THE PLANETS
What group of 4 small, dense, rocky planets is located closest to the Sun?
Inner / Terrestrial Planets
What Earth motion takes 24 hours and causes day and night?
Rotation
What ring of space rocks floating between Mars and Jupiter divides the inner and outer planets?
The Asteroid Belt
What is the giant cloud of gas and dust where all stars are born?
A Nebula
What is the correct order of our cosmic location in space from largest to smallest?
Universe-->Milky Way Galaxy-->Solar System-->Earth
What planet is famous for being the hottest in our solar system because of its super dense atmosphere?
Venus
What Earth motion takes 365.52 days and, combined with tilt, causes the four seasons?
Revolution
What celestial body is made of ice, dust, and rock and grows a glowing tail when close to the Sun?
A Comet
True or False: Our Sun will eventually collapse into a super-dense Black Hole.
False! (It is a medium-sized star that will end as a White Dwarf)
During a Solar Eclipse, what is the exact order of the Sun, Earth, and Moon?
Sun-->Moon-->Earth
Which outer gas giant rotates on its side?
Uranus
What specific term describes an alignment where Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth's shadow onto the Moon?
Lunar eclipse
What do we call a streak of light in the sky made when a space rock burns up in Earth's atmosphere?
A Meteor (or shooting star)
What type of galaxy has curved arms swinging out from a center disk, like our Milky Way?
A Spiral Galaxy.
During a Lunar Eclipse, what object passes between the Sun and the Moon?
Earth
Name two main differences between the inner terrestrial planets and outer gas giants.
Inner planets are small, dense, and rocky; outer planets are huge, low-density, made of gas, have rings and many moons.
During an eclipse, what is the difference between the umbra and the penumbra?
The umbra is the dark inner shadow; the penumbra is the lighter outer shadow.
What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?
A meteor burns up in the sky; a meteorite actually hits the ground.
What is the giant explosion called at the end of a super massive star's life?
A Supernova
What force keeps all planets, asteroids, and comets orbiting around the Sun?
Gravity
If a newly discovered planet takes 165 Earth years to complete one revolution, what can you infer about its location in space?
It is located very far away from the Sun in the outer solar system.
Why do solar and lunar eclipses NOT happen every single month during a New or Full Moon?
Because the Moon's orbital plane is tilted about 5° relative to Earth's ecliptic plane.
Name the correct 3-step sequence of a space rock traveling from deep space to Earth's surface.
Meteoroid-->Meteor-->Meteorite
What are the 3 main types of galaxies in the universe?
Spiral, Elliptical, and Irregular
Why are Pluto, Ceres, and Eris classified as Dwarf Planets instead of regular planets?
They orbit the Sun and are round, but they have NOT cleared their orbital paths of debris.