21^st Century Astronomy, Second Edition

Chapter 8: Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets

Study Plan

Blankets of atmosphere warm and sustain Earth's temperate climates, but they also push the surface of Venus beyond Dante's worst nightmares of hell while leaving Mars frozen. As was the case with their surfaces, comparing these worlds is the key to understanding their atmospheres. Among many interesting insights, on this leg of our journey we will discover

• That terrestrial planets owe their atmospheres to volcanism and to volatiles captured from comets.
• Why some planets hold onto their atmospheres while others do not.
• That differences among Earth, Venus, and Mars are largely due to the atmospheric greenhouse effect.
• How Earth's atmosphere has been reshaped by life.
• That atmospheres are layered by convection and differences in how they are heated, while pressure steadily falls at higher and higher altitudes.
• How the Coriolis effect redirects convective flows into patterns of winds.
• That Earth's magnetic field interrupts the flow of the solar wind and traps charged particles in a huge magnetosphere responsible for auroras.
• The unsettling fact that we are living through an uncontrolled experiment in climate modification.

Organize

1. Read Chapter 8 in your textbook or ebook.
2. Take the Diagnostic Quiz to assess your understanding of the basic concepts and identify gaps in your understanding of the assigned reading.

Learn

1. Use the FlashCards to test your memory for new terms.
2. Review Foundations Box 8.1 on the Atmospheric Greenhouse Effect and Box 8.2: What Is a Gas? Read the four Extrusions Boxes for this chapter:
• Box 8.1: Escape of Planetary Atmospheres
• Box 8.2: The Ozone Hole
• Box 8.3: Convection Run Amok
• Box 8.4: Blue Skies, White Clouds, and Red Sunsets
3. If your instructor has assigned SmartWork online homework, login from the right navigation pane for additional practice and review.

Connect

1. Periodic Connections boxes and the Seeing the Forest through the Trees section at the chapter's end draw your attention to recurring themes and help prepare you for concepts explored more fully in subsequent chapters.
2. Visit Astronomy in the News for breaking news of new discoveries and the opportunity to apply what you've learned in this chapter to real-world (and real Universe) events.

Instructors now have an easy way to collect students’ online quizzes with the Norton Gradebook without flooding their inboxes with e-mails.

Students can track their online quiz scores by setting up their own Student Gradebook.