent past.<br />Found active geysers rising miles above the surface!<br /><br />Cause: faint heat from our sun???<br /><br />Warms liquid Nitrogen from beneath surface to erupt.<br /><br />1997 Back to Mars - Mars global surveyor. What caused movement of boulders?<br /><br />Water causing this!<br />.<br />Rivers, lakes [ancient]