Dsst Astronomy (Part 6): Planets And Other Bodies

Front 1

There are _____ planets in the solar system.

Back 1

Eight. In 2006, Pluto was "downgraded" from the ninth planet to a Dwarf Planet. Mercury is now the smallest planet.

Front 2

____________ is nearest the Sun.

Back 2

Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system.

Front 3

The planet farthest from the Sun is ___________.

Back 3

Neptune. With the declassification of Pluto, Neptune is now the planet farthest from the Sun.

Front 4

The largest planet in the solar system is ______________.

Back 4

Jupiter. This gas giant is the innermost of the outer planets and larger than all of the other planets, combined.

Front 5

The smallest planet in the solar system is presently _________.

Back 5

Mercury. In 2006, the planet nearest the Sun became our solar system's smallest.

Front 6

In order from the Sun, the inner planets are:

Back 6

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. Mars is the outermost of the inner planets.

Front 7

The inner-most of the outer planets is __________.

Back 7

Jupiter.

Front 8

Ranked by proximity to the Sun, the outer planets are:

Back 8

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Front 9

The inner planets are all __________.

Back 9

Terrestrial. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are all rocky planets.

Front 10

The outer planets are __________.

Back 10

Gas giants. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all Jovian planets.

Front 11

The _____________ separates the inner and outer planets.

Back 11

Asteroid Belt. Although there are many asteroids within the Belt, it is thinly-populated.

Front 12

The second planet from the Sun is __________.

Back 12

Venus. Venus is second from the Sun and the third smallest planet in the system.

Front 13

Mercury's only planetary neighbor is ________.

Back 13

Venus. Second-largest of the rocky planets, Venus is second from the Sun.

Front 14

Nearly identical in size to its larger neighbor, __________ lies between Mercury and Earth.

Back 14

Venus. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is slightly smaller than Earth but larger than Mars.

Front 15

__________ is third nearest the Sun.

Back 15

Earth. Larger than Mercury or neighbors Mars and Venus, Earth is a mid-sized planet in our solar system.

Front 16

The fourth planet from the Sun is ___________.

Back 16

Mars. The Red Planet is Earth's next door neighbor in the solar system.

Front 17

Mars lies between Earth and ________.

Back 17

Jupiter. The second-smallest planet is fourth from the Sun.

Front 18

The fifth planet from the Sun is ____________.

Back 18

Jupiter. This largest of the gas giants is better known for its moons than its rings.

Front 19

Jupiter's neighbors are Mars and ___________.

Back 19

Saturn. The two largest planets in the system are also near one another.

Front 20

___________ is sixth from the Sun.

Back 20

Saturn. The Ringed Planet is also the second-largest in the solar system.

Front 21

_____________ falls between Jupiter and Uranus.

Back 21

Saturn.

Front 22

___________ is seventh from the Sun.

Back 22

Uranus. The third-largest planet is the second-farthest from the Sun.

Front 23

__________'s only planetary neighbor is Uranus.

Back 23

Neptune. Like Mercury, Neptune has only one planetary neighbor.

Front 24

Until 2006, the ninth planet was ________.

Back 24

Pluto. Until it was reclassified as a Dwarf Planet, Pluto was the smallest planet and the furthest from the Sun except for those occasions when its erratic orbit brought it inside Neptune's orbital ellipse.

Front 25

As an observer moves farther from the Sun, the gas giants become ___________.

Back 25

Smaller. Although they are the largest planets in the solar system, the largest giant, Jupiter, is nearest the Sun and the smallest, Neptune, is farthest away.

Front 26

The planets from nearest the Sun to farthest from it are ___________________________.

Back 26

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

Front 27

There is/are ______ ringed planet(s) in the solar system.

Back 27

Four. All four of the gas giants have rings, although Saturn's are most closely associated with it.

Front 28

The smallest planets are ____________.

Back 28

Terrestrial. From smallest to largest, they are Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth.

Front 29

The largest planets are __________.

Back 29

Jovian or gas giants. From smallest to largest, they are Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter.

Front 30

Earth and Venus display a ________ effect.

Back 30

Greenhouse. Atmospheric gases on Earth and Venus trap heat from the Sun, stabilizing planetary temperatures.

Front 31

The smallest planet in the solar system is presently _________.

Back 31

Mercury. In 2006, the planet nearest the Sun became our solar system's smallest.

Front 32

The largest planet in the solar system is ______________.

Back 32

Jupiter. This gas giant is larger than all of the other planets, combined.

Front 33

From smallest to largest, the planets are _________________.

Back 33

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

Front 34

The largest of the terrestrial planets is ____________.

Back 34

Earth. Although smaller than the smallest gas giant (Neptune), Earth is larger than (in descending order) Venus, Mars, and Mercury.

Front 35

___________ is the only planet without a magnetic field.

Back 35

Venus. Although Mars' magnetic field is patchy, Venus is the only planet completely devoid of a magnetosphere.

Front 36

Chunks of ice and dust collect to form ____________.

Back 36

Comets. These "dirty snowballs" brighten and gain long, narrow tails or gas and dust as they near the Sun.

Front 37

Comets orbit in a ___________ ellipse.

Back 37

Narrow. A comet orbits in a long, narrow ellipse.

Front 38

Objects in a solar orbit that are too small and too numerous to be called planets are called __________.

Back 38

Asteroids. The nearest asteroids in our solar system lie in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Front 39

A chunk of rock or dust in space is a ___________.

Back 39

Meteoroid. Meteoroids have the potential to become meteors or meteorites if they enter Earth's atmosphere.

Front 40

A __________ burns up in Earth's atmosphere in a streak of light.

Back 40

Meteor. A meteoroid becomes a meteor if it enters Earth's atmosphere but does not reach the surface.

Front 41

A meteor becomes a ______________ when it hits the surface of the earth.

Back 41

Meteorite. The "chunks" of meteor found at impact sites are meteorites.

Front 42

___________ occur when Earth's orbit passes through a comet's elliptical path.

Back 42

Meteor showers. These events occur at the same point in Earth's orbit and so fall on the same date each year.

Front 43

A ___________ is a center of mass in a system of two orbiting bodies.

Back 43

Barycenter. The binary system of Pluto and Charon orbit a barycenter.

Front 44

A large object that moves around a star is a __________.

Back 44

Planet. This is the most basic definition of a planet.

Front 45

The star at the center of our solar system is the _____.

Back 45

Sun. The Sun provides the energy necessary for life on Earth.

Front 46

A ____________ is a group of objects in space that revolve around a central star.

Back 46

Solar system.

Front 47

_________ are huge balls of superheated gases.

Back 47

Stars.