Prospects for the development of the solar system. About quantum-gravitational nature

Nikulin Oleg

Geology of the planets of the Solar System.

Off-Earth mining project.

Nikulin Oleg Andreevich

Murmansk region, Murmansk, municipal educational institution gymnasium No. 2, grade 8B.

annotation

The topic of research was of great interest to the student himself, since the prospect of a global crisis associated with a shortage of resources cannot leave anyone indifferent. People have been looking for mineral deposits since ancient times; in our century, the Solar System may become such a deposit.

The purpose of the work is to study the industrial potential of the Solar System and generalize the existing knowledge about the geology of the planets of the Solar System.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were completed:

1. Select and analyze the necessary material on this topic,
2. Study the geology of the planets of the Solar System, consider options for using the mineral resources of Space on Earth,
3. Consider the geological potential of the planets solar system,
4. Prove that off-Earth mining is feasible and beneficial in economic and environmental terms.

Object of study: geology of the planets of the Solar System - minerals of the Cosmos.

Subject of research: the possibility of extraction and use of space minerals.

When carrying out the work, the goal was set: to summarize all available knowledge about the geology of the planets of the Solar system.

The first part of the work is devoted to the geology of the planets of the Solar System.

The second part of the work is devoted to the prospects for the development of mineral resources in the Solar System.

The work uses an analytical (comparison and analysis) research method.

This study can be presented as theoretical material in chemistry, physics and geography lessons.

The work consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion.

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Section: GEOGRAPHY

GEOLOGY OF THE PLANETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

MBOU Murmansk gymnasium No. 2

Scientific supervisors:

Feltsan O.V.

geography teacher MBOU

Murmansk gymnasium No. 2

Murmansk 2013

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3

………………………………….………...4

1. Formation of the Solar System……………………………………………………..4
2. Asteroids, meteorites and comets……………………………………………………...4
3. Planets terrestrial group……………………………………………………………….5
4. Planets - giants of the Solar system…………………………………………………………5

…………………………………………………………………………………………7

Conclusion …………………………..……….………………………………………………...8

Literature ………………………………..……………………………………………………9

INTRODUCTION

The demand for mineral raw materials around the world is constantly increasing, both in quantity (approximately 5% per year) and in assortment terms. In the era of Greek Hellenistic culture and the heyday of the Roman principle, man used 19 chemical elements, at the end of the 16th century - 28, and at the beginning of the 20th century - 59. At the turn of the second and third millennium, humanity already uses more than 100 elements, including those artificially created from the natural material of the lithosphere .

Every year, more than 100 billion tons of various mineral raw materials and fuels are extracted from the bowels of the Earth. These are ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal, oil, gas.

The most accessible deposits of mineral resources are being depleted; according to the latest forecasts, the main types of mineral resources will last until the end of the 21st century, which is considered as one of the global problems of mankind.

At the same time, the development of the space industry in general and technologies in various branches of science allows not only scientists, but also governments of various states to think about the possibilities of drawing resources from space.

Technically, the possibility of delivering resources such as nickel, gold, iron, uranium and others has been discussed by experts at the theoretical level for many years. NASA experts say that off-Earth mining experiments could have a high cost relative to the value of the extracted resources. However, with the development of science and technology, the ratio may change and then economic leadership will be given to states participating in the development of relevant technologies.

For example, a company has already been created in the USA to extract minerals in space.

China has announced an extensive promising space program, providing for in-depth study of the Moon and carrying out activities to deliver it to Earth and study soils, creating conditions for the extraction of minerals on the Moon. The Russian space program was approved by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 28, 2012 No. 2594.

Under these conditions, the role of geology is increasing, including such a section as planetary geology, which studies the geology of celestial bodies. The tasks of planetary geology primarily include the study of the internal structure of the terrestrial planets, planetary volcanism, the structure of the planets of the solar system, as well as asteroids and comets.

Object of study: geology of the planets of the Solar System - minerals of the Cosmos.

Subject of study: the possibility of mining and using space minerals.

Target of this work– generalization of the basic information known to science about the geology of the planets of the Solar system and the prospects for the development of this scientific direction, the role of which will inevitably increase with the development of space technologies.

To achieve this goal, the following were completed tasks :

1. Select and analyze the necessary material on this topic,
2. Study the geology of the planets of the Solar System, consider options for using the mineral resources of Space on Earth,
3. Consider the geological potential of the planets of the solar system,
4. Prove that off-Earth mining is feasible and beneficial in economic and environmental terms.

Research methods:

1) analytical;

2) search;

3) comparative analysis of the information received

Chapter I. Geology of the planets of the solar system

1. Formation of the Solar System.

The Moon revolves around the Earth, the Earth revolves around the Sun, and the Sun revolves around the core of our Galaxy, called the Milky Way.

It takes the Sun 220 million years to complete a revolution around the center of the Galaxy. Milky Way form millions of stars and the Sun is only one of them.

There are billions of galaxies in the Universe. They contain a large amount of matter. Bright stars easily form in them. Old stars are located at the core of the galaxy. Young stars are in the sleeves. The solar system is located in the Orion Arm. The shape of the Milky Way cannot be seen from Earth. We see only a bright stripe corresponding to one of the arms.

It is difficult to say exactly what the Earth was like immediately after its formation 4 billion 600 million years ago. We would see a red-hot planet, shaken by volcanic activity. Gravity is a fundamental property of the Universe. Thanks to her, the gas and dust cloud turned into the Solar System. Rocks and metals melted. Heavy substances, first of all, sank into the center of the planet, and light substances remained on the surface and formed the earth's crust. Gases and water vapor came out of the volcanoes. They created a rudimentary atmosphere. Water vapor concentrated and fell in the form of precipitation, giving rise to the first oceans.

1. Asteroids, meteorites and comets.

Some of the matter did not form planets, but remained in a dispersed state. Part of it turned into natural satellites of the planets, other fragments form asteroid belts. When asteroids enter earth's atmosphere and burn up in it they are called meteors, and if they reach the surface of the planet - meteorites.

The Earth's surface is constantly changing, so there are very few traces of meteorites that fell on Earth. On the Moon, the situation is different; its surface is dotted with craters, indicating meteorite activity. The absence of an atmosphere and volcanic activity leaves these traces untouched. Studying meteorites provides valuable information about the composition of the solar system

Our Solar System was formed from a cloud of gas and dust. Its dense core turned into the Sun, and planets, asteroids and comets were formed from the rest of the matter.

The emergence of the solar system led to gravitational compression gas and dust cloud. As its size decreased, its temperature increased. A protostar formed in the center, and around it a protoplanetary disk. The Sun belongs to the so-called “yellow dwarfs”, which, in addition to hydrogen and helium, contain heavier elements.

1. Terrestrial planets.

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are terrestrial planets and have a solid surface. They consist predominantly of silicates and a dense iron core.

The geology of the outer planets of the gas-ice giants is different from the geology of the terrestrial planets. Jupiter is located so far from the Sun that carbon dioxide freezes on it. Even methane and ammonia freeze in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. We live on a geologically active and constantly changing planet. What happens on other planets? The four planets closest to the Sun have a structure similar to Earth. The differences between them come down to the nature of the atmosphere and the presence or absence of water.

Of all the terrestrial planets, Mercury has the most proportional ratio of an iron core to a silicate shell. Geological processes ceased on Mercury about three million years ago. Its surface is covered with many craters and faults. These faults were formed when the core cooled, as a result of which the surface of the planet compressed and cracked. At the poles and in deep craters, frozen water could remain. Since there is practically no atmosphere, they retain very low temperatures, while in sunlight the temperature reaches 500 degrees Celsius.

Venus is enveloped in a dense atmosphere, creating a powerful greenhouse effect. There are also unusual landforms called “crowns.” They consist of mountain ranges that close in a circle, with a valley in the middle. The age of the surface of Venus is approximately the same and ranges from 200 to 800 million years. Heat accumulated in its depths for hundreds of millions of years, and then was released in the form of a powerful eruption, affecting the character of the entire surface.

The moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists adhere to the version of the secondary origin of the earth’s satellite, separated from it during a collision with meteorites. The moon is made up of rocks, similar to those on earth. The Earth's satellite has no atmosphere, which contributes to strong temperature changes. The absence of an atmosphere makes the Moon defenseless against meteorite attacks.

Of all the planets in the solar system, Mars is most similar to Earth. In the past, its surface was covered with water, in which primitive life forms existed.

Size of Mars less land. The diameter of Mars is half the diameter of the Earth, but the geological objects of Mars are much larger than those of Earth. The height of the Olympus Mons volcano is 23 thousand meters, which is twice the height of Mount Eurest. And the Willes Canyon, whose length exceeds 4000 km, is the longest valley of its type in the Solar System. The boundaries of geological layers are clearly visible in the walls of the canyon. The thickness of the polar caps reaches in some places 1500 km above the surface of the sandy plains surrounding them.

There is plenty of evidence that there used to be water on Mars. This planet has extensive valleys and canals and traces of water activity on the rocks, and there is evidence that Mars once experienced a severe flood. Now all the water accumulated in the form of ice on the polar caps and under the surface of the planet.

1. The planets are the giants of the solar system.

The outermost planets of the solar system have huge masses of gas and ice surrounding a small, dense core.

For the formation of gas giants such as Saturn and Jupiter, a core formed from rocks and ice is required. New hypotheses about the origin of the giant planets are still being born. Jupiter is the most massive planet in the solar system. It is shrouded in a thin layer of clouds. Jupiter is surrounded by thin rings. The core of this planet consists of solid matter and dense liquid under enormous pressure and surrounded by liquid metallic hydrogen, reminiscent of mercury in earthly conditions.

