Term
| Give three reasons why we study other planets. |
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Definition
1.Learn about the origins of life on our own planet.
2. Learn about where we come from.
3. Learn about geology and the origin of Earth features.
4. Seek out other planets with life. |
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Term
| The uniting theme in astronomy about how the Universe began is contained in what theory. |
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Definition
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Term
| Where is most of the mass in the solar system located? |
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Definition
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Term
| How do astronomers believe the planets are formed? |
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Definition
| Rocks and gases trapped in the gravitational pull of the beginning of the solar system joined together. Small rocks built into larger rocks, larger rocks built into boulders etc. Gases were trapped that became the atmosphere. |
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Term
| Name the four inner planets in order from closest to the sun. |
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Definition
| Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. |
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Term
| Which of the inner planets have moons and what are they called? |
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Definition
Earth--The moon.
Mars--Phobus and Deimos |
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Term
| Name the outer planets in order from closest to the sun. |
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Definition
| Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. |
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Term
Which planet is the densest?
Which planet is the least dense? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is another name for the inner planets that also describe the core? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is another name for the outer planets that also describes their atmosphere? |
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Definition
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Term
| Which planet is the coldest and which is the hottest? |
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Definition
| Neptune is the coldest and Venus is the hottest. |
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Term
| What is the temperature range in the universe? |
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Definition
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Term
| John weighs 72.57 kg (160 lbs) on Earth and he is 18 years old. He is going to travel this year to Jupiter (gravitational pull 2.54, Revolution period 11.86 Earth years). What will be his weight, age and mass? |
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Definition
| Weight 171.5, Age 1.52, mass 72.57 kg. |
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Term
| John weighs 72.57 kg (160 lbs) on Earth and he is 18 years old. He is going to travel this year to Mercury (gravitational pull 0.38, Revolution period 87.9 Earth days). What will be his weight, age and mass? |
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Definition
| Weight 27.58 kg. Age 4.16, mass 72.57 kg. |
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Term
| What planet could float in a glass of water if the glass were really, really, really big? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why would you expect Mercury to be the hottest planet? Why isn't Mercury the hottest planet? |
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Definition
| It's closest to the sun. The sun has burned off and blown off Mercury's atmosphere. |
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Term
| Just based on its distance from the sun, scientists would expect Venus to be about 90 degrees hotter than the Earth. Instead it is about 400 degrees hotter. How we can explain the extreme heat? |
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Definition
| Green house gases especially Carbon dioxide which makes up 97% of the Venetian atmosphere. |
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Term
| Why do we commonly see impact craters on other planets and moons but we rarely see them on Earth? |
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Definition
| The existence of running water and an atmosphere on Earth causes erosion from wind and rain. Also Earth's atmosphere protects us from most objects that would collide with the Earth. |
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Term
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Definition
| Impact craters that either now or at one time were filled with lava. |
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Term
| What are wrinkle ridges and how are they formed? |
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Definition
| Structures on Mercury that look like wrinkles believed to be caused by the shrinking of the surface following the cooling of the core. |
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Term
| What is the "weird terrain" and how is it caused? |
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Definition
| The weird terrain is an area of Mercury that is oddly rippled believed to be caused by impact on the other side of the planet that caused seismic ripples that spread throughout the planet. |
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Term
| What is the average temperature on Venus? |
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Definition
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Term
| Clouds on Venus are made of... |
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Definition
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Term
| Earth and Venus are the only two planets in the solar system that are... |
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Definition
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Term
| Is there wind on Venus? If so how fast does it move? |
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Definition
| Yes, it moves about 7 miles per hour |
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Term
| Name three unique features of the Earth. |
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Definition
Life
Mountain Chains
Tectonic Plates
Running liquid water |
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Term
| How do living organisms contribute to Earth's atmosphere? |
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Definition
Bacteria fix Nitrogen
Plants produce oxygen
Animals produce carbon dioxide. |
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Term
| Describe the moon's atmosphere? |
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Definition
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Term
| When we look at the moon and we see bright and dark areas, what are the bright areas called and what are the dark areas called? |
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Definition
| The light areas are called highlands and the dark areas are called Marias. |
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Term
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Definition
| Smooth,low lying plains with relatively few craters. |
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Term
| Are most of the craters on the moon in highlands or the lowlands? What do we call the lowlands on the moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| Can we ever see the entire moon from the Earth? Why or why not? |
