Solar System Properties
This star is at the center of our solar system.
What is the Sun?
This is the Sun’s visible surface, where sunspots can appear.
What is the photosphere?
This property of a star is shown on the horizontal x-axis of an H-R diagram.
What is surface temperature?
This force keeps planets orbiting the Sun and moons orbiting planets.
What is gravity?
This historical model places Earth at the center of the solar system.
What is the geocentric model?
These four planets are rocky and located closest to the Sun.
What are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars?
This layer surrounds the Sun and is its outer atmosphere.
What is the corona?
These stars are generally found high on the H-R diagram because they are very luminous.
What are giants and supergiants?
These two factors determine the strength of gravitational force between objects.
What are mass and distance?
This model places the Sun at the center, with Earth and the other planets orbiting it.
What is the heliocentric model?
Jupiter and Saturn are made mostly of this type of material rather than rock.
What is gas?
Energy moves through this layer mainly by radiation before reaching the convection zone.
What is the radiation zone?
These stars are found toward the left side of an H-R diagram because they have higher surface temperatures.
What are blue stars?
*DOUBLE POINTS* When the distance between two objects decreases, their gravitational attraction does this.
What is increases / becomes stronger?
This structure contains billions of stars and may contain billions of solar systems.
What is a galaxy?
This is the correct order from smallest to largest: planet, ______, galaxy, universe.
What is solar system?
This solar feature is a large loop of glowing plasma that extends outward from the Sun.
What is a prominence?
This diagonal band contains most stars, including our Sun, and runs from hot, bright stars toward cool, dim stars.
What is the main sequence?
Astronauts appear to float in orbit because they are constantly doing this around Earth.
What is free-falling?
This model better explains why planets sometimes appear closer to Earth and sometimes farther away.
What is the heliocentric model?
Asteroids are mostly rocky, while these objects contain ice, dust, rock, and gas and can develop tails near the Sun.
What are comets?
*DOUBLE POINTS* In this layer of the Sun, hotter plasma rises while cooler plasma sinks, transferring energy toward the surface.
What is the convection zone?
These stars are hot but have low luminosity and are found in the lower-left region of the H-R diagram.
What are white dwarfs?
A planet would travel in this type of path if the Sun's gravitational pull suddenly disappeared.
What is Forward?
A planet, its moons, asteroids, and other objects orbiting one star are all part of this larger system.
What is a solar system?