The surface of Saturn is also covered with clouds. Its internal structure resembles that of Jupiter.

Neptune and Uranus are smaller in size than Jupiter and Saturn. These are ice giants. Beneath their clouds rest ices made of water, ammonia and methane.

Pluto is so small and far from the sun that it is quite difficult to observe it from earth. It has a core surrounded by frozen water. Pluto's shiny surface indicates the presence of frozen methane and nitrogen. As the planet approaches the Sun, the ice melts, forming a temporary atmosphere.

CHAPTER II. Minerals of the planets of the solar system and prospects for their development

Gigantic volumes of various resources, from water and gases to metals, discovered on the Moon and further into space, force both states and private businesses to begin preparing for exploration, production and delivery of these mineral wealth to Earth.

Huge amounts of the Helium-3 isotope have been discovered on the Moon and in the atmospheres of planets such as Jupiter, which is potentially interesting as the main fuel for nuclear fusion, a hitherto unattainable dream for energy engineers.

The Moon's lack of atmosphere means that it has been bombarded by charged particles for billions of years, some of which have become embedded in its surface. These particles, including helium-3, can be extracted by heating lunar rocks and then collecting the gas. Available volumes of helium-3 are measured in hundreds of millions of tons, while development can be carried out using open-pit methods. Nuclear fusion– a more environmentally friendly process because it does not leave extra neurons. The energy produced is significantly greater than in a fission reaction at the same time without such consequences as significant radioactive waste. Until now, scientists could maintain a thermonuclear reaction for only a few seconds. According to scientists, the way to achieve it will inevitably be improved - this will most likely lead to an explosion in demand for helium-3.

Due to its proximity to Earth, the Moon has long been considered a candidate for the location of a space colony. The moon has a variety of mineral resources, including industrially valuable metals - iron, aluminum, titanium.

In 2006, it was officially announced that the main goal of the Russian space program there will be production of helium-3 on the Moon. A station on the Moon is planned to be created by 2015, and from 2020 industrial production of helium-3 may begin.

At the same time, NASA plans to carry out the first flight there no earlier than 2018; in 2012, the creation of lunar satellites by China and Japan is planned. Until now, the United States remains the only state whose representatives have visited the moon.

To provide energy to the entire population of the Earth for a year, approximately 30 tons of helium-3 are needed. When using helium-3, there is no long-lived radioactive waste, so the problem of fission of heavy nuclei is eliminated.

CONCLUSION

In modern conditions, geological science is one of the most important factors influencing the world economy and the economy of individual states.

Access to energy resources and the cost of energy resources is one of the key elements of the cost of goods, works and services.

States that have extensive mineral reserves, including Russia, are certainly in a more advantageous position compared to those states that do not have mineral reserves and are forced to purchase them on the international market.

At the same time, the development of science and technology creates the prerequisites for the development natural resources, previously inaccessible to humans, including mineral reserves, the deposits of which are located on the planets of the solar system.

For this reason, developed countries are planning in the future to develop mineral resources located beyond the Earth.

It can be assumed that the first celestial body to be explored will be the Moon, since it is closest to the Earth and humanity has experience in expeditions to the Moon.

The prospects for the exploration of other planets in the solar system are more distant, but active work is being carried out in this direction.

For example, China plans not only to develop mineral resources on Mars, but also to create a colony on this planet.

Thus, research in the field of planetary geology is one of the promising areas of geological science, and in the long term will have important in competition for the development of mineral resources of the solar system.

LITERATURE

1. Astronomy for children. Moscow. Rosman. 1997
2. Geology for children. Moscow. Avanta. 2011
3. Geology. N.V. Koronovsky, N.A. Yasamanov. Moscow.Academy. 2011
4. Minerals//2011-2012
5. Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 28, 2012 No. 2594-r “On approval of the state program of the Russian Federation “Russian Space Activities for 2013-2020”
6. Internet resources: www/geowiki
7. Internet resources: ru/Wikipedia.org/wiki
8. Internet resources: www/globaltrouble.ru
9. Internet resources: www/ceberstcurity.ru

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Universe (space)- this is the entire world around us, limitless in time and space and infinitely varied in the forms that eternally moving matter takes. The boundlessness of the Universe can be partially imagined on a clear night with billions of different sizes of luminous flickering points in the sky, representing distant worlds. Rays of light at a speed of 300,000 km/s from the most distant parts of the Universe reach the Earth in about 10 billion years.

According to scientists, the Universe was formed as a result of “ Big Bang» 17 billion years ago.

It consists of clusters of stars, planets, cosmic dust and other cosmic bodies. These bodies form systems: planets with satellites (for example, the solar system), galaxies, metagalaxies (clusters of galaxies).

Galaxy(late Greek galaktikos- milky, milky, from Greek gala- milk) is a vast star system that consists of many stars, star clusters and associations, gas and dust nebulae, as well as individual atoms and particles scattered in interstellar space.

There are many galaxies of different sizes and shapes in the Universe.

All stars visible from Earth are part of the Milky Way galaxy. It got its name due to the fact that most stars can be seen on a clear night in the form of the Milky Way - a whitish, blurry stripe.

In total, the Milky Way Galaxy contains about 100 billion stars.

Our galaxy is in constant rotation. The speed of its movement in the Universe is 1.5 million km/h. If you look at our galaxy from its north pole, the rotation occurs clockwise. The Sun and the stars closest to it complete a revolution around the center of the galaxy every 200 million years. This period is considered to be galactic year.

Similar in size and shape to the Milky Way galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy, or Andromeda Nebula, which is located at a distance of approximately 2 million light years from our galaxy. Light year— the distance traveled by light in a year, approximately equal to 10 13 km (the speed of light is 300,000 km/s).

To visualize the study of the movement and location of stars, planets and other celestial bodies, the concept of the celestial sphere is used.

Rice. 1. Main lines of the celestial sphere

Celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere of arbitrarily large radius, in the center of which the observer is located. The stars, Sun, Moon, and planets are projected onto the celestial sphere.

The most important lines on the celestial sphere are: the plumb line, zenith, nadir, celestial equator, ecliptic, celestial meridian, etc. (Fig. 1).

Plumb line- a straight line passing through the center of the celestial sphere and coinciding with the direction of the plumb line at the observation point. For an observer on the Earth's surface, a plumb line passes through the center of the Earth and the observation point.

A plumb line intersects the surface of the celestial sphere at two points - zenith, above the observer's head, and nadire - diametrically opposite point.

The great circle of the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the plumb line, is called mathematical horizon. It divides the surface of the celestial sphere into two halves: visible to the observer, with the vertex at the zenith, and invisible, with the vertex at the nadir.

The diameter around which the celestial sphere rotates is axis mundi. It intersects with the surface of the celestial sphere at two points - north pole of the world And south pole of the world. The north pole is the one from which the celestial sphere rotates clockwise when looking at the sphere from the outside.

The great circle of the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the axis of the world, is called celestial equator. It divides the surface of the celestial sphere into two hemispheres: northern, with its summit at the north celestial pole, and southern, with its peak at the south celestial pole.

The great circle of the celestial sphere, the plane of which passes through the plumb line and the axis of the world, is the celestial meridian. It divides the surface of the celestial sphere into two hemispheres - eastern And western.

The line of intersection of the plane of the celestial meridian and the plane of the mathematical horizon - noon line.

Ecliptic(from Greek ekieipsis- eclipse) is a large circle of the celestial sphere along which the visible annual movement of the Sun, or more precisely, its center, occurs.

The plane of the ecliptic is inclined to the plane of the celestial equator at an angle of 23°26"21".

To make it easier to remember the location of stars in the sky, people in ancient times came up with the idea of ​​combining the brightest of them into constellations.

Currently, 88 constellations are known, which bear the names of mythical characters (Hercules, Pegasus, etc.), zodiac signs (Taurus, Pisces, Cancer, etc.), objects (Libra, Lyra, etc.) (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Summer-autumn constellations

Origin of galaxies. The solar system and its individual planets still remain an unsolved mystery of nature. There are several hypotheses. It is currently believed that our galaxy was formed from a gas cloud consisting of hydrogen. On initial stage During the evolution of the galaxy, the first stars formed from the interstellar gas-dust medium, and 4.6 billion years ago - the Solar System.

Composition of the solar system

The set of celestial bodies moving around the Sun as a central body forms Solar system. It is located almost on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy. The solar system is involved in rotation around the center of the galaxy. The speed of its movement is about 220 km/s. This movement occurs in the direction of the constellation Cygnus.

The composition of the Solar System can be represented in the form of a simplified diagram shown in Fig. 3.

Over 99.9% of the mass of matter in the Solar System comes from the Sun and only 0.1% from all its other elements.

Hypothesis of I. Kant (1775) - P. Laplace (1796)	Hypothesis of D. Jeans (early 20th century)	Hypothesis of Academician O.P. Schmidt (40s of the XX century)	Hypothesis akalemic by V. G. Fesenkov (30s of the XX century)
Planets were formed from gas-dust matter (in the form of a hot nebula). Cooling is accompanied by compression and an increase in the speed of rotation of some axis. Rings appeared at the equator of the nebula. The substance of the rings collected into hot bodies and gradually cooled	A larger star once passed by the Sun, and its gravity pulled out a stream of hot matter (prominence) from the Sun. Condensations formed, from which planets were later formed.	The gas and dust cloud revolving around the Sun should have taken on a solid shape as a result of the collision of particles and their movement. The particles combined into condensations. The attraction of smaller particles by condensations should have contributed to the growth of the surrounding matter. The orbits of the condensations should have become almost circular and lying almost in the same plane. Condensations were the embryos of planets, absorbing almost all the matter from the spaces between their orbits	The Sun itself arose from the rotating cloud, and the planets emerged from secondary condensations in this cloud. Further, the Sun greatly decreased and cooled to its present state

Rice. 3. Composition of the Solar System

Sun

Sun- this is a star, a giant hot ball. Its diameter is 109 times the diameter of the Earth, its mass is 330,000 times the mass of the Earth, but its average density is low - only 1.4 times the density of water. The Sun is located at a distance of about 26,000 light years from the center of our galaxy and revolves around it, making one revolution in about 225-250 million years. Orbital speed The movement of the Sun is 217 km/s - thus, it travels one light year in 1400 earthly years.

