Lecture 2: The Solar System

Further reading

• The website for the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the latest and greatest solar satellite from NASA, is at http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
• Check out Galileo's drawings of sunspots at "The Galileo Project", http://galileo.rice.edu/index.html; look in Science > Sunspots > Galileo's Sunspot Drawings
• NASA has a site with all the publicly released images from its Solar System program at the Planetary Photojournal, http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html
• Alan Taylor has put together a beautiful image of "All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter" (now including a new metric version with everything larger than 320 km in diameter) at http://www.kokogiak.com/gedankengang/2007/03/all-known-bodies-in-solar-system.html. Because this was made in 2007, some of the dwarf planets, like Haumea and Makemake, still have their provisional designations.
• One of my favourite space-related blogs is Emily Lakdawalla's "Snapshots from Space" http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/. She concentrates on results from planetary missions, and is one of the best ways of staying up-to-date with what's going on.
• For the discovery of 2015 TG387: see https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/02/dwarf-planet-the-goblin-discovery-planet-nine-oort-cloud and
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-newly-discovered-extremely-distant-icy-world-points-to-planet-9

Source for images

• Solar system; from Chandra Photo Journal http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/orion/najita.html
• Sun: SOHO image of the Sun, taken in ultraviolet light. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
• Sizes of orbits: from http://www.solarviews.com/eng/solarsys.htm
• Jupiter and Saturn families of moons: from NSSDC Photo Gallery, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/
• Moons: from Paul Schenk, "Satellites of the Outer Planets" http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/outerp/moons.html
• Moons by size: http://www.solarviews.com/eng/solarsys.htm
• Co-planar and circular orbits: generated using "Solar System Live" http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html. These particular positions are for 1 March 2005, viewed from heliocentric latitude 0o, longitude 180o and latitude 90o, longitude 0o.
• Title image of the Sun: from http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/sol.php, image by Runar Thorvaldsen
• Structure of the Sun: from CPEP: Online Fusion Course: "From Core to Corona", http://fusedweb.pppl.gov/CPEP/Chart_pages/5.Plasmas/SunLayers.html
• Images of core of Sun: from Windows to the Universe, http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/solar_interior_new.html
• Solar granulation movie: from Windows to the Universe, http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/Solar_interior/Sun_layers/Convection_zone/convection_zone.html&edu=high
• Vibrating Sun: from The Singing Sun, http://solar-center.stanford.edu/singing/singing.html
• Results from MDI/SOHO: from Scientists Discover Massive Jet Streams Flowing Inside the Sun, http://soi.stanford.edu/press/ssu8-97/ssu.html
• Sunspot: from Some images of a medium size sunspot by Peter Brandt, http://www.kis.uni-freiburg.de/~pnb/spottext1.html
• Sunspot numbers: from SILSO data/image, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels http://www.sidc.be/silso/yearlyssnplot
• SOHO continuum and magnetogram images: from SOHO Latest Images, http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/latestimages.html
• Solar magnetic fields: from The Sun Today, http://www.thesuntoday.org/solar-facts/suns-magnetic-poles-flipped-solar-max-is-here/
• Animation of sunspot formation and flare: from SOHO Gallery: Movies http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/Movies/animations.html
• Prominences: from NASA, "An eruptive solar prominence", http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/solar-prominence.html
• Earth compared to prominence: from SDAC, http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/sdac.html
• Coronal loops movie: from Solar Physics: Coronal features, http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/PAD/SOLAR/feature3.htm
• Flaring region: from http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/potw.php?v=item&id=102
• Coronal mass ejection flare 31 August 2012: from http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/main.php?v=item&id=158
• LASCO movie of coronal mass ejection event: from Best of SOHO Movies, http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
• Aurora over Alaska, image by Bud Kuenzli, from APOD 2007 Oct 9, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071009.html
• Terrestrial planets: from NASA http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/terr_sizes.jpg
• MESSENGER Flyby 2 mosaic: from http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=214
• Mercury scarp: PIA10939 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10939
• Image of Venus' clouds from Galileo: Astronomy Picture of the Day, 2004 May 16, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040516.html
• Venus surface: computer generated picture of Magellan radar data, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 2002 March 30, 
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020330.html
• Volcano Sif Mons: PIA00108 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00108
• Earth: view from Apollo 17, Astronaut Photography of the Earth, http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS17&roll=148&frame=22727
