Which object is composed mainly of ice: comets or asteroids?
comets
100
True or False: All gas planets are more than 1 astronomical unit from the sun.
True
100
What force, created by the Sun's huge mass, causes planets and other objects to orbit it?
Gravity
100
Are galaxies clusters of hundreds, thousands, millions or billions of stars?
Billions
100
One astronomical unit is the distance from the sun to ______________.
The Earth
200
What is the only object in our solar system that generates light?
The sun
200
Which group of planets has fewer moons - rocky or gas planets?
Rocky planets
200
What color is our sun classified as?
Yellow
200
Our solar system exists in which galaxy?
The Milky Way
200
'Shooting Stars' are really ___________ hitting Earth's atmosphere and bursting into flame.
meteors
300
A large chunk of rock that orbits the sun, but is too small to be considered a planet is know as ___________. There is a large group of them between Mars and Jupiter.
an asteroid
300
Which group of planets have lower densities - rocky or gas planets?
Gas planets
300
What color are the hottest stars?
Blue
300
What shape is our galaxy?
Spiral (or Barred Spiral)
300
The sun fuses hydrogen atoms together, initially forming what element?
Helium
400
To measure distances in our own solar system, we use this unit of measurement.
Astronomical Units
400
List the four rocky (terrestrial) planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
400
The explosion of a very large star is known as a __________.
Supernova
400
According to the Big Bang Theory, about how long ago did the universe form?
10-20 billion years ago (or 16 bya)
400
What would a red giant star like Betelgeuse be compared to our sun - hotter, cooler or the same temperature?
cooler
500
Which planet is closest to Earth in size?
Venus
500
Which of the 8 planets is furthest from the sun?
Neptune
500
What process allows the sun to release huge amounts of energy?
nuclear fusion
500
We know the universe is expanding because we have observed galaxies moving away from us turning what color?
red - called 'redshift'
500
The Milky Way Galaxy gets its name from a Greek myth. What was the name of the baby that Zeus slapped away from his wife Hera?