Rice. 4. Chemical composition of the Sun

The pressure on the Sun is 200 billion times higher than at the surface of the Earth. The density of solar matter and pressure quickly increase in depth; the increase in pressure is explained by the weight of all overlying layers. The temperature on the surface of the Sun is 6000 K, and inside it is 13,500,000 K. The characteristic lifetime of a star like the Sun is 10 billion years.

Table 1. General information about the Sun

The chemical composition of the Sun is about the same as that of most other stars: about 75% hydrogen, 25% helium and less than 1% all others chemical elements(carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) (Fig. 4).

The central part of the Sun with a radius of approximately 150,000 km is called the solar core. This is the zone nuclear reactions. The density of the substance here is approximately 150 times higher than the density of water. The temperature exceeds 10 million K (on the Kelvin scale, in terms of degrees Celsius 1 °C = K - 273.1) (Fig. 5).

Above the core, at distances of about 0.2-0.7 solar radii from its center, is radiant energy transfer zone. Energy transfer here is carried out by absorption and emission of photons by individual layers of particles (see Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Structure of the Sun

Photon(from Greek phos- light), an elementary particle capable of existing only by moving at the speed of light.

Closer to the surface of the Sun, vortex mixing of the plasma occurs, and energy is transferred to the surface

mainly by the movements of the substance itself. This method of energy transfer is called convection, and the layer of the Sun where it occurs is convective zone. The thickness of this layer is approximately 200,000 km.

Above the convective zone is the solar atmosphere, which constantly fluctuates. Both vertical and horizontal waves with lengths of several thousand kilometers propagate here. Oscillations occur with a period of about five minutes.

The inner layer of the Sun's atmosphere is called photosphere. It consists of light bubbles. This granules. Their sizes are small - 1000-2000 km, and the distance between them is 300-600 km. About a million granules can be observed on the Sun at the same time, each of which exists for several minutes. The granules are surrounded by dark spaces. If the substance rises in the granules, then around them it falls. The granules create a general background against which large-scale formations such as faculae, sunspots, prominences, etc. can be observed.

Sunspots- dark areas on the Sun, the temperature of which is lower than the surrounding space.

Solar torches called bright fields surrounding sunspots.

Prominences(from lat. protubero- swell) - dense condensations of relatively cold (compared to the surrounding temperature) substance that rise and are held above the surface of the Sun by a magnetic field. The occurrence of the Sun's magnetic field can be caused by the fact that different layers of the Sun rotate at different speeds: the internal parts rotate faster; The core rotates especially quickly.

Prominences, sunspots and faculae are not the only examples of solar activity. It also includes magnetic storms and explosions, which are called flashes.

Above the photosphere is located chromosphere- the outer shell of the Sun. Origin of the name of this part solar atmosphere due to its reddish color. The thickness of the chromosphere is 10-15 thousand km, and the density of matter is hundreds of thousands of times less than in the photosphere. The temperature in the chromosphere is growing rapidly, reaching tens of thousands of degrees in its upper layers. At the edge of the chromosphere there are observed spicules, representing elongated columns of compacted luminous gas. The temperature of these jets is higher than the temperature of the photosphere. The spicules first rise from the lower chromosphere to 5000-10,000 km, and then fall back, where they fade. All this happens at a speed of about 20,000 m/s. Spi kula lives 5-10 minutes. The number of spicules existing on the Sun at the same time is about a million (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6. The structure of the outer layers of the Sun

Surrounds the chromosphere solar corona- outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere.

The total amount of energy emitted by the Sun is 3.86. 1026 W, and only one two-billionth of this energy is received by the Earth.

Solar radiation includes corpuscular And electromagnetic radiation.Corpuscular fundamental radiation- this is a plasma flow that consists of protons and neutrons, or in other words - sunny wind, which reaches near-Earth space and flows around the entire magnetosphere of the Earth. Electromagnetic radiation- This is the radiant energy of the Sun. It reaches the earth's surface in the form of direct and diffuse radiation and provides the thermal regime on our planet.

In the middle of the 19th century. Swiss astronomer Rudolf Wolf(1816-1893) (Fig. 7) calculated quantitative indicator solar activity, known throughout the world as the Wolf number. Having processed the observations of sunspots accumulated by the middle of the last century, Wolf was able to establish the average I-year cycle of solar activity. In fact, the time intervals between years of maximum or minimum Wolf numbers range from 7 to 17 years. Simultaneously with the 11-year cycle, a secular, or more precisely 80-90-year, cycle of solar activity occurs. Uncoordinatedly superimposed on each other, they make noticeable changes in the processes taking place in the geographical shell of the Earth.

To the close connection of many earthly phenomena with solar activity back in 1936 was indicated by A.L. Chizhevsky (1897-1964) (Fig. 8), who wrote that the vast majority physical and chemical processes on Earth represents the result of exposure Space Force. He was also one of the founders of such science as heliobiology(from Greek helios- sun), studying the influence of the Sun on living matter geographic envelope Earth.

Depending on solar activity, the following occur: physical phenomena on Earth, like: magnetic storms, frequency polar lights, the amount of ultraviolet radiation, the intensity of thunderstorm activity, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, the level of lakes, rivers, groundwater, salinity and activity of the seas, etc.

The life of plants and animals is associated with the periodic activity of the Sun (there is a correlation between solar cyclicity and the duration of the growing season in plants, the reproduction and migration of birds, rodents, etc.), as well as humans (diseases).

Currently, the relationships between solar and terrestrial processes continue to be studied using artificial satellites Earth.

Terrestrial planets

In addition to the Sun, planets are distinguished as part of the Solar System (Fig. 9).

Based on size, geographic characteristics and chemical composition, planets are divided into two groups: terrestrial planets And giant planets. The terrestrial planets include, and. They will be discussed in this subsection.

Rice. 9. Planets of the Solar System

Earth- the third planet from the Sun. A separate subsection will be devoted to it.

Let's summarize. The density of the planet’s substance, and taking into account its size, its mass, depends on the location of the planet in the solar system. How
The closer a planet is to the Sun, the higher its average density of matter. For example, for Mercury it is 5.42 g/cm\ Venus - 5.25, Earth - 5.25, Mars - 3.97 g/cm3.

The general characteristics of the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are primarily: 1) relatively small sizes; 2) high temperatures on the surface and 3) high density of planetary matter. These planets rotate relatively slowly on their axis and have few or no satellites. In the structure of the terrestrial planets, there are four main shells: 1) a dense core; 2) the mantle covering it; 3) bark; 4) light gas-water shell (excluding Mercury). Traces of tectonic activity were found on the surface of these planets.

Giant planets

Now let's get acquainted with the giant planets, which are also part of our solar system. This , .

Giant planets have the following general characteristics: 1) large size and mass; 2) rotate quickly around an axis; 3) have rings and many satellites; 4) the atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen and helium; 5) in the center they have a hot core of metals and silicates.

They are also distinguished by: 1) low surface temperatures; 2) low density of planetary matter.

From near-Earth orbits, traces of human activity, both beneficial and harmful, polluting and destroying the biosphere, are easily visible. Suffice it to remind you that today 50 hectares of forest are destroyed every minute for industrial needs! All this is noticeable from near-Earth spacecraft. Also visible in the photographs are waste storage areas - tailings dumps of mining and processing plants. Cities, especially large ones, and even archaeological sites such as the megalithic ruins of Stonehenge are clearly visible, of course. In a word, the fact that the Earth is habitable is literally obvious from near-Earth orbits. It is much more difficult to discern traces of humanity from the Moon. For this, the naked eye is not sufficient and requires a medium-sized telescope. It is even more difficult to prove the habitability of the Earth from other planets in the solar system.

The Earth is best seen from Venus. Our planet shines from there like a star - 6.6 magnitude, which is 6 times brighter than Venus in the earth's sky. Against the black background of the starry night sky, our planet looks like a dazzlingly bright, magnificent blue star. It hardly needs saying that to study the details of its surface would require a large telescope, and with its help it would not be easy to prove the reality of earthlings. From Mercury, the Earth looks less bright and less spectacular. This is especially true for Mars, in whose sky the Earth sometimes appears as an evening or morning star, 5 times less bright than Venus in the Earth’s sky. If Martians existed, it is likely that the reality of earthlings for them would be the subject of many years of debate. It would not be easy to find the Earth in the sky of Jupiter - it departs very close from the Sun there, and this faint 8th magnitude star can be seen through a telescope only sometimes at dusk, and then with great difficulty. The Earth from Jupiter is simply inaccessible to the naked eye. Moreover, the Earth is indistinguishable from more distant planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). Even the most modern research tools would hardly be able to detect the Earth in the rays of the Sun.

