Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
|
Approx. how old is our solar system? |
4.6 billion years old |
In the billions |
|
|
How many planets, dwarf planets, and moons does our solar system/sun have? |
8 planets, 5 dwarf planets, and 18 moons |
|
|
|
What % is the total mass of the earth, compared to the mass of all other planets? |
The earth makes up only 0.2% of the total mass of the other planets in our solar system |
|
|
|
What % mass of our solar System is the sun? |
99.86% |
|
|
|
What our the 8 planets in order from the sun on? |
Mercury, Venus, earth, mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune |
|
|
|
Describe terrestrial planets, and which planets in our solar system fall under this category |
“Inner planets” Mercury, Venus, earth, and mars Have a higher density, with solid surfaces that contain craters, mountains, volcanoes, etc. Rich in silicate rocks and iron Smaller |
|
|
|
Describe Jovian planets and which planets fall into this category |
“Outer planets” have large diameter, but low density Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune Mostly composed of gas and liquids Surfaces deep in atmosphere, concise of hydrogen, helium and methane gas |
|
|
|
What is Pluto considered and why? when did this new classification occur? |
Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet, due to a change in definition of what a planet was, after August 24, 2006, Pluto no longer fit the description |
|
|
|
The rotation axes of planets are ____ to the rotational axes of the sun |
Parallel |
|
|
|
The further a planet is away from the sun, the __ it’s temperature, what is the exception to this? |
The lower the temperature, Venus is an exception, as it is extremely hot |
|
|
|
Which planets are considered gas and ice planets? Due to their low temps. |
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune |
|
|
|
What is an asteroid, and what are their small bits that fall into our atmosphere called? |
An asteroid is a rocky body, that revolves around the sun. Small chunks called meteorites fall into our atmosphere, providing us with info on the formation of the solar system |
|
|
|
What are comets? |
Ice objects, with Little Rock fragments |
|
|
|
Where are comets thought to originate? |
Outer regions of the solar system, called the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper belt |
|
|
|
How do comets obtain their “tail” |
While in the inner solar system, orbiting mars, their icy nuclei partly vaporize and form large tails of gas and dust |
|
|
|
What is one of the most famous comets, and how often does it visit our inner solar system? |
Comet halley, every 76 years |
|
|
|
Life forms are primarily composed of 6 things, what are they and what is this mixture called? |
Called cosmic abundance, consists of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur |
|
|
|
As the atomic number increases, the abundance tends to ____ |
Decrease |
|
|
|
Our sun consumes about _____ tons of hydrogen per second |
600 million tons |
|
|
|
It takes light ____ minutes to get to earth |
8.3 minutes |
|
|
|
What is an astronomical unit? (AU) |
The mean earth to sun distance, approx. 150 million km |
|
|
|
Inner planets are more ___ closely to the sun, while outer planets our more ____ |
Clustered, spaced out |
|
|
|
What is the Kuiper belt and which mission had explored it? |
The Kuiper belt is a doughnut shaped ring, contains trillions of small icy bodies The new horizons mission has explored it About 30-50 AU away |
|
|
|
What is the Oort Cloud and how big does it extend? |
The Oort Cloud is a large cloud of icy bodies, and is thought to extend 50,000 to 20,000 AU |
|
|
|
What are some key features of mercury? (Temp, surface, distance from sun) |
Very hot surface, up to 800 degrees, but drops to -290 at nighttime, because no atmosphere to retain heat Surface heavily cratered When at its closets, sun appears 3x larger than it does on earth |
|
|
|
Describe features of Venus |
Thick, spinning atmosphere Extremely hot Appears to be the brightest in our solar system Iron core |
|
|
|
When was the first view of earth taken, and what was it called |
August 23,1966 Lunar orbiter 1 |
|
|
|
When was the first human landing on the moon |
July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 |
|
|
|
Describe features of mars |
Rocky body, experiences seasons |
|
|
|
Describe features of Jupiter |
Largest planet in our solar system Gas giant, cloud bands and spots Has 67 moons |
|
