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Chapter 7- Minor Bodies of the Solar System

7.1 Introduction
* Minor Bodies – asteroids and comets- although small compared to the planets, have an important role in shaping the appearance ofplanetary surfaces
* The study of fragments of asteroids that land on Earth as meteorites gives us information on the elemental abundances of the material that formed the Solar Nebula
* Thestudy of comets gives us information about the processes involved in the formation of the solar system
* Orbits of bodies in the solar system is important because:
* Due to the gravitationalinfluence of the planets, the orbits of minor bodies can change significantly and rapidly enough to transport the minor bodies from one region of the solar system to another
* It is key inunderstanding the motion of the planets, their satellites, tidal heating process, and the structure of the ring systems around giant planets

7.2 Orbits and Kepler’s Laws
* Kepler worked at a time whenit was believed that the orbits of celestial bodies were based on circles and when absolute distances of planets from the sun and Earth were unknown.
* He observed the movements of Mars, andrealized that the motion of mars could be described by an ellipse.
* Because of this observation, he came up with Kepler’s Laws, which apply not only to the movements of planets around the sun but alsoto all bodies orbiting under the influence of gravity.
* First Law: Planets move in elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus.
* Perihelion- the point that is closest to the Sun
*Aphelion- the point that is furthest from the Sun
* Perihelion distance- Sun to perihelion
* Aphelion distance- Sun to aphelion
* If the value of the perihelion distance is held constant, andthe eccentricity is increased, then the semi major axis (and thus the aphelion distance) must also increase:
* Second Law: A line connecting the Sun to a planet would sweep out equal areas of...