Nobody, of course, sets such tasks. In the solar system, we repeat, we are alone and we should look for brothers in mind only in the stellar world, that is, in an unimaginable distance from the Earth. To us, immersed in seething earthly life, it deceptively appears that our earthly affairs have almost cosmic significance. Astronomy teaches us to be modest. But at the same time, to the indisputable fact that our amazing habitable planet there is, apparently, a great rarity in the Universe.

In the last pre-revolutionary edition of Popular Astronomy (1913), C. Flammarion wrote the following about Venus: “The only scientific conclusion that we could draw from astronomical observations would be that this world is slightly different from ours. Its vegetation animal world and humanity must be somewhat different from the same representatives of organic life on Earth.”

The radius of Venus is 0.95 the radius of the Earth, and the mass is 0.82 Earth masses. Since 1761, thanks to M.V. Lomonosov learned that Venus “is surrounded by a noble airy atmosphere, the same, if not greater, than that cast around our globe.” All these facts have long established in astronomy the idea of ​​Venus as a twin of the Earth, where the situation is only slightly different from that on Earth.

Research in the second half of the 20th century left no stone unturned from these naive illusions. Spacecraft were especially helpful, primarily the Soviet Venera, which have been studying the neighboring planet in detail since 1961. It turned out that everything on Venus is unusual, starting with its rotation and the change of day. The axis of rotation of Venus is almost perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, and the planet rotates not like the Earth, but in the opposite direction, from east to west, completing a full revolution in 243 Earth days. This period of time is less than a Venusian year (225 Earth days), which leads to the fact that every time Venus finds itself between the Earth and the Sun, it is turned towards us by the same hemisphere. Once upon a time, this circumstance gave rise to the impression that Venus does not rotate around its axis at all.

Unlike Earth, the basis of the Venusian atmosphere is carbon dioxide (97%). There is nitrogen (2%), very little oxygen (0.01%) and water vapor (0.05%). This suffocating atmosphere is truly “noble” and very dense. At the surface of Venus it is 70 times denser than air at the surface of the Earth. The pressure there reaches 9.5 MPa, and the temperature is close to 480 °C.

These numbers amaze our imagination and it is difficult for us to visualize and feel the conditions of the Venusian “hell”. It is clear why it is so hot and dry there - Venus is 43 million km closer to the Sun than the Earth, and its carbon dioxide atmosphere easily transmits visible solar rays, but firmly retains the heat emanating from the surface of the planet. In other words, the exotic atmosphere of Venus acts as a duvet and creates a powerful greenhouse effect. It is worth adding that at an altitude of 50–70 km, Venus is enveloped in a layer of fog made from droplets of sulfuric acid.

Although the sky of Venus is constantly covered with clouds, the illumination on its surface corresponds to what we experience on an ordinary cloudy day. But the color of the sky is unusual: since the dense atmosphere of Venus absorbs all short-wave radiation, the cloudy Venusian sky is not gray or bluish, but bright orange. Add to this powerful lightning discharges, which are not at all uncommon on Venus, strong winds(up to 140 m/s), running clouds of droplets of sulfuric acid and chloride compounds overhead, and then you can imagine what an astronaut would see if he landed on the surface of Venus.

Under his feet there would most likely be solid ground - there are no oceans on Venus, but, apparently, there are many active volcanoes. Surface appearance lowland areas It is easy to imagine Venus from the photographs that were transmitted to Earth by the Venus automatic stations and others. They show stone slabs covered with scree of brown sandstone. Chemical analysis showed that the soil of Venus resembles terrestrial basalts. Radar made it possible to study its relief in detail through the cloud cover of Venus. It turned out that the surface of the planet is significantly smoothed compared to the surface of the Earth. However, Venus has mountain ranges, ring mountains, craters, volcanoes, as well as plains, lowlands and faults. Mountainous regions occupy approximately 8% of the surface of Venus, and the height of the mountains does not exceed 8 km. Much of Venus's surface is hilly plains and vast lowlands. Among the ring mountains there are both volcanoes and craters of meteorite origin. The dimensions of large craters range from 30 to 60 km at a depth of several hundred meters. A gigantic volcanic crater with a diameter of 2600 km was discovered, although very shallow (up to 700 m). In the area of ​​the equator of Venus, a huge fault was found 1500 km long and 150 km wide with a depth of about 2 km. This relief detail undoubtedly indicates powerful tectonic processes in the depths of Venus.

Judging by the most reliable models, the internal structure of Venus is similar to that of Earth (Fig. 13).

Rice. 13. Models of the internal structure of planets (relative mass of shells, %).

a - Earth; b - Venus; c - Mars; g - Mercury; d - Moon; 1 - lithosphere; mantle; 2 - top; 3 - average; 4 - bottom; 5 - asthenosphere; 6 - core.

There is a liquid iron core with a radius of 2900 km. It creates a weak magnetic field, 3000 times weaker in intensity geomagnetic field. This low tension is quite understandable - remember how slowly Venus rotates around its axis. Between the lithosphere of Venus, about 100 km thick, and the core, there is a mantle, which is conventionally divided into lower and upper. Apparently, their composition differs little from the composition of the corresponding geospheres. Similar and heat flows from the depths of Venus and Earth to their surfaces. What then causes the sharp difference in conditions on the surfaces of these planets? Due to its proximity to the Sun, Venus has apparently always been too hot for life to arise. Therefore, there have never been plants there that, for their nutrition, “pump out” carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and saturate it with oxygen. This is exactly what happened on Earth and could not happen on Venus. Instead of a full life, it turned out to be an exaggerated version of Dante's Inferno. Despite the great internal similarity of the Earth and Venus, their external differences do not allow us to consider these planets as twins.

When in 1965 the American station Mariner 4 close range For the first time I received photographs of Mars, these photographs caused a sensation. Astronomers were ready to see anything, but not the lunar landscape. One famous Pulkovo astronomer even called newspaper editorial offices to check whether the newspaper workers had confused the Moon with Mars. Alas, the typical lunar landscape belonged to the famous Red Planet. It was on Mars that those who wanted to find life in space had special hopes. But these aspirations did not come true - Mars turned out to be lifeless.

According to modern data, this planet, half the diameter of Earth, is 10 times lighter globe. Nevertheless, its mass is still sufficient to retain the atmosphere, and this has been known for a long time. A day on Mars is almost equal to that of Earth (24 hours 37 minutes) and the inclination of its axis to the orbital plane is almost the same as that of Earth (about 25°). It follows that there is a change of seasons on Mars, although its duration is close to 687 Earth days. This similarity led us to assume that in other respects Mars was similar to the Earth, and a number of outstanding astronomers (G. Schiaparelli, P. Lovell, G.A. Tikhov, etc.) painted seductive pictures of the living world, which had gone further in its development than the Earth. Ideas about the population of Mars and its famous canals turned out to be very popular, and disputes about Martians lasted almost a century.

However, harsh reality made my own adjustments. Instead of an Earth-like atmosphere, it turned out that Mars is surrounded by a suffocating rarefied gas shell, 95% consisting of carbon dioxide. It contains nitrogen (2.5%), argon (no more than 2%), oxygen (0.3%) and water vapor (0.1%) as minor impurities. Even at the surface of Mars, the atmospheric pressure is 160 times less than at the surface of the Earth, and in the lowlands it reaches only 10 -5 MPa.

Unlike Venus, the thin Martian atmosphere is not able to retain the daytime heat accumulated by the planet, and therefore it is very cold on Mars. The maximum temperature on the equator of Mars at noon is close to 25 °C, but by the evening severe frosts set in and the temperature drops to -90 °C (and in the polar regions to -125 °C). The average annual temperature of Mars is close to - 60 °C. Sharp temperature contrasts give rise to strong winds and dust storms, in which thick clouds of sand and dust rise to heights of 20 km.

The reddish shine of Mars is due to the fact that most of its surface is covered with red-orange deserts, the soil of which is replete with iron oxides. In addition to iron (14%), silicon (20%), calcium and magnesium (up to 5%), sulfur (up to 3%) and other elements were found in the Martian soil. The white polar caps of Mars are formed by a mixture of ordinary water frost and solid carbon dioxide, familiar to everyone from “dry ice” for ice cream. On Mars liquid water no and cannot be because of the low atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the polar caps of Mars do not melt, but evaporate, bypassing the liquid phase. This process is called sublimation or sublimation. In exactly the same way, iodine crystals evaporate in an earthly environment.

The relief of Mars bears numerous traces of powerful water erosion. Dry beds of numerous rivers, ravines and landslides are a common sight in many areas of the surface of Mars. Once upon a time there were roaring rivers and streams. It is possible that all of Mars was covered by a shallow ocean with a depth of 10 to 160 m. All this happened relatively recently (millions of years ago), since traces of water erosion are very well preserved. Today, large reserves of water on Mars are stored in the form of groundwater and in layers of permafrost, which are ubiquitous there. What disasters led to sudden change We don’t yet know the appearance of Mars.

Tectonic and volcanic activity is active on Mars. There are many craters of both volcanic and meteorite origin. The mountains on Mars are very high and many of them reach their peaks into the stratosphere. For example, a giant fracture of the Martian crust is known, about 4000 km long, 120 km wide and 6 km deep. The gigantic volcanic Mount Olympus, 24 km high with a base diameter of 600 km, also amazes us. For future Martian climbers, the work ahead will be difficult!

Mars has a magnetic field about 500 times weaker than Earth's. Under the influence of the solar wind, it is deformed, just like our planet. No traces of life on Mars have yet been discovered.

Theoretical models of the internal structure of Mars show us a spherically stratified planet, resembling the Earth in miniature (see Fig. 13). A small core with a radius of 800-1400 km (it makes up about 6% of the total mass of Mars) is surrounded by a thick layer of mantle (covered on the outside by the lithosphere) several hundred kilometers thick. The uncertainty in the size of the shells is caused by insufficient knowledge of Mars. If the magnetic field of Mars is entirely induced by the magnetic field of the solar wind, then the core of Mars is completely solidified. IN otherwise we can talk about a liquid or semi-liquid core.

