Quote:
Originally Posted by Quark
Hi renormalised,
Thanks.
Interesting things are happening within the atmosphere. The Cassini RPWS team are hoping to gain a greater understanding of these processes by analysing the data from their instrument.
Saturn is a net emitter of energy, it emits more energy than it absorbs from the Sun. It should be cooler than it is. Being smaller than Jupiter it should have cooled quicker. Another interesting point is the levels of helium in the atmosphere are way lower than they should be.
It is thought that Saturn did, in fact, cool down quicker than Jupiter and that this cooling condensed the helium that was originally in the upper atmosphere.
The condensed helium fell deeper into the planet, during this process, the gravitational energy of the raining out of the helium was turned into heat energy, (not to sure about the physics involved in this process) however such a process is thought to be able to account quite well for the amount of heat being emitted by Saturn.
Swinburne accepted my enrolment in their Graduate Certificate of Science in Astronomy program, this is post graduate but I got in based on my 20 years experience as an amateur, at the time. There was also the proviso that to maintain my enrolment I had to achieve a minimum of credit passes.
Initially I was full of trepidation and felt like a fish out of water, however the Swinburne unit instructors and project supervisors that I encountered were very supportive and in the end I really thrived on it and will never forget the experience.
I did one unit per semester and after two years of very hard work graduated with straight High Distinctions, my lowest unit mark being 91.
One day I may return and do my Masters but at the moment my sons education is much more important than that of an old fossil
Regards
Trevor
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Trevor....yeah, I know about Saturn and it's physical characteristics. The physics involved with the raining helium has to do with thermodynamics and kinetic energy (essentially the gravitational energy converted into energy of motion) generated by the falling helium. As it falls through the rest of the atmosphere, some of the KE becomes converted into heat. That heat becomes transfered into the surrounding atmosphere and generates all the phenomena we see.....which is basically it, rather simply put. Fortunately, the description of the process is far easier to follow than the maths!!!!.
Great to see you did so well in your certificate course and that the lecturers and tutors were so helpful. It can be daunting going to uni, whether it's on campus or external. Especially when you haven't been in that sort of environment for a long time.
You know, you could go back and do your Masters if you want to. You can get FEE-HELP assistance, and it might be fun for your son to know his Dad is at "school" too
. He could tease you about your homework and having to get it done on time and all.... I can imagine it, your son coming up to you and saying, "Hey, Dad, you done your homework???...no TV for you until you do"
