Earth's Moon
What causes the moon to shine?
It reflects sunlight
These small, orbiting bodies are made up of dust, ice and frozen gasses. They have a solid center called the nucleus and a tail that points away from the sun.
A comet
What planet has the longest year?
Neptune
What objects did we use to compare the size of Earth versus the size of the Sun?
peppercorn and basketball
What is our sun's name?
Sol
What is the Latin name for the Earth's moon?
Luna
What is the term commonly misused to describe what is seen during a meteor shower?
Shooting stars
Which planet's day is longer than its year?
Venus
Which planet is almost exactly the same size as Earth?
Venus
The Great Red Spot is a giant storm in Jupiter's atmosphere. What other planet had a similar storm and what was its name?
Great Dark Spot on Neptune
What do we call it when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth?
A solar eclipse
The difference between an Asteroid and a Meteoroid is all about size. How large is an asteroid?
The size of a football field or larger
Jupiter's days are just about 10 hours long. Because Jupiter is so large, these short days mean that it is rotating VERY fast. What's does Jupiter's fast rotation help create?
The stormy weather - the bands of storm visible in its atmosphere.
What is the difference between terrestrial and gaseous planets?
size - terrestrial planets are smaller, gaseous are giant
solid surface on terrestrial versus no defined surface with no clear boundary between atmosphere and planet
What are all of the planets with the exception of Earth named after?
Greek or Roman Gods
How long does it take the moon to orbit the Earth?
28 days
When does a meteor become a meteorite?
When it hits the surface of the Earth
Why does the length of time that it takes a planet to orbit the sun, or a planet's "year," increase in length the further the planet is from the sun?
Because it has further to travel
Liquid methane and ethane.
There is one identified dwarf planet in the Solar System that is not located in the Kuiper Belt. What is its name and where is it located?
Ceres, the asteroid belt
Why do we always see the same side of the moon?
It is "phase locked" meaning that its rotation and revolution are equal.
What is the primary different between the objects found in the astroid belt and those in the Kuiper belt?
Asteroid belt objects are mostly rock and dust, Kuiper belt objects are mostly ice.
How long is Mercury's year?
88 days
What is the primary difference between the 8 primary planets and Pluto?
Pluto has not "cleared its neighboring region" of other objects.
Scientist believe that the conditions on Neptune and Uranus produce this kind of rain!
Diamonds