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Definition
| No, the moon only rotates once as it revolves around the earth so the same side of the moon is always facing the Earth. |
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Term
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Definition
| A ditch on the surface of the moon where molten lava flowed in years past. |
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Term
| Explain how scientists believe the moon formed. |
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Definition
| Something about the size of Mercury crssed into the Earth and caused the moon to break off. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Grand Canyon of Mars. |
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Term
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Definition
| 10 km high and 8,000 km across, it is believed to be a lava plateau the size of North America. |
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Term
| Why can the outer planets be so much bigger than the inner planets? |
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Definition
| The inner planets are limited in growth by their high density dictated by a rocky core. The outer planets are mostly gas and have very low densities. |
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Term
| What is the name of the largest volcano in the solar system,where is it located and why is it so large? |
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Definition
| Olympus Mons on Mars; Because Mars has no tectonic plates volcanic activity stays concentrated on what spot so instead of long volcanic mountain chains we have a few very high volcanoes. |
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Term
| What is a rampart crater? |
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Definition
| A specific type of Martian impact crater that indicates possible evidence of liquid water on Mars. |
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Term
| Why do scientists always search for liquid water when they study other planets, solar systems and moons? |
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Definition
| Liquid water is the best indicator we know of for the possibility of life. |
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Term
Name 3 pieces of evidence that water is or at least was on Mars in liquid form.
What other explanation could there be for these features besides water flow? |
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Definition
1.Discovery of gullies formed by rock and sediment.
Discovery of canals.
Discovery of rampart craters that show evidence of water below the surface.
Lava flow could be another explanation. |
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Term
| Instead of rocky cores and Nitrogen / Oxygen / Carbon atmospheres the outer planets are composed of ... |
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Definition
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Term
What are the main gases found on Jupiter and Saturn?
What are the main gases found on Uranus and Neptune? |
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Definition
The main gases found on Jupiter and Saturn are Hydrogen and Helium.
The main gases found on Uranus and Neptune are Hydrogen, Helium, Methane, Ammonia and Water. |
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Term
| Which planets have rings? |
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Definition
| Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. |
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Term
| What is different about the rings of Saturn and Jupiter and the rings of Uranus and Neptune? |
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Definition
| The rings of Saturn and Jupiter are colorful ice crystals. The rings of Uranus and Neptune are dull because they are made from rock and carbon. |
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Term
| What is similar about the great dark spot on Neptune and the great red spot on Jupiter? |
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Definition
| They are areas where tremendous storms have been going on for hundreds of years. |
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Term
| Name the four Galilean moons from largest to smallest. These are the moons of what planet? |
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Definition
Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa
Jupiter |
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Term
| What moons are larger than the planet mercury and what planet does each orbit? |
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Definition
| Mercury is 4,879 km,Ganymede which orbits Jupiter is 5,276 km and Titan which orbits Saturn is 5,150 km. Callisto which also orbits Jupiter is almost as large as Mercury at 4,800 km. |
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Term
| Name the most volcanically active celestial body. |
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Definition
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Term
| Which moon do scientists believe could have life? Why? |
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Definition
| Europa has evidence of a liquid ocean beneath its icy shell. |
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Term
| Iapetus is a moon of what planet? What is unique about it? |
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Definition
| Saturn. One side is dark and the other is bright. |
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Term
| True or false: All satellites are moons. |
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Definition
| False, satellites are objects that orbit a planet. On Earth we have man made satellites for radio, television, weather, cell phones etc. |
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Term
| The largest moon of Uranus is called? |
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Definition
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Term
| The largest moon of Neptune is? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is different about the tilt of the axis of Uranus? What caused this tilt? |
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Definition
| It is tilted 98 degrees. A planet sized object collided with it. |
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Term
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Definition
| A sun and planets that orbit around it. |
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Term
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Definition
| A group of solar systems connected by a common gravity. |
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Term
| According to Einstein, does gravity really exist. Please explain as best you can since Einstein was a genius. |
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Definition
| No, Einstein beleived there are no mysterious, unexplainable invisible forces (although in his own way he was a very religious man). He instead showed that gravity could be explained by the interaction of mass, energy and time. He even showed that time itself is a physical thing explainable by the speed of light and that light and matter can be converted into each other creating energy. |
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Term
| What is the difference between the Earth's rotation and the Earth's revolution? How long does each take? |
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Definition
Rotation means to rotate on its own axis which on Earth takes 24 hours.
