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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Nuclear fusion |
Hydrogen atoms fuse into helium |
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Comets and asteroids |
Rocky, airless left over remains of the solar system's formation |
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Solar system |
Moves as a unique body around the milky way |
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Sun |
Yellow dwarf star, a ball of gas held together by its own gravity. |
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Solar wind |
Stream of electrically charged gas |
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9 things Sun |
1. 99.8 percent of the mass of the entire solar system. 2. Equator = spins once about every 25 days, poles = rotates once on its axis every 35 Earth days 3. Star, ball of gas (92.1 percent hydrogen and 7.8 percent helium) held together by its own gravity. 4. RINGLESS 5. UNDER STUDY: observe the Sun, space weather that can affect satellites and astronauts 6. No Sun's intense energy = no life on Earth. 7. NUCLEAR FUSION: The Sun's core is about 15 million degrees Celsius. 8. Orbited by eight planets, at least five dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets and icy bodies. 9. Visible surface sometimes has dark sunspots = areas of intense magnetic activity that can lead to solar explosions. |
Size and mass, composition, rings, study, life, temperature, orbitated by, surface |
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9 things Mercury |
1. Smallest planet in our solar system 2. Orbits the closest to the Sun. 3. FASTEST PLANET and shortest year of all the planets in our solar system – 88 days 4. ROCKY PLANET 5. CAN’T BREATHE THERE atmosphere : oxygen (O2), sodium (Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and potassium (K) 6. No moons. 7. No rings 8. No possibility of life due to solar radiation, and extreme temperatures. 9. Two NASA missions have explored Mercury: Mariner 10 was the first to fly by Mercury, and MESSENGER was the first to orbit. ESA's BepiColombo is on its way to Mercury. |
Size, orbit, terrestrial planet, atmosphere, moons, life, rings, missions, years |
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10 things Venus |
1. Often called "Earth’s twin" - similar in size and structure, but has extreme surface heat and a dense, toxic atmosphere. 2. Day = 243 Earth days, year = 225 Earth days, making a day longer than its year 3. Has volcanoes, rifts, and mountains, with expansive volcanic plains and vast, ridged plateaus. 4. RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE – making it the hottest planet in our solar system 5. Has thick, toxic clouds of sulfuric acid that start at an altitude of 45 to 70 kilometres 6. First planet explored and whose surface was reached by a spacecraft. The intense heat means landers have only survived for a couple of hours. 7. Unlikely place for life as we know it; microbes might exist high in the clouds 8. Rotates backward on its axis compared to most planets in our solar system = The Sun rises in the west and sets in the east 9. No moons 10. NASA’s Mariner 2 successfully flew by and scanned it. NASA’s Magellan, which mapped the planet's surface with radar |
Twin, days and years, surface, temperature, surrounded by, first planet..., Life, rotation, moons, missions |
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Which planet wasn't named with a mythological name? |
Earth |
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Astronomical Unit |
Distance from the Earth to the Sun, 150 million km |
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9 things Earth |
1. Day = 23.9 hours. Complete orbit around the sun (a year in Earth time) in about 365.25 days - every four years we add one day, leap day 2. Rocky planet with a solid and dynamic surface of mountains, canyons, plains and more. Most of the planet is covered in water. Only world in our solar system with liquid water on the surface. Central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust 3. Atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other ingredients 4. No rings. 5. Only place we know of so far that’s inhabited by living things. 6. Atmosphere protects from incoming meteoroids, most of which break up in it before they can strike the surface. Affects Earth's long -term climate and short -term local weather and shields us from much of the harmful radiation coming from the Sun 7. One moon. 8. Biggest of the four planets closest to the Sun 9. It takes about eight minutes for light from the Sun to reach the Earth |
Day and year, surface liquid and layers, atmosphere components, atmosphere function and climate, rings, only place..., Moon, biggest..., Light |
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Seasons are caused by... |
Axis of rotation's tilt |
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The Moon |
a. Helps stabilize our planet’s wobble and moderate our climate. b. Distance from Earth is about 385,000 km c. Thin atmosphere called an exosphere. d. Surface is cratered and pitted from comet and asteroid impacts. e. Only place in space where humans have set foot |
Helps, distance from Earth, atmosphere, surface, only place.... |
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8 things Mars |
