Solar System
What is the solar system/ what is in it?
Everything is bound by the sun's gravity
What are planetesimals?
Baby Planets: small bodies formed when dust clumped together and began pulling in additional material by gravity.
What is Theia?
Name of the impacting protoplanet that struck Earth forming the moon
The Sun is primarily composed of this element, making up most of its mass.
Hydrogen
What is the role of convection in creating weather?
This layer of Earth is solid iron and nickel, remains solid despite extreme heat, and sits at the very center of the planet.
Why is a planet so hard to define? How do we understand the term planet?
Every definition has exceptions. We think of planet as a concept like continent
What is the Moon Illusion?
the optical trick that makes the Moon appear huge near the horizon
Why the phrase “dark side of the Moon” is misleading.
the far side receives sunlight; it’s just not visible from Earth
Extreme conditions in the solar core allow this fusion process to occur
Nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium?
What is the greenhouse effect?
It occurs when gases like CO₂ trap infrared radiation, keeping Earth warm enough for liquid water—and becoming dangerous when intensified by human activity.
What is the trend/commonalities between Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
they share a small size and rocky composition
What is angular momentum?
In forming the solar system- the cloud collapsed, this conserved quantity caused it to spin faster and flatten into a disk.
What is the Giant Impact Hypothesis?
The hypothesis that a Mars-sized body grazed Earth and produced debris that became the Moon.
Einstein’s equation relating mass to energy production in fusion
E = mc²
Slow-moving convection in this layer drives plate motion, reshaping Earth’s continents and creating volcanoes over millions of years.
Mantle
These four planets have huge atmospheres that outweigh their solid cores.
The gas giants—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
What is the combination of surface features and protective planetary systems that makes Earth uniquely suited for human life?
liquid water, a life-supporting atmosphere, and a protective magnetic field
What is the most striking difference between the near and far side of the Moon.
the far side has almost no maria and a much thicker crust
What is convection?
The process by which columns of heated gas rise and cooler gas sinks, visible on the Sun’s surface.
What is Earth’s atmosphere composed of?
Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon make up nearly all of this Earth system, which also contains an ozone layer that protects life from UV radiation.
what tipped the balance between gravity and heat's buoyant force in the formation of the solar system?
A shockwave or collision compressing the cloud
Auroras occur when these particles are funneled by Earth’s magnetic field into the atmosphere.
charged particles from solar flares or CMEs
Why does the far side of the moon have a thicker crust and fewer maria?
early tidal heating from Earth causing near-side vaporization/maleability making it affected by impacts/ crashes
The state of matter made of charged particles that dominates the Sun’s interior.
Plasma
This layer of Earth is solid iron and nickel, remains solid despite extreme heat, and sits at the very center of the planet.
What is the inner core?
What is the vast spherical shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system in all directions
Ort Cloud
What is a solar flare?
Sudden release of magnetic energy that creates a blast of high-energy light and particles.
What is synchronous rotation (tidal locking)?
Term for the Moon turning at the same rate that it orbits Earth, causing one side to always face us.
Name of the visible “surface” of the Sun, where light escapes into space.
Photosphere
How/ Why are volcanoes formed?
The core of the Earth heats the bottom of the mantle. This causes convection; the warmer material rises. The hot material rises toward the surface, but it’s blocked by the crust.The magmatic rock pushes on the plates, causing them to slide around very slowly. Where the plates come together, the crust is weaker. Magma can push its way through, erupting onto the surface, forming volcanoes.