Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Other Objects

What is the name of the Theory that explains the creation of our Solar System and explains it in detail from beginning to end?

Nebular Theory "An enormous cloud (nebula) of mostly H & He with small percentage of heavier elements. Hydrogen started to rotate & collapse towards
Matter kept sticking together and planetismals formed which later became the planets"

Name the planets in order from the Sun out

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

What are the differences of terrestrial and jovian planets?

T- small, rocky, more dense, few/no moons, no rings, closer to the sun
J- Big, less dense, gas giants, many moons, further from sun, rings

What are the four Terrestrial and four Jovian Planets?

T- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
J- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

What planet is the most cratered planet
has no atmosphere
800 to -280 degrees
large iron core, small magnetic field
1st imaged by mariner 10 in the mid 70s?

Mercury

What planet is the brightest object you can see from Earth viewed at dusk or dawn
Permanently hidden beneath a cloud cover of sulfuric acid
900 degrees F
Green house effect caused by CO2 atmosphere
Rotates backwards

Venus

What is the only known planet with life
71% covered in water
Atmosphere- 78%N and 21% O
Temp- 136 to -128
Tectonically active
Magnetic field

Earth

What planet has a red surface due to iron oxide (rust)
Polar caps made of frozen water and carbon dioxide
25 degree tilt/seasons/causes ice caps to grow and shrink
Mainly CO2 atmosphere
Largest valley of the solar system
largest volcano in solar system - Olympus Mons
Liquid water-locked up in subsurface permafrost

Mars

What plants mass is hydrogen and helilum
has the fastest rotation-about once every 10 hours
Clouds-dark belts, light zones, detected lightning
Great red spot
11x bigger than Earth
more mass than all planets combined

Jupiter

What planet surface/interior are similar to Jupiter
The least dense planet & can float on water
Has belts and zones
About 30 yr long orbit
Rings are made of fragments of ice & ice coated rock
Kept in shape by shepherd satellites

Saturn

What planet's atmosphere is 83% H, 15 % He, 2% Methane
Surface is a blue/green color caused by methane clouds, that also absorb red light in the upper atmosphere
First planet to be discovered since ancient times
Planet is tipped on its side
Wind speeds from 100-400 mph
Rings made of ice boulders and dust
Visited by Voyager 2 in the 1980s

Uranus

Discovered in 1846
Blue/green color caused by methane clouds on the surface
Faint ice rings
Great dark spot
Fastest wind speeds ever (1,000 mph)
165 yr orbit-30AVs
Visited by Voyager 2 in 1989

Neptune

What planet has 15 moons which only 5 can be seen from earth-based telescopes

Uranus

What planet captured most of its 8 moons
Triton is this planets largest moon

Neptune

What moon has the most volcanic body that's active

IO

Dark icy world with many impact craters

Callisto

Ice surface, possible oxygen atmosphere, water flying off

Europa

What moon has a thick mantle of ice and a sub surface ocean

Ganymede

What moon has an ice surface, possibly oxygen atmosphere, and has water flying off it

Europa

What moon is a dark icy world with many impact craters

Callisto

What are the 3 most well known dwarf planets

Pluto
Ceres
Eris

What newly discovered dwarf planet caused Pluto to get demoted and why?

Eris. They developed a set of criteria for what is a planet and what is not a planet

Which dwarf planet is located in the asteroid belt

Ceres

What two dwarf planets are located in the Kuiper Belt

Pluto and Eris

Must orbit the sun
Had enough gravity to become round
Cleared all objects of its orbital neighborhood

What are the characteristics of a planet

What is a comet

Dirty snowball, rocky dust & ices (both water & frozen gases)
Long orbital period
Tail always points away from sun

Which comet comes around every 76 years?

Halley's comet
-short period comet
Last passed in 1986

What is an asteroid

Large left over rocks from early solar system
Smaller than dwarf planets
Potato & sometimes round shape

What is the difference between a meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite?

Meteoroids (space)
Meteors (atmosphere)
Meteorites (hits ground)

What rover did not land on Mars

Magellan

What planet is the Valles Marineris on?

Mars

Hottest planet is

Venus

Planet with rovers on it

Mars

What two gases make up a nebula?

hydrogen and helium

What are Mars' moons names?

Phobos and Deimos

Planet that has the most moons

Saturn

Where is the asteroid belt located

Between Mars and Jupiter

What were the first space probes to take pictures

Voyager 1 and 2

What objects are the in the kuiper belt and oort clouds

Comets

What is the largest moon in our solar system

Ganymede

What are shooting stars?

Meteor

Why do we track movements of asteroids?

They can cause a mass extinction

Has the most moons

Saturn

What are light colored bands of hot gasses in Jovian planets atmospheres called

Zones