Another thing is more important - like the rest of the planets earth type, Mars in its internal structure resembles a nut with its hard bark, a clearly formed core and an intermediate, softer shell. This means that the stratification of planetary interiors and the differentiation of substances during evolution for all terrestrial planets took place under similar conditions.

Of all the known planets, Mercury is closest to the Sun, and Pluto is farthest from the Sun. Both planets today are bordering in our planetary system. Even if this boundary expands in the future, it is unlikely that any large bodies will be discovered beyond the orbits of Mercury and Pluto. Of the known main planets, Mercury and Pluto are the smallest. Mercury has a diameter of 4880 km (0.4 the diameter of the Earth), and its mass is only 0.06 that of the Earth. Pluto is even smaller - its diameter is 2500 km, and its mass is slightly more than 0.002 Earth masses.

Photos of Mercury taken from space stations, are strikingly similar to lunar ones. A non-specialist will not even be able to distinguish where the Moon is taken and where Mercury is taken. Many craters dot the surface of Mercury. Along with small craters with a diameter of tens of meters, there are also those whose diameters are measured in hundreds of kilometers; mountain ranges in some places reach a height of 4 km. Traces of active volcanic and tectonic activity are visible on the surface of Mercury. These are, for example, frozen lava flows and scarps - cliffs 2–3 km high, stretching for hundreds of kilometers.

Unlike the Moon, Mercury has only one vast "sea". This round depression, about 1300 km across, was called the Sea of ​​Heat. The name is very apt - none of the planets is as hot as Mercury. Orbiting the Sun in 88 days, Mercury makes a complete revolution around its axis in 58 Earth days. Due to the peculiarities of these movements, a solar day on Mercury lasts 176 Earth days, which is two Mercury years! In other words, a year passes from sunrise to sunset on Mercury, i.e. 88 Earth days. Over such a long period of time, areas illuminated by the Sun heat up to 450 °C, which does not prevent the same areas from suffering severe frost at night (from -90 to -180 °C). The atmosphere around Mercury is practically absent and therefore nothing softens the temperature contrasts. Future astronauts should not be embarrassed if they encounter a lake of molten tin somewhere on Mercury, say in the Sea of ​​Heat, but an encounter with a glacier is excluded here.

Mercury has been discovered to have a weak magnetic field, approximately 100 times weaker than Earth's in strength. Mercury also has a magnetosphere, strongly compressed by the solar wind from the Sun. Mercury is devoid of satellites and this makes it somewhat difficult to study its internal structure. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that Mercury has a relatively large and dense core, the radius of which is close to 1900 km (see Fig. 13). Mercury's outer silicate shell is very thick (about 550 km), leaving a layer of about 70 km thick on the atmosphere. However, in general, Mercury is similar to other terrestrial planets - it also experienced in its history a clear stratification of its interior into concentric spherical shells.

Pluto does not belong to the group of terrestrial planets. Firstly, it is located in another region of the solar system, on its outskirts. Secondly, we still know very little about him. A methane atmosphere has been discovered around Pluto and it is possible that its surface is covered with methane ice. The cold there is hard to imagine (-220 °C). A day on Pluto lasts just over 6.3 Earth days, and a year lasts almost 248 Earth years. The average density of Pluto is close to 1.7 g/cm 3, which brings Pluto closer to the giant planets and their satellites. This dark world, where the Sun shines only as a very bright star, is in no way similar to our Earth. Nothing is known about its internal structure. It is possible that Pluto was once a satellite of Neptune and then it is natural to look for similarities between it and other satellites of the planets.

Of all the celestial bodies, the Moon is not only closest to the Earth, but it has also been studied better than all other cosmic objects. People have been to the Moon, various instruments worked there, including seismographs. Information about the Moon is so abundant that many books are dedicated to it. However, it is possible to correctly assess the Moon’s place in the solar system only by comparing it with other planetary satellites. Today, together with the Moon, there are 45 of them, but it is likely that this considerable number will increase in the future. In any case, separate books are already being written about other moons - we have learned so much about them in recent years. The reader will learn the details from these books; our task is to indicate the similarities and differences in the vast family of moons and connect these differences with the internal structure of the planetary satellites.

As already noted, the Moon is very similar to Mercury, although it is inferior in size and mass. The radius of the Moon is 1738 km, its mass is 81 times less than the mass of the Earth. Nevertheless, in relation to the Earth, the Moon is a very large satellite and therefore the Earth-Moon system is often called double planet.

The moon is devoid of an atmosphere, which causes sharp temperature contrasts on its surface. During the day, this surface heats up to 130 °C, and at night the temperature drops to - 170 °C. Almost as sharp are the temperature differences in the sun and in the shade. The lunar surface is dotted with numerous craters, high mountain ranges and dark lowlands, according to the old tradition called seas. Unlike Mercury, the seas on the Moon are many and vast. There is even an Ocean of Storms there. The largest of the lunar craters are hundreds of kilometers in diameter, the most high peaks rise up to 8 km. Numerous cracks and large faults are known. There are many traces of past violent volcanic activity on the Moon. Sometimes gases erupt from the lunar interior today. Some of the lunar craters are of meteorite origin, others are of volcanic origin. But in general, the Moon is a dead world, where any changes are very rare.

Analysis of the surface rocks of the Moon showed that they are similar to terrestrial rocks such as basalts. True, they contain an excess of some heavy metals, such as chromium and titanium. Curious are the lunar mascons - areas of the lunar crust with increased density. They are characterized by local gravity anomalies. The thickness of the lunar crust does not exceed 50–60 km. Below, to a depth of 1000 km, there is a mantle, and in the center of the Moon there is a silicate, almost hard core with a diameter of about 1500 km (see Fig. 13). It is heated to a temperature slightly above 1000 °C, and therefore heat seeps out from the depths of the Moon, so that at a depth of 40 km the temperature of the lunar crust reaches 300 °C.

The Moon has no magnetic field and, therefore, no magnetosphere. However, in terms of size, the Moon could well be considered a full-fledged planet if it revolved around the Sun. The study of the internal structure of the Moon is greatly aided by rare “moonquakes”, the foci of which are located at a depth of 700 to 1100 km. All this proves that tectonic activity on the Moon is very weak, but has not completely stopped. There are facts that in the past the Moon had a magnetic field and was volcanically and tectonically much more active. However, there has never been life on the Moon.

Among the moons of the Solar System, our Moon is far from the largest. It is larger in size than Ganymede and Callisto (moons of Jupiter), Titan (moon of Saturn) and Triton (moon of Neptune). Thus, the Moon occupies a modest fifth place among the satellites of the planets. The largest of the moons, Ganymede, is larger in size (diameter 5280 km) than even Mercury. It is twice as heavy as the Moon and its average density is close to 1.9 g/cm 3 . On its surface there are dark and light clouds. Craters and light rays diverging from them are also noticeable there. It seems that future astronauts will encounter ice and rocks on the surface of Ganymede. It is possible that Ganymede is surrounded by a thin atmosphere of methane, ammonia and water vapor, although there is no indisputable evidence for this yet.

According to one model (Fig. 14), Ganymede has a rocky core the size of the Moon. It accounts for half the mass of the entire satellite. This core is surrounded by an extensive water mantle, which is covered on top by an icy crust 500–600 km thick. In other words, Ganymede is half water, and its huge core contains silicates and oxides of various metals. Judging by the photographs from spacecraft, the surface ice crust of Ganymede in some places contains rocky placers. The ice on Ganymede is covered with a thick layer of frost, and its craters appear to be of meteorite origin. Numerous cracks, faults, and grooves are visible on the surface of Ganymede. Ganymede is apparently rich radioactive substances and this maintains its high tectonic activity. Crack formation may be related to movement tectonic plates on Ganymede. Much is unclear here; the world of Ganymede remains mysterious and there is no convincing model of its internal structure yet.

Rice. 14. Diagram of the internal structure of the planets’ satellites (R is the distance from Jupiter).

o - Io; b - Europe; c - Ganymede; g - Callisto; 1 - bark; 2 - liquid mantle; 3 - solid mantle; 4 - core

The remaining three largest moons of Jupiter are quite comparable to Ganymede. These are Callisto (radius 2420 km), Io (radius 1820 km) and Europa (radius 1565 km). The surface of the smallest of these satellites - Europa - is dotted with a bizarre network of intertwining thin lines. It is quite possible that this distinctive feature of Europe is the cracks from meteorite impacts on its icy crust. Europa's density is 3.1 g/cm 3, which suggests that this moon has a core of fairly heavy elements. On the contrary, Callisto is the least dense of Jupiter's satellites (1.8 g/cm3) and, therefore, the ice and water content in this satellite is quite high. Callisto has many craters with multi-tiered ledges. All this is as if someone threw a stone into a pond, which immediately froze. Resembling gigantic stadiums, these formations are very impressive in size. The diameter of the largest “stadium” on Callisto is 3000 km, the other has a diameter of 1500 km. We are still far from understanding what processes caused these huge wounds on Callisto. Callisto, like Europa, most likely has a heavy core, but building reliable models of them is a matter for the future.

