Jovian Planets
This largest planet in the solar system is famous for its Great Red Spot.
“What is Jupiter?”
These compounds form when elements chemically bond together and later aggregate to form rocks.
“What are minerals?”
This technique measures the age of rocks using the decay of radioactive isotopes.
“What is radiometric dating?”
This star formed at the center of the solar nebula and became the center of our solar system.
“What is the Sun?”
This object orbits the Earth and causes lunar phases.
“What is the Moon?”
These two planets are known as the “gas giants.”
“What are Jupiter and Saturn?”
These are the three most abundant elements making up most rocky planets and Earth’s interior besides iron.
“What are oxygen, silicon, and magnesium?”
This unit is commonly used to measure distances within the solar system and equals the distance from Earth to the Sun.
“What is an astronomical unit (AU)?”
These two light elements made up most of the original solar nebula.
“What are hydrogen and helium?”
These dark volcanic plains on the Moon are composed mainly of basalt.
“What are lunar maria?”
This feature surrounding Saturn is primarily composed of ice particles and rocky debris.
“What are Saturn’s rings?”
This type of rock forms directly from cooled magma or lava.
“What is igneous rock?”
This method estimates the relative age of a planetary surface by counting the number of impact craters on it.
“What is crater counting?" (impact crater geochronology)
These tiny spherical droplets found in meteorites formed when dust grains melted in the early solar nebula.
“What are chondrules?”
This rock type forms most of the Moon’s bright highlands.
“What is anorthosite?”
Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are often classified as these types of giant planets because of their composition.
“What are ice giants?”
This green silicate mineral crystallizes first from molten planetary material and commonly forms the lower mantle.
“What is olivine?”
This technique measures the apparent shift in a nearby star’s position relative to distant background stars to determine distance.
“What is parallax?”
This process separated dense metallic material into planetary cores while lighter materials formed mantles and crusts.
“What is planetary differentiation?”
This process is the main geologic force shaping the Moon’s surface and produces breccia deposits.
“What are meteor impacts?”
This unusual characteristic of Uranus causes it to appear as though it rotates on its side compared to the other planets.
“What is its extreme axial tilt?" (about 98 degrees)
When rocky planets differentiated, this low-density feldspar mineral rose to form a primordial crust called anorthosite.
“What is plagioclase feldspar?”
These unusual quartz grains formed under extreme pressure and are strong evidence of an asteroid impact.
“What is shocked quartz?”
These oldest known solids in the solar system are found in chondritic meteorites and date the beginning of planet formation to about 4.567 billion years ago.
“What are Calcium-Aluminum-rich Inclusions (CAIs)?”
Because the Moon lacks plate tectonics, oceans, a thick atmosphere, and a biosphere, it has this type of rock cycle.
“What is a simple rock cycle dominated by volcanism and impacts?”