ASTR 1210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Correlation Does Not Imply Causation, Sulfur Dioxide, Magellan (Spacecraft)
24 Oct 2016
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Watched long ass video clip about how hard it is to land things on mars. Discovery by mars rover, opportunity: lots of small spheres dubbed blueberries . Can only be formed in standing water. Strongest evidence yet of past abundant water. Cannot have water now atmosphere too thin and it"s too cold. Mission is to look for ice caps, frozen ice (not liquid ice: water frost at 6am. Dug into mars" surface with small excavator: sub-surface water ice took about 4 days to evaporate. Could not be co2 ice (evaporates in one day) How martians invaded popular culture: surface features of mars misinterpreted as canals . What are major geological features of mars: differences in cratering across surface, giant shield (extinct) volcanoes, evidence of (past) tectonic activity. Orbital period = 225 = 1 venus year. Spin period = 243 = 1 venus day: slow and wrong direction, slower that orbit around the sun. Uses radio waves from a radar dish.