Revolution means to revolve around the sun which on Earth takes 365.24 days. |
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Term
| What does it mean to have a retrograde rotation? Which planet and which moon have retrograde rotations? |
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Definition
| Venus has a retrograde rotation. Neptune's moon Triton also has a retrograde rotation. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Why isn't Pluto's density constant? |
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Definition
| As Pluto revolves around the sun it gets closer and further away. When it gets closer to the sun the sun's heat causes a reduction in Pluto's density. When it is further away the surface cools again and the density increases. |
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Term
| What star represents the evening star and the morning star? |
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Definition
| None. The evening star and the morning star are actually the planet Venus. |
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Term
| What fuel does the sun burn? |
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Definition
| This is not a simple question. Usually when we think of fuel we mean something that gets consumed and can't be reused like burning wood or coal. The sun's fuel is hydrogen. Hydrogen is not burned but instead converted. The hydrogen fuel can be used up so in that sense it is a fuel like wood. On the other hand, all other elements can be made from hydrogen. The sun is an element making machine! |
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Term
| How does the sun create its energy? |
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Definition
| The sun uses nuclear fusion in the form of a hydrogen to helium pump. Helium has a smaller mass than hydrogen so the remaining mass is converted to energy. This is explained by the formula e=mc2 |
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Term
| What can we learn by studying a star's light spectrum? |
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Definition
| The spectrum tells us what types of energy the star is radiating, how far away the star is and what elements the star is composed of. |
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Term
| What is the speed of light and can you exceed it? |
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Definition
| 300,000 m/s. No and yes. In relation to other bodies light is the limit equal to infinity but in relation to its own body an object could exceed light speed. This is why it's all about your relatives! |
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Term
| How hot is the sun's core? |
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Definition
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Term
| How much of the solar systems light and heat originate from the planets and moons. |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the corona and what does corona mean? |
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Definition
| The outer most layer of the sun which contains the sun's atmosphere. Corona means crown. |
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Term
| The mass of the sun is _______ times the mass of the Earth. |
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Definition
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Term
| The core of the sun is so hot that only what part of an atom is left? |
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Definition
| The nucleus with protons and neutrons. The electron shells are stripped away. |
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Term
| Name the two zones in the sun's interior. Explain what the names mean. |
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Definition
| Photosphere or light sphere which is the radiative zone and chromosphere or color sphere which is the convection zone. |
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Term
| What is a sun spot? What is its temperature? |
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Definition
| A sunspot is an electromagnetic field on the sun. It is cooler than the rest of the sun at only 3,800 degrees celsius. |
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Term
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Definition
| A meteorite that has entered Earth's atmosphere. Most are burned up before they ever touch the ground. |
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Term
| What is an asteroid? Where are most asteroids in the solar system located? How do scientists believe they came to be? |
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Definition
| An asteroid is a space rock that orbits around the sun. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. Scientists believe they are debris from the beginning of the universe that could not form into planets because of Jupiter's gravity. |
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Term
| What is a comet? What causes it's exciting appearance? |
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Definition
| A ball of ice that orbits the sun. Partial melting of the ice causes the brilliant tail. |
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Term
| When we see the big dipper, are all those stars near each other? |
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Definition
| No. They are billions of km apart. |
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Term
| When we look at stars and we map their light spectrum and we see the color red, what does this tell us about the universe? |
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Definition
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Term
Explain the Copernican versus the Aristotelian model of the solar system.
What were Galileo's and Kepler's contributions to the debate?
What is the proper term for the Copernican view? |
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Definition
Copernican view--a stationary sun and the planets rotate around it.
Aristotelian view--a stationary Earth and the planets and sun rotate around it.
Galileo--the telescope. Father of observable modern scientific method.
Kepler--calculated the orbits of the planets. 3 planetary laws of motion. Father of measurable scientific method.
both proved Copernicus correct.
Heliocentric. |
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