The Solar System
What is the most massive object in the Solar System?
The Sun
What is the largest planet in the Solar System?
Jupiter
How many moons does Mars have?
Two
What is the name of the spacecraft that carried the first astronauts to the moon?
Apollo 11
What is the word for an object spinning on its own axis?
Rotation
What is located between Mars and Jupiter?
The astroid belt
Name at least two planets that have rings?
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Which planets in the Solar System do not have any moons? There are two.
Mercury and Venus
What happens to the spacecraft that land on Venus and why?
They are crushed by the weight of the atmosphere.
What do you call the path of rotation of a celestial body around the Sun?
Orbit
What is another name for the inner planets due to the fact that they have rocky surfaces?
Terrestrial Planets
Which planet is home to the tallest volcano in the Solar System and what is that volcano's name?
Mars; Olympus Mons
The moon called Charon orbits what planet?
Pluto
What was the name of the spacecraft sent to explore Saturn and its rings?
Cassini
How many days does it take the Earth to complete one revolution around the sun?
365.25
Which group of planets have rings?
The Outer Planets
Why is the surface of Mercury covered in craters?
The atmosphere is too thin to burn up meteoroids and they hit the surface of the planet.
What is the name of Saturn's largest moon?
Titan
What areas of the solar systems was New Horizons launched to explore?
Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
Which planet's axis is tilted such that the planet is tilted on its side?
Uranus
An Astronomical Unit (A.U.) is a measure of distance. What is the distance of 1 A.U.?
The distance from Earth to the Sun.
Why is Mars sometimes referred to as the "Red Planet?"
Because the high iron content in the soil causes the ground and atmosphere to appear red.
Name two of Jupiter's four largest moons.
Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Io
What are Spirit and Opportunity?
Rovers currently exploring the surface of Mars
What is unusual about Venus's rotation?
It rotates clockwise - which is opposite the rest of the Solar System.