Venus
What is the highest mountain on Venus?
Maxwell Montes, which rises about 7 miles above the surrounding land.
Why is Mars often called the Red Planet?
Its soil contains iron that looks rusty red.
What two gases make up the gas giant Jupiter?
Hydrogen and helium.
Which NASA spacecraft flew past Neptune in 1989 to give scientists their first detailed photos?
Voyager 2.
What are the four rocky planets closest to the Sun?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
How many moons and rings does Venus have?
Zero moons and zero rings.
What is a channel on Mars?
A long path or sunken groove carved into the ground by a moving liquid.
What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?
Giant storm larger than Earth
What gas in Neptune's thick atmosphere absorbs red light from the Sun and reflects back a deep cobalt blue color?
Methane gas.
Which planet in our solar system rotates almost completely on its side?
Uranus
What gas makes up most of Venus’s atmosphere?
Carbon dioxide.
What two liquids form channels on Earth that scientists compare to channels on Mars?
Flowing water and flowing lava.
How long does one day last on Jupiter?
About 10 Earth hours, making it the shortest day of any planet in our solar system.
How fast can the winds blow on Neptune?
Over 1200 miles per hour
Which planet features a giant six-sided storm at its north pole known as the Hexagon?
Saturn.
Why is Venus hotter than Mercury even though Mercury is closer to the Sun?
Venus has a thick atmosphere that traps heat near its surface through the greenhouse effect.
About how long does a spaceship trip from Earth to Mars take?
About seven to nine months.
What are the names of Jupiter's four large Galilean moons?
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
How many Earth years does it take for Neptune to complete just one full orbit around the Sun?
165 Earth years.
Which two planets in our solar system have zero moons?
Mercury and Venus.
What landforms on Venus are described as round, raised domes with long cracks spreading out in all directions?
Novae
How do water channels on Earth visually differ from lava channels?
Water channels are narrow, highly curved, winding, and have tributary branches, while lava channels are broader, straighter, and have steep banks.
Which moon of Jupiter is the largest moon in the solar system, being even larger than the planet Mercury?
Ganymede.
What are two unique features of Neptune's largest moon, Triton?
It orbits in the opposite direction of Neptune's rotation, is covered in nitrogen ice, and has active ice geysers.
What is a key structural difference between the four rocky planets and gas/ice giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune?
Rocky planets have solid surfaces made of rock and metal that you can stand on, while gas and ice giants do not have a solid surface to stand on.