Io has sensational characteristics. It is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Seven active volcanoes have been discovered on it, and some of them emit material to a height of up to 200 km. Io's interior is heated not only by radioactive substances. They are heated by electric currents arising in the depths of Io as it moves in Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field, as well as by the tidal influences of the gigantic planet. According to some models, Io has a core of iron sulfide solution with a density of 5 g/cm 3 and a mantle of ordinary rocks with a density of 3.28 g/cm 3 . Io's surface appears yellowish-red. Apparently, it is abundantly covered with sulfur. There is a rarefied atmosphere around Io, and sulfur dioxide has so far been confidently found in it. Images of Io from spacecraft reveal more than a hundred craters with a diameter of about 25 km, apparently temporarily dormant volcanoes. There are scarps and other traces of tectonic activity on Io. According to some models, Io has oceans of molten sulfur with a solid silicate bottom. In any case, Io is very rich in sulfur and it is possible that, along with the subsurface sulfur ocean, there are sulfur lakes and sulfur rivers flowing on the surface of Io. The amazing, exotic world of Io is still waiting for its explorers.

The remaining two giant moons - Titan and Triton - have been studied much less well than the main satellites of Jupiter. Around Titan (diameter 5120 km), which is 1.5 times larger in diameter and 1.8 times larger in mass than the Moon, an atmosphere was discovered back in 1947, but its composition was only recently determined. Its main part is nitrogen, and methane CH 4 is present as impurities and the presence of gases such as hydrogen, ethane, acetylene and others is possible. Titan is poorly visible from Earth, and therefore statements about its nature are speculative. The surface layers of Titan may be a crust of ordinary water ice with impurities of solidified methane and ammonia. The temperature on its surface is not known exactly, but if it rises there to 180 ° C, then liquid methane and ammonia, soluble in water, can be found on the surface of Titan. According to some calculations, 60% of Titan's mass consists of an aqueous solution of ammonia, and the rest is mainly silicates. However, a reliable model of Titan has not yet been created.

Even less is known about Triton. It is certainly larger than the Moon (its diameter is at least 4400 km), although its main parameters need clarification. It is possible that Triton's mass is at least three times that of the Moon. The average density of Triton is also high (at least 4 g/cm3). However, according to some estimates, Triton’s diameter is 6000 km and its density is 1.2 g/cm 3 . If this is so, then Triton's structure is very loose. The spectrum of this moon contains methane and it is possible that these are traces of a gaseous methane atmosphere. The surface on Triton can be stone or silicate. Of course, these conclusions are preliminary and require clarification.

The remaining satellites of the planets are significantly inferior to the Moon both in size and mass. The largest of them, Rhea (satellite of Saturn), has a diameter of close to 1600 km; the smallest, Deimos (satellite of Mars), has a maximum diameter of only 16 km. All these bodies are devoid of atmospheres, their surfaces are pitted with craters, and many have irregular shape. The above applies not only to the tiny satellites of Mars, but even to such a relatively large satellite of Jupiter as Amalthea (dimensions 130 × 75 km). We know very little about their composition and, especially, their internal structure. In essence, the study of the world of moons is just beginning.

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, many bodies called minor planets or asteroids revolve around the Sun. The last term translated means “star-like”. Indeed, even in large telescopes, small planets look like stars without a noticeable disk, and only their own motion against the background of real stars reveals their true nature. The first asteroids were discovered at the beginning of the last century, and since the middle of the century, thanks to the progress of telescopic technology, hundreds of asteroids began to be discovered. By the end of 1981, 2,474 asteroids had been cataloged, and there is every reason to believe that this list will continue. It is theoretically calculated that there should be more than a million bodies in the asteroid belt with a diameter exceeding 1 km! The number of even smaller asteroids is incalculably large.

Rice. 15. Orbits of some planets and asteroids.

About 98% of all asteroids have orbits between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter (Fig. 15). The rest go beyond these limits. Moving in highly elongated elliptical orbits, some of the smaller planets come twice as close to the Sun as Mercury. Others go beyond the orbit of Saturn. In 1977, an asteroid was discovered orbiting the Sun between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. It is no coincidence that asteroids are also called minor planets. Only 14 of them have diameters exceeding 250 km. The rest only resemble large planets in the shape of their orbits, and most of them have an irregular, fragmented shape, similar to asteroids and meteorites. In essence, we call meteorites those asteroids that collide with the Earth and fall to its surface.

The largest asteroids are Ceres (1000 km across), Pallas (610 km), Vesta (540 km), Hygiea (450 km). We still know very little about them (as well as about other asteroids). It is indisputable, however, that their interiors do not have a layered structure, like those of large planets. Rather, they are similar to meteorites in both density and composition. Some of the asteroids have a density of about 2 g/cm3 and in this respect resemble stone meteorites, others are much denser (7–8 g/cm3) and are similar to iron-nickel meteorites. There are also those that are similar to carbon dioxide hodrites - varieties of stone meteorites, very rich in organic substances.

The surface of the largest asteroid, Ceres, is covered with minerals similar to clay. It, like other asteroids, is devoid of an atmosphere, but sometimes gases are released from its depths and Ceres becomes a kind of comet. However, the similarity here is purely external, since the solid part of comets (their nuclei) are loose blocks of ice (water, methane and ammonia) with an admixture of small solid particles. Their diameters do not exceed several kilometers.

We still don’t know anything reliably about the interiors of small planets. It is most correct to study this problem in conjunction with laboratory studies of meteorites, which will make it possible to clarify the origin of asteroids, which is still a subject of debate. One thing is certain: small planets are fragments of larger bodies, perhaps comparable in size to terrestrial planets, and the process of fragmentation of asteroids during mutual collisions continues to this day.

The asteroid belt is the main supplier of fine solid dust in the Solar System. This dust does not permanently remain in the role of “microplanets,” i.e., satellites of the Sun. If the diameter of a dust grain is less than 10 -5 cm, then it is swept away from the Solar System by the pressure of solar rays. This also happens with particles with a diameter equal to 10 -5 cm, but they fly away from the Sun not in hyperbolas, but in straight lines. And here are the particles bigger size the sun's rays cannot be driven out of the solar system. They only slow down their flight around the Sun and the particles, in full accordance with the laws of celestial mechanics, fall onto the Sun.

Main process, taking place in the noosphere, is a steady, ever accelerating accumulation of information. It is information that today is already recognized by humanity as the greatest wealth that belongs to it, as its main, continuously increasing capital. The amount of information characterizes the degree of diversity of a given object and the level of its organization. By intelligently influencing the nature around him, man creates a second, artificial “nature”, characterized by greater orderliness, and therefore more information, than habitat. The accumulation of such production information in the noosphere is the result of human production activity, the result of the interaction of nature and society.

But society is capable of accumulating information not only in the means and products of labor, but also in the system scientific knowledge. By learning about the world, a person enriches himself and the noosphere scientific information. This means that the source of information accumulation in the noosphere is the transformative and cognitive activity of man. “The main process of accumulation of information in the noosphere,” says A.D. Ursul, “is associated with the assimilation of diversity due to the external nature surrounding society, as a result of which the volume and mass of the noosphere can increase unlimitedly.”

The expansion of the noosphere into space is currently expressed in the receipt of scientific information about space with the help of astronauts and automata. There is no doubt, however, that over time space production will also arise, i.e., the practical exploration of celestial bodies, the remaking of one’s neighbor, and perhaps deep space by the will of man. Then production information will also come from space, the first rudiments of which, in principle, already exist (for example, exploration of the lunar interior, study of lunar soil). Near space will eventually become a habitat and labor activity person. The noosphere will first cover the celestial bodies closest to the Earth, and then, perhaps, the entire solar system. How will this happen? What are the near and long-term prospects for space exploration?

Already today thousands of satellites orbit the Earth. Long-term orbital stations with shift personnel began to operate in near-Earth orbits. In the future, some of them will probably take over the functions of refueling stations for interplanetary manned rockets. It will also become possible to assemble spacecraft in low-Earth orbits from blocks previously delivered to the “construction” area. A family of satellites of different types and purposes will provide humanity with constant scientific information about events in space and on Earth.

Already three celestial bodies (the Moon, Venus and Mars) have temporarily acquired their own artificial satellites before our eyes. The creation of such satellites is apparently an inevitable stage in the exploration of planets (along with the preliminary sending of probes to the vicinity of the studied celestial body and on its surface). There is every reason to think that this sequence will continue into the future, so that by the end of the century, perhaps, most planets will be monitored by the watchful eyes of their artificial satellites.

Lunar rovers and Mars rovers (and planetary rovers in general), along with automatic stationary stations that softly landed on the surface of the celestial bodies being studied, will become the third line of automatic machines (after “fly-by” probes with a hard landing) studying neighboring worlds. There is no doubt that their improvement will lead to the emergence of space automata that will be able to perform almost any task in space, in particular, taking off from planets and returning to Earth (as, for example, it was on the Moon). There are no fundamentally insoluble difficulties on this path, but there are huge technical problems, the main one of which, perhaps, is the creation of compact, lightweight and at the same time effective traction systems.

The advantages of space automata are obvious. They are not as sensitive to the harsh space environment as humans, and their use does not risk human casualties. Interplanetary automatic stations are much lighter than manned spacecraft, and this provides economic benefits during launch. Although there are other advantages of automata over humans, the exploration of the solar system will, of course, be carried out not only by automata, but also by people. And here you can find many analogies from earthly experience.

Exploration of Antarctica began with voyages near its shores. They were followed by short landings on the shore and expeditions inland all the way to the South Pole. Finally, before our eyes, permanent research stations (with shift personnel) have settled in Antarctica. It is possible that over time the systematic settlement of Antarctica will begin, accompanied by a change in its nature in a direction favorable for humans.

