Terrestrial Planets
This planet is closest to the Sun and has no atmosphere, leading to scorching hot days and freezing cold nights.
Answer: What is Mercury?
This is the largest planet in our solar system, famous for its "Great Red Spot," which is actually a massive, centuries-old storm.
Answer: What is Jupiter?
This 24-hour spinning motion of the Earth on its own axis is what causes us to experience day and night.
What is rotation?
Most of these large, rocky, airless debris chunks are found orbiting the Sun in a massive "belt" located between Mars and Jupiter.
Answer: What are asteroids?
Space exploration gave us "spin-off" technologies used daily on Earth, including this navigation system that helps phones and cars find directions using satellites.
Answer: What is GPS (Global Positioning System)?
Known as "Earth's twin" due to its similar size, this planet is actually the hottest in our solar system because its thick, toxic atmosphere traps heat.
Answer: What is Venus?
This gas giant is easily recognized by its spectacular, extensive ring system made up of billions of ice, dust, and rock particles.
Answer: What is Saturn?
It takes the Earth approximately 365.25 days to complete one of these full journeys around the Sun.
Answer: What is a revolution (or orbit)?
Often called "dirty snowballs," these objects are made of ice, dust, and rock, and develop a glowing tail pointing away from the Sun as they heat up.
Answer: What are comets?
This is one of the most common societal arguments against space exploration, as missions require billions of dollars that critics argue could be better spent fixing problems on Earth.
Answer: What is the extreme financial cost?
This is the only planet in our solar system known to support life, thanks to its abundance of liquid water and oxygen-rich atmosphere.
Answer: What is Earth?
Unique among the planets, this blue-green gas giant rotates completely on its side, making its axis almost parallel to its orbit.
Answer: What is Uranus?
Clue: Earth's seasons are caused by its revolution combined with this specific position, which is measured at about 23.5 degrees.?
Answer: What is being tilt
Commonly called a "shooting star," this is the bright streak of light visible in the sky when a piece of space debris burns up in Earth's atmosphere.
Answer: What is a meteor?
This growing environmental hazard in Earth's orbit consists of defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and broken fragments that threaten future space missions.
Answer: What is space debris (or space junk)?
Often called the "Red Planet" due to iron oxide (rust) on its rocky surface, scientists have sent multiple robotic rovers here to search for signs of ancient water.
Answer: What is Mars?
This deep-blue planet is the farthest official planet from the Sun and experiences some of the fastest, most violent winds in the solar system.
Answer: What is Neptune?
When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted completely away from the Sun, Canada experiences this specific season.
Answer: What is winter?
This is the specific name given to a space rock if it survives burning up in the atmosphere and successfully hits the ground on Earth.
Answer: What is a meteorite?
Without Earth's protective atmosphere and magnetic field, astronauts on long-term space missions face severe health risks from exposure to this invisible danger.
Answer: What is cosmic radiation?
This is the main physical characteristic that defines all four terrestrial planets and separates them from the outer planets.
Answer: What is having a solid, rocky surface?
Because gas giants are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, they completely lack this structural feature, meaning a spacecraft could never land on them.
Answer: What is a solid surface?
Occurring once in March and once in September, this term describes the two days of the year when day and night are exactly equal in length all over the world.
Answer: What is an equinox?
This term describes the small rocky or metallic fragments traveling through space before they ever enter Earth's atmosphere.
Answer: What is a meteoroid?
This growing environmental hazard in Earth's orbit consists of defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and broken fragments that threaten future space missions.
Answer: What is space debris (or space junk)?