1. Searching for signs of life that existed long ago, when warmer and covered with water. 2. Year is 687 Earth days. Martian days are called sols – short for "solar day". Similar axial tilt with Earth 3. Thin atmosphere. 4. Cannot support life as we know it now 5. Known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red. 6. Phobos and Deimos. Phobos is slowly moving towards Mars and will crash into the planet or break apart in about 50 million years 7. The first true Mars mission success was the Mariner 4. NASA currently has two rovers (Curiosity and Perseverance), one lander (InSight), and one helicopter (Ingenuity) exploring the surface of Mars. Zhurong Mars rover landed succesfully 8. Has a large canyon system called Valles Marineris |
Day (+name) and year, atmosphere, life now, life then, red planet, moons, missions |
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9 things Jupiter |
1. Biggest planet 2. Day = 10 hours (a Jovian day), year = 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year). 3. Is a gas giant. might have a solid core 4. Atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2 ) and helium (He). 5.More than 75 moons. Callisto, Io and Ganymede 6. All four giant planets in our solar system have ring systems. Unlike the famous rings of Saturn, Jupiter’s rings are very faint and made of dust, not ice, and where discovered by Voyager mission 7.Cannot support life as we know it. But some moons have oceans beneath their crusts that might support life (Europa). 8. SUPER STORM: Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm that’s about twice the size of Earth and has raged for over a century. 9. NASA's Juno orbiter – is currently exploring this giant world. |
Size, day and year, type of planet, atmosphere components, moons, rings, life, storm, mission |
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Storm twice the size of Earth |
Jupiter's Great Red Spot |
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7 things Saturn |
1. Day = about 10.7 hours , year = 29 Earth years to orbit the sun. 2. Is a gas giant. might have a solid core 3. Atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2 ) and helium (He). 4. 53 known moons with an additional 29 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery— 82 moons. Enceladus and Titan. 5. Seven rings and several gaps and divisions between them. 6. Cannot support life now, but some moons have conditions that might support life. 7. Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by; But Cassini orbited Saturn 294 times from 2004 to 2017. Cassini spacecraft was intentionally vaporized in Saturn’s atmosphere. |
Day and year, type of planet, atmosphere components, moons, rings, life, missions |
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Which planet is the least dense of all? |
Saturn |
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10 things Uranus |
1. It was the first planet found with the aid of a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel, although he originally thought it was either a comet or a star. 2. It is the second least dense planet; Saturn is the least dense of all. 3. Day = 17 hours to rotate once, year = 84 Earth years to complete an orbit of the Sun 4. Is an ice giant. Most of its mass is a hot, dense fluid of "icy" materials – water, methane and ammonia – above a small rocky core. 5. Atmosphere made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of methane. 6. 13 known rings. The inner rings are narrow and dark and the outer rings are brightly coloured. 7. Cannot support life as we know it. 8. Like Venus rotates east to west. Unique in that it rotates on its side. 9. 27 known moons. Triton. 10. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to fly by Uranus |
First planet..., day and year, type of planet and composition, atmosphere components, rings, moons, rotation, life, density, mission |
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Only planet in our solar system not visible to naked eye |
Neptune |
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Which planet experiences seasons just like we do on Earth? |
Neptune |
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Only large moon in the solar system that circles its planet in a direction opposite to the planet's rotation |
Triton |
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9 things Neptune |
1. Day = 16 hours to rotate once, year = 165 Earth years to orbit the sun. In 2011 Neptune completed its first orbit since its discovery 2. Is an ice giant. Most of its mass is a hot, dense fluid of "icy" materials – water, methane and ammonia – above a small rocky core 3. Atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane. 4. Has at least five main rings and four more ring arcs, which are clumps of dust and debris 5. Because of dwarf planet Pluto’s elliptical orbit, Pluto is sometimes closer to the Sun (and us) than Neptune is. 6. Cannot support life as we know it. 7. 14 known moons. 8. Neptune's largest moon Triton was discovered on October 10, 1846, by William Lassell, just 17 days after Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet.9. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune |
Day and year, type of planet and composition, atmosphere components, moons, rings, life, Pluto, discovery, mission |
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Kuiper belt |
a donut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. Similar to the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt is a region of leftovers from the solar system's early history. thought to be sources of comets |
Source, icy bodies name and region, remants |
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Where are most asteroids located? |
Asteroid belt |
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Two things located in the Kuiper Belt |
Arrokoth and Pluto |
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