The moon is much harsher than Antarctica. But although it is separated from the Earth by more than a third of a million kilometers, it has begun to develop at a much faster pace than the southernmost earthly continent. At first (since 1959), space probes flew near the Moon. Then the first artificial satellites appeared around the Moon. They were followed by hard landings. Finally, the spacecraft gently descended onto the lunar surface, prefacing the first lunar expeditions with this reconnaissance of the neighboring world. What will happen next is not difficult to predict. After a series of new expeditions of lunar rovers and cosmonauts, which will collect sufficiently detailed information about the neighboring world, first temporary, then permanent scientific stations will probably appear on the Moon. The next step in the exploration of the Moon will probably be expressed in its gradual settlement, in the creation of permanent power plants, in the development of the lunar industry, in the widespread use of local resources of matter and energy.

There are two ways for a person to adapt to the hostile conditions of the space environment. In the cabins of spaceships, life support systems create a miniature “branch of the Earth”, earthly comfort. On a microscale, spacesuits perform the same function. In the first stages of exploration of the Moon and other celestial bodies, this technique will continue to remain the only possible one. But, “having gained a foothold on the Moon, having built the first lunar dwellings, the nature of the life support system reminiscent of the cabins of spaceships, humanity may begin to reorganize the Moon itself, to artificially create an environment suitable for habitation on it on a global scale. In other words, not a passive adaptation to the external hostile space environment, but its change in a direction favorable to man, an active alteration external environment in an “Earth-like” spirit - this is the second way to ensure the possibility of human settlement in space.

Of course, the second path is more difficult than the first. In some cases it is not feasible or, to be more careful, it seems impossible within the framework of the technology known to us. For example, creating a permanent atmosphere around the Moon using gases obtained artificially from lunar rocks seems to be an unrealistic, fantastic project, mainly due to the weakness of lunar gravity. The gravity on the lunar surface is 6 times less than the earth's and the artificial lunar atmosphere should quickly evaporate. But the same project for Mars is completely feasible in principle, and one can think that someday the efforts of mankind will turn Mars into a second small Earth.

Of all the planets in the solar system, Mars is likely to be the first to be “colonized.” No matter how severe its lunar-like appearance, unexpectedly revealed by astronautics for astronomers, nevertheless, in terms of its totality of characteristics, Mars is closest to Earth. Manned flights to Mars and the landing of the first expedition on Mars are planned until 2000. However, Mars has already acquired artificial satellites and Soviet automatic stations have softly descended onto its surface. This happened just a few years after reaching a similar stage in the study of the Moon, despite the fact that even at its closest approach to the Earth, Mars is almost 150 times further than the Moon - a significant fact, again illustrating the unusually rapid progress of astronautics.

If we had an engine that would give the spacecraft an acceleration of 9.8 m/s 2 throughout the entire flight to Mars, then we could get to Mars in just a week. Now you can’t even see the approach to technical solution such a task, but can it be said that in the future the means of interplanetary communications will remain the same as today? However, if we are talking about Mars, then even with the current level of technology its exploration is quite possible. It is likely that the settlement of Mars will be preceded by the same stages as the settlement of the Moon. But we know this distant world much worse than the neighboring celestial body, and surprises are sure to await us on Mars. For this reason (and also because of the remoteness of Mars), its exploration will likely take longer than exploration of the Moon.

The latest data about Venus does not encourage us to visit it, much less settle it. A pressure of 10 MPa at a temperature of 500 °C is what is typical for the surface of Venus. Add to this a constant dense veil of clouds, creating twilight on the surface of the planet even at noon, winds in a suffocating atmosphere of carbon dioxide, probably a complete absence of water and, finally, possibly powerful volcanic eruptions - such is the situation on Venus, in comparison with which fantastic pictures of hell illustrate the poverty of human imagination. Of course, research on Venus will continue, in particular probing of its surface. But an expedition to Venus, at least in the foreseeable future, is out of the question.

The extreme planets of the solar system - Mercury and Pluto - clearly demonstrate the extremes in the physical situation on the planets. On the day side of Mercury, temperatures at noon can rise to 510 °C. Temperatures on poorly studied Pluto appear to always be close to absolute zero. Both planets are significantly smaller in size than Earth. To an observer on Mercury, the Sun appears 2.5 times larger in diameter than from Earth. In the sky of Pluto, the Sun is only the brightest star, although it illuminates Pluto 50 times more powerfully than the Moon does on the Earth during a full moon. Both planets will undoubtedly be studied by automata in the relatively near future. They will turn out to be convenient objects for the operation of long-term automatic scientific stations on their surface. As for expeditions to Mercury and Pluto, if they take place, it will most likely only be in the distant future: the situation on these planets is too unusual and hostile for earthly creatures and it is unlikely that they will ever be inhabited by humans.

Even more unsuitable for this purpose (or better yet, completely unsuitable) are the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They mainly consist of hydrogen (in the free state and in combination with nitrogen and carbon). It is possible that they do not have solid surfaces at all in the terrestrial sense of the word, that is, they are entirely gaseous, although in the depths of giant planets the densities of gases can be very high. These bodies, by their physical nature, occupy an intermediate position between stars and terrestrial planets. They are somewhat below the mass of stars and therefore their interiors are not hot enough for the proton-proton cycle to occur. They are distinguished from terrestrial planets by the abundance of light elements with an extremely small proportion of heavy ones. Their atmospheres, consisting of hydrogen, methane and ammonia, are enormously thick, and the large mass of the giant planets causes enormous pressure in the depths of their atmospheres.

Probing of the giant planets by spacecraft has already begun (flights of the Pioneer-10 and Pioneer-11 vehicles). With some favorable location of the giant planets, it is possible to send a probe that in a relatively short time (about nine years) can fly around all the giant planets, whereas a normal flight to Neptune alone would take about 30 years. The secret of this project, called “interplanetary billiards,” is that the probe is accelerated in the vicinity of the giant planets by their gravitational field. Each of the planets acts as an accelerator, which significantly reduces the flight time. Using this method, American automatic stations have already examined Saturn and Uranus. It is, of course, quite possible to send automatic probes into the atmospheres of these planets and to create artificial satellites around them (as around Venus, Mercury and Pluto). Instead of the physically impossible settlement of giant planets, perhaps humanity will use these bodies as practically inexhaustible fuel reserves for future thermonuclear reactors.

The main ones natural satellites giant planets are comparable in size to Mercury and even Mars. Some of them are surrounded by an atmosphere consisting of methane and carbon dioxide. They are more similar to the Earth than their planets, and it is possible that the exploration of these bodies will follow the same path as the exploration of the Moon and Mars. The organization of scientific stations and fuel refueling bases on the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn may become necessary when exploring the outskirts of the solar system. In principle, all satellites of the planets are accessible not only to automatic machines, but also to astronauts.

Minor planets (asteroids) and comets will probably not be avoided by humanity. On largest asteroids and satellites of the planets, landing of both people and automatic machines is possible. Smaller bodies may be of interest as sources of fuel for space rockets(comet nuclei are composed of frozen ices of water, methane and ammonia) or as mineral resources (asteroids). It is quite possible that the future will pose challenges for humanity that we have not the slightest idea about.

The exploration of the solar system is not only about flying to planets and their satellites, but also about populating some of them with people and automata. Our planet Earth will also have to be remade according to the tastes and requirements of humanity. We don’t like everything in our “cosmic cradle”. While humanity was in an “infant” state, we had to put up with this. But now humanity has “matured” so much that it has not only left its “cradle”, but also felt the strength to radically remake its own planet.

There is no shortage of artificial climate change projects. For example, it is proposed to block the Bering Strait with a dam and pump it with nuclear pumps warm water Pacific Ocean Arctic Ocean. There are many projects to change the direction of the Gulf Stream, in particular using it to warm the North American coast. There are projects to “revive” the Sahara and other desert areas of the Earth. All these projects have one drawback in common - they poorly take into account the consequences of the implementation of each project, while they can turn out to be catastrophic (for example, the turn of the Gulf Stream to the coast of North America will cause glaciation of Europe). Projects of extensive reservoirs, new canals and, in general, any major artificial changes in the physical nature of the Earth, including artificial reduction of cloudiness or abundant sprinkling, suffer from the same defects.

There is no doubt that man will remake the Earth in his own way, but this remaking must be preceded by a thorough, scientifically based prediction of the consequences of human intervention in the established balance of natural phenomena. Not yet able to remake its own planet, humanity is nevertheless discussing radical projects to remake the entire solar system. Our self-confidence can, perhaps, be justified by the fact that the implementation of these projects is a matter of the distant future, an incredibly difficult task for which we must prepare in advance.

In astronomy, it is traditional to call planets celestial lands. The convention of this term is now obvious: even in our solar system, strictly speaking, not a single planet is like the Earth. Remaking the solar system, apparently as main goal will pursue the correction of this “lack of nature.” To put it more clearly, humanity will probably build artificial, habitable structures around the Sun that make maximum use of the planets' material reserves and the life-giving energy of the Sun. We find the origins of this idea in K.E. Tsiolkovsky in his project to create artificial planets terrestrial type or much smaller “space greenhouses”. From a (purely quantitative) point of view, the supply of matter in the giant planets alone would be enough to produce several hundred “artificial earths” or several hundred thousand “cosmic greenhouses.” In principle, it would be possible to transfer all of them to orbits closer to the Sun. The trouble is that giant planets are not qualitatively suitable for this purpose: you cannot build “artificial earths” from hydrogen or other gases (unless, of course, this construction is preceded by thermonuclear fusion of heavy elements).

