Formation of Solar System
Who first suggested the Sun was at the center of the solar system?
Nicolaus Copernicus
Name the four inner planets in order of closest to farthest from the Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Name the four outer planets starting with the innermost planet and moving outwards
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
This is a small, round object that has not cleared the path of its orbit.
A Dwarf Planet
What does Kepler's 3rd law (P2=A3) mean?
When a planet is further from the Sun, it has a longer orbital period.
This planet is also known as the red planet
Mars
This planet is known for having a large set of rings (the largest in the solar system)
Saturn
Describe the difference between meteoroids, meteors, and and meteorites.
Meteoroids: a fragment of an asteroid that travels throughout our solar system
Meteor: a bright streak of light when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere
Meteorite: a meteor that reaches the surface of Earth
This was formed when gas and dust particles came together in the early solar system.
Planetesimal
Daily Double:
1. What is the hottest planet in our solar system?
2. What makes it so hot?
1. Venus
2. Strong greenhouse effect
Name a moon of Jupiter that may have liquid water under a surface of water ice.
Europa
Describe a comet
A ball of loose ice and dust
Highly eccentric elliptical orbit
Visible when it is close to the sun, where it evaporates to form a head and 1 or 2 tails
tail points away from the sun
Which of these formed first, the sun or the planets?
The Sun
Then Jupiter
Then Saturn and the rest of the planets
The four inner planets have rocky surfaces. What other term are these planets known by?
Terrestrial planets
Daily Double:
What 2 planets look blue?
Why are they blue?
Uranus and Neptune
Methane in their atmospheres reflect blue light
What is the difference between the Kuiper belt and the Oort Cloud?
The kuiper belt is not as large as the Oort cloud and has an elliptical shape around the sun. It contains rocky bodies and some dwarf planets
The Oort Cloud surrounds our solar system in all directions (a sphere). Comets are found here. It is the outer edge of the solar system
What evidence did we learn about that supports the nebular hypothesis? (the sun and planets formed from an interstellar cloud in our galaxy)
Planets orbit in the same plane
Planets orbit in the same direction
The outer gas giants have a similar composition to the sun
We can see the process occurring in far away nebulae by using a telescope
Name the planet with the largest Volcano in the solar system - Olympus Mons.
Mars
Why is the core of Jupiter special? (what is it and what does it cause?)
It is made of liquid metallic hydrogen. Since Jupiter spins quickly, a strong magnetic field is generated.
What is happening when we see a meteor shower on Earth?
Earth is travelling in its orbit and it begins to pass through the dust and particles left behind from a comet on its path around the sun. Those particles burn up in our atmosphere from the friction with our air.