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Planets.

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Planets.

This is an astronomical body orbiting a star such as sun and is massive to be rounded by its own gravity but not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion but has cleared all its neighbouring region of planetesimals. Five of the nine planets are visible to the naked eyes.

  • the name of the planet

The name of my planet is mars. It is the fourth planet from the sun. It is also the second smallest in the solar system in terms of sizes. It’s often referred to as the red planet due to the effect of iron oxide which occurs on the mars surface. It is this feature that gives it its distinctive appearance from other astronomical bodies and it’s among the five planets that are visible with naked eyes. This planet has a thin atmosphere and has surface features remindful of the impact of the valleys the moon and the craters of the earth.

The rotational period and the tilt towards its axis is almost similar to that of the earth. It is also a site of the highest known mountains on any planet known on the solar system.  This planet has attracted a lot of investigation concerning its habitability and its possibility of supporting life. It has a mean radius of 3396.19 kilometres. It also has a mass of 0.641712 x 1024  kilograms. This merely the amount of matter that makes up planet mars.  Additionally, it has a density of 3.9341 gcm-3. This refers to its mass divided by its volume.

 

The semimajor axis can be defined as the average distance from the sun. It can be given in kilometres or as a ration often referred to as the astronomical unit. The semimajor axis of mars in solar units is 1.524. This is to say that mars is 1.524 times furthers from the sun as compared to the earth. The orbital period for mars which refers to the number of days it takes for a planet to revolve around the sun is 686.980 days.

Additionally, the sidereal rotation period for this particular planet is 24.6229 days. This refers to the number of days this planet takes to rotate once on its own axis. The mean orbital velocity of mars is 24.07 kilometres per second. This is the average speed that this planet takes to travel around the sun.

 

Phase II

 

Table 1 data on planets density

PlanetDensity (g/cc)
Mercury5.4291
Venus  5.243
Earth5.5136
Mars3.9341
Jupiter1.3262
Saturn0.6871
Uranus1.270
Neptune1.638

One thing to note is that the density of the planets of the solar system can be well understood if we separate the rocky giant’s planets from the gas giant’s planets. The inner four are rocky while the outer four are gas giants.  This can be associated with the fact that the sun energy drove all the light elements off from the inner solar system. With higher temperature close to the sun, only the items with a high melting point were able to form. This explains why the less dense planets are far away from the sun. Otherwise, as from the data above, there is no relationship between the distance and the density of the plants, and therefore I disagree with the generalization that denser planets are located further from the sun, and less dense planets are located closer to the sun.

 

 

 

Phase III –What Conclusions Can You Draw From This Evidence?

 

Table 2 data on planets semimajor axis and orbital period

PlanetSemimajor Axis (AU)Orbital Period (Years)
Mercury0.3870.24
Venus0.7230.61
Earth11
Mars1.5241.88
Jupiter5.20311.86
Saturn9.53729.46
Uranus19.19184.01
Neptune30.069164.79

 

10) Data Analysis:

There exist a correlation between the average distance from the sun and the orbital period for planets with smaller radii than 4R Earth. Mercury which has the least semimajor axis, has the least orbital period of 0.24 years. The trend observed is that the higher the semimajor axis, the higher the orbital period. Neptune, which has the most significant semimajor axis of 30.069, has the most massive orbital period of 164.79.  The change is positive, and three additional increase in semimajor axis leads to an increase in the orbital period. However, this change is not proportional.

 

11) Evidence-based Conclusion:

Based on the data above, there is a significant relationship between the semimajor axis and the orbital period. However, the association is unproportionate, but a positive trend is observed. This to say, the higher the semimajor axis, the higher the orbital period and the lower the semimajor axis, the lower the orbital period.

 

Phase IV – What Evidence Do you Need To Pursue?

You need to gather data on the semimajor axis on each planet and the speed of each planet. You then need to collect the data on gravitational pull as this gain affects the speed of the planet, and it varies with the semimajor axis. Again data on the mass of every planet would also be needed since it also has an effect on the speed of the planet.

Phase V  – Formulate a Question, Pursue Evidence, and Justify Your Conclusion

Research Report:

Specific Research Question:

Is there a correlation between a planet’s mass and the number of moons that it has?”

In the pursuit of this, I will collect data on the mass of each planet and record the number of moons on each planet. These are the parameters that will be used to answer this specific research question.

Data Table and Results:

 

Table 3 date on planets mass and number of moon

PlanetmassNumber of moons
Mercury3.3020
Venus             48.690
Earth59.941
Mars6.412
Jupiter1898067
Saturn568562
Uranus868.427
Neptune102413

 

 

 

 

 

Data Analysis (graphs, charts and calculations based on the data)

 

Figure 1 graph showing the relationship between the planet mass and the number of moons.

 

The planets with high masses have a high number of moons form the data above. Jupiter, which has the highest weight, has the highest number of moons followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and mars and lastly earth. However, mars is less dense than earth and yet has two moons as compared with the earth, which has one moon.

 

 

 

 

Evidence-based Conclusion Statement:

 

In conclusion, planets with high masses have a high number of moons. This means there is a positive correlation between the mass and the number of moons a planet has. Jupiter, which has the highest masses, has the largest number of moons while mercury and Venus, which has the smallest masses have no moon at all. This is supported by the data presented in the table above. The graph above additionally supports this correlation in the graphical presentation. It is therefore conclusive there exist a correlation between planet mass and the number of moons it has.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Archinal, B. A., A’Hearn, M. F., Bowell, E., Conrad, A., Consolmagno, G. J., Courtin, R., … & Neumann, G. (2011). Report of the IAU working group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements: 2009. Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy109(2), 101-135.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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