Some authors (I.B. Bestuzhev-Lada and, independently of him, F. Dyson) proposed surrounding the Sun with a gigantic artificial sphere, on the inside of which to place humanity, which was very numerous by that time. Such a sphere would completely capture the radiation of the Sun and this energy would become one of the main energy bases former earthlings (“former” because the construction of such a sphere would, perhaps, have to use up the substance of all the planets, including the Earth). Several years ago, it was shown that a Dyson sphere is dynamically unstable and therefore unsuitable for habitation.

Some projects propose, without leaving our “cradle” and “without pulverizing it,” to build up the Earth from the outside using the substance of other planets. Obviously, with such an increase in more and more new floors, the force of gravity will progressively increase, which will greatly complicate not only the construction of a “new Earth”, but also the habitation of excessively “heavy” people on it. In the projects of Professor G.I. Pokrovsky instead of the Dyson sphere proposes stable solid dynamic structures, which, perhaps, will be created around the Sun from the substance of the planets. In all these projects, which seem completely fantastic, the basic idea is certainly true: the exploration of the solar system by humanity will be completed only when it fully and in the most convenient way uses the matter and energy of this system. Then the noosphere will probably occupy the entire circumsolar space.

The modern stage of astronautics is characterized by the creation of generations of orbital stations of gradually more complex designs. These are the Soviet stations “Salyut” and “Mir”. The American scientist O'Neill has developed projects for very large habitable space structures of the cylindrical type. It is assumed that tens of thousands of earthlings will be able to live in such orbital stations, where an earth-like environment should be created. Of course, O'Neill's intention to gradually move into his "cylinders" looks utopian » most of the Earth's population, but there can hardly be any doubt that such super-large orbital stations will appear in near-Earth orbits. It is typical that at such stations, due to their rotation, artificial gravity will be created. The period of frivolous fascination with weightlessness has long passed. It became obvious that weightlessness is a serious obstacle to the widespread exploration of the Solar System. With prolonged weightlessness, the number of red blood cells in the blood decreases, calcium salts leave the body, which gradually destroys the skeleton, so the fight against weightlessness is just beginning.

Remaking the solar system requires enormous amounts of energy. Today it is clear that this energy will be provided by extraterrestrial orbital solar power plants. Outside the atmosphere they will be constantly illuminated by the Sun and bad weather won't bother them. It may be advisable to first convert solar energy into electromagnetic energy ( microwave radiation), which is then transmitted to Earth using a reflector. Engineering projects of orbital solar power plants show that tomorrow it is possible to create such stations in orbits that will not be inferior in power to the largest hydroelectric power stations on earth. Y. Golovanov talks about this convincingly and fascinatingly in his book “The Architecture of Weightlessness,” which the author warmly recommends to the reader.

Thus, today humanity already has the means necessary to explore the solar system. It is known that this development is part of the famous plan of K.E. Tsiolkovsky on space exploration in general. How realistic are K.E.’s plans? Tsiolkovsky in philosophical terms, described in the book of the famous Soviet philosopher Academician A.D. Ursula. Before our eyes, according to the logic of the development of astronautics, an industry is emerging in space. One of its immediate tasks is to use the resources of the planetary interior.

The subsoil played a role in the evolution of life on Earth important role. As already mentioned, the very emergence of life on our planet was apparently caused by the eruption of the contents of the earth’s interior onto the surface (hypotheses of E.K. Markhinin and L.M. Mukhin). When, in the course of evolution, civilization reached a sufficiently high technical level, it began wide use earth's bowels Nowadays, it has become obvious to everyone that the resources of the Earth, alas, are exhaustible and that, say, the reserve of fuel in the bowels of the earth (if current rates of production growth are maintained) will last humanity at most for 100–150 years, and oil - even less. K.E. spoke correctly. Tsiolkovsky that only our ignorance forces us to use fossil fuels. Consequently, humanity will have to switch from fossil fuels to other types of energy (for example, solar) in the next century. Turning to the bodies of the Solar System, we first of all state that the interiors of the planets and their large satellites are rich deposits of minerals. Industrial development of subsoil will probably begin from the Moon. In various projects, it is assumed that the Moon will primarily mine the metals necessary for construction: aluminum and titanium, as well as silicon. According to O'Neil's project, electromagnetic catapults will be able to transfer mined materials from the Moon to the construction area. According to his calculations, 150 people are enough to send a million tons of raw materials and supplies from the Moon. It is assumed that a special “trap” will be built in space that will grab the lunar parcels needed for “ethereal settlements.” How serious these projects are is evidenced by the fact that O’Neill’s projects were recently reviewed and approved by NASA specialists, who published the official document “Space Civilization - Design Study,” in which all of O’Neill’s calculations were recognized as correct ". There is no doubt that, following the example of the Moon, the raw materials resources of other planets will begin to be developed over time. Earth-type planets have subsoil resources that are probably similar to those on Earth. The main wealth of giant planets is the abundance of hydrogen, which is practically inexhaustible for thermonuclear installations.

Among the asteroids there may be those that contain large reserves of iron or other metals. Already today there are projects to tow such asteroids to the vicinity of the Earth, where they will undergo careful development. Soviet scientist A.T. Ulubekov thoroughly investigated the issue of the wealth of extraterrestrial resources. This work shows that humanity, according to K.E. Tsiolkovsky, can indeed acquire an “abyss of power” in the course of the systematic exploration of the Solar system. Back in 1905 K.E. Tsiolkovsky in his work “A jet device as a means of flight in emptiness and the atmosphere” wrote: “Working on jet devices, I had peaceful and lofty goals: to conquer the Universe for the benefit of man, to conquer space and energy “emitted by the Sun.” But on the way to this bright future these days, dark forces of evil stand in the way, threatening to destroy all life on our planet.

See Pokrovsky G.I. Architecture in space. - In the book: Inhabited space. - M.: Nauka, 1972, p. 345–352.

See Siegel F.Yu. Cities in orbit. - M.: Children's literature, 1980.

Golovanov Y.K. Zero gravity architecture. - M.: Mechanical Engineering, 1985.

Ursul A.D. Humanity, Earth, Universe. - M.: Mysl, 1977.

Ulubekov A.T. Wealths of extraterrestrial resources. - M.: Knowledge, 1984.

Water is a fairly common substance in the Universe, found both in vast scattered clouds and on distant exoplanets. Frozen glaciers are found on the Moon and at the Martian poles, and even in the eternal shadow of deep craters on Mercury. However, for water to become the life-bearing moisture that we are used to seeing on Earth, it must be liquid. And in this form it is much less common.

Apart from our planet, until now it was reliably known about the presence of a liquid ocean on only one body in the solar system, Jupiter’s satellite Europa. This week, however, water has arrived in Earth's vicinity: spacecraft observations have revealed that vast, salty oceans lie deep beneath the icy shells of Ganymede and Enceladus.

Enceladus was examined by the Cassini probe operating in the Saturn system, which discovered microscopic - even nano-sized, ranging from 6 to 9 nm - silicate granules on its icy surface. It took astronomers several years to analyze these data, during which they conducted computer simulations, And laboratory experiments, which made it possible to work out different scenarios for the appearance of these minerals on the surface of Enceladus.

As a result of this painstaking work, scientists have shown that the most likely scenario requires the presence of a vast ocean in the southern hemisphere of this satellite - an ocean that breaks through to the surface from time to time. “We conducted a methodical search for possible explanations for the origin of the nanogranules, but everything points to a single, most likely scenario,” explained German astrophysicist Frank Postberg, who works with Cassini data.

Enceladus in cross-section: a liquid ocean of water breaks through tens of kilometers of ice with hot geysers. Image: NASA/JPL

Moving in the powerful gravitational field of Saturn, Enceladus is subjected to intense tidal forces, which cause its deformation and create friction, heating the interior to very significant temperatures. This heating allows the existence of the ocean, hidden under 30–40 km of ice crust; moreover, according to scientists, the water temperature in it should exceed 90 ° C. Boiling water dissolves bottom minerals, becomes salty, and sometimes breaks through the ice crust with hot geysers, carrying dissolved substances with it. On the surface, water quickly freezes and then evaporates, leaving behind only tiny fragments of silicates.

Interestingly, similar hydrothermal activity is known on Earth. Such geysers create a very “rich” chemistry, in which heat and active mixing is combined with a variety of minerals and contact of different environments. This makes them promising candidates for the role of the "cradle of life" - and, in theory, they could play the same role on Enceladus. Against the background of the complex mission planned in the United States to Europa, where it will be possible to conduct a search for possible life, new information about Enceladus may be especially useful.

However, Ganymede may become no less promising - largest satellite near Jupiter and throughout the solar system. There have been indications before that a vast ocean lies beneath its icy crust, which is about 150 km thick. However, its existence has now been confirmed by the keenest eye of modern optical astronomy, space telescope Hubble.

The diameter of Ganymede exceeds 5200 km, so its interior was differentiated under the influence of its own gravity. Heavier elements - primarily iron - managed to form a semi-liquid core, which, as on Earth and some other planets, creates a global magnetic field on the satellite. One of the manifestations of this magnetic field is the familiar auroras, which arise when the magnetic field interacts with charged particles arriving at Ganymede from space. These auroras were observed by German and American scientists using Hubble.

The behavior of auroras here is determined not only by the satellite’s own magnetic field, but also by the field of the neighboring giant planet. And if there is an ocean with dissolved salts under Ganymede's thick icy crust, Jupiter's magnetic field should interact with it, and this interaction should manifest itself in suppressing the movement of auroras.

After simulating various scenarios, the scientists compared these results with data from Hubble observations, showing that the real picture confirms the existence of an ocean, and a very vast one at that. According to their calculations, its depth should be about 100 km, and in total it contains more water than all of Earth's oceans combined.