• DISCOVR image of the Earth and Moon: from NASA Planetary Photojournal http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00342
• Global view of Mars from Viking: from NASA Planetary Photojournal http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00407
• Topographic image of Mars: taken by the Mars Global Surveyor. From the NASA Planetary Photojournal 
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02031
• Olympus Mons: from Planetary Society http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/earth/earth-and-moon-from-dscovr.html
• Valles Marineris hemisphere: mosaic of Viking images, from http://nineplanets.org/mars.html
• Channels in Hellas: MOC narrow-angle image M20-00092 http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/m19_m23/images/M20/M2000092.html
• Network of streams: from "Views of the Solar System" by Calvin Hamilton, http://www.solarviews.com/cap/mars/network.htm
• Oceans on Mars: from "Mars, water and life: Why explore Mars?", http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/why.html
• Asteroid size comparison: from Hubblesite news release STScI-2005-27, http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2005/2005/27/image/
• Voyager image of the Great Red Spot, PIA01527 from NASA Planetary Photo Journal, http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01527
• Earth/Great Red Spot comparison: Wikipedia – Great Red Spot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot
• The Galilean satellites: from http://www.spacewallpapers.net/wallpapers/displayimage.php?pid=328
• Galileo's journal: from "Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun" 
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=2259
• Planet/moon size comparison: from "Views of the Solar System" by Calvin Hamilton http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/plntmoon.htm
• Callisto from Voyager 1 showing Valhalla: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00080
• Ganymede surface: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01618
• Europa: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01295 and http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00518
• Volcanoes on Io: Masubi: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02502; Pele http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00323; Pilan Patera: 
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01081
• Cassini's Millennium image of Io in front of Jupiter: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020706.html
• Saturn portrait: PIA06193 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06193
• Voyager view of rings: PIA00335 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00335
• Saturn tilting: Hubblesite gallery http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/solar_system_collection/pr2001015a/
• Mimas' shadow on the rings: from http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/cassinis_continued_mission.html
• Cassini ring plane crossing: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/video/videodetails/?videoID=147
• Saturn's moons: ESA Cassini-Huygens http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEM7Q6HHZTD_1.html
• Moon ballet: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/video/videodetails/?videoID=206
• Mimas: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06258
• Enceladus: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07800 and geysers http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11688
• Titan: PIA06230 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06230
• Titan, Epimetheus and ring: from http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/cassinis_continued_mission.html
• Lakes on Titan: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09180
• Iapetus: PIA06166 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06166, PIA08404 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08404
• Herschel: from National Air and Space Museum, Exploring the Planets: Discovering New Planets 
http://www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/etp/discovery/disc_planets.html
• Adams: from "John Couch Adams and the discovery of Neptune" by A. B. Ruth, The Eagle 1997 
http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/publications/eagle97/Eagle97-John.html
• Discovery position of Neptune: from http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Neptune_and_Pluto.html
• Galileo's drawing: from Standish & Nobili, "Galileo's observations of Neptune", Baltic Astronomy, 6, 97 (1997) 
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997BaltA...6...97S
• Uranus seasons: from Universe Today http://www.universetoday.com/19305/seasons-on-uranus/
• Orbits of Nereid and Triton: from http://ase.tufts.edu/cosmos/view_picture.asp?id=1231
• Trans-Neptunian objects: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_Objects
• Pluto/Charon from New Horizons: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-big-is-pluto-new-horizons-settles-decades-long-debate
• Pluto's moons: from Hubblesite news release STScI-2012-32, http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2012/32/
• Mosaic of New Horizons images: from https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-pluto-images-from-nasa-s-new-horizons-it-s-complicated
• Oort cloud/Kuiper belt: from Universe Today http://www.universetoday.com/32522/oort-cloud/
• Orbit of 2015 TG387: from https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-newly-discovered-extremely-distant-icy-world-points-to-planet-9
• Voyager position: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

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Last updated 23 October 2018

Please let me know of any problems with these pages: H.Johnston@physics.usyd.edu.au