Solar System Quiz - Study Guide - Key

*YOU NEED TO KNOW THE PLANETS IN ORDER!

Name the 4 Inner/Terrestrial Planets: MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, MARS

Name the 4 Outer/Jovian Planets: JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE

Write the name of the planet/dwarf planet that correctly completes each statement on the line at the left.

1. Io is the moon of JUPITERthat is volcanically active.

2. The 2 irregular shaped moons of MARSare Phobos and Deimos.

3. Because of similar size / mass, VENUSis called Earth’s “sister planet”.

4. JUPITERis more massive than all of the other planets combined.

5. MERCURYhas a surface that is heavily cratered like the moon.

6. The planet with the most visible ring system is SATURN

7. A planet that is very hot because of the greenhouse effect is VENUS.

8. JUPITER’s stripes are due to rising and sinking gases in its atmosphere.

9. MARS is covered in red sand because of the rust in the soil.

10. Methane gives these two planets their blue/green color: URANUSNEPTUNE

11. Not discovered until 1930 because it is so far away from Earth:PLUTO

12. Because of its weak gravity, MERCURYcannot maintain an atmosphere.

13. PLUTOis now considered a dwarf planet.

14. The planet that travels around the sun the fastest in 88 days is MERCURY.

15. The four largest moons of JUPITERare known as the Galilean satellites.

16. A day on VENUSis 243 Earth days which is longer than its year.

17. The planet with the lowest density that would float in water is SATURN.

18. The Great Red Spot is a continuous storm found on JUPITER.

19. PLUTOcould also be called a Kuiper Belt Object.

20. Valles Marineris is a giant canyon found on the planet MARS.

21. Mercury and VENUSare the only planets without a natural satellite(moon).

22. The largest known volcano in the solar system is an extinct volcano, known as Olympus Mons, found on the planet MARS.

23. On the planet MARSyou would be about ½ your age because its year is twice as long as Earth’s.

24. NEPTUNEwas discovered after astronomers predicted its position mathematically.

25. All the planets rotate west to east exceptVENUS which rotates backwards very slowly (243 days.)

26. This is the only planet besides Earth that scientists have found evidence that life once existed: MARS

27. Two new moons of PLUTOwere discovered in 2005 using the Hubble Space Telescope.

28. The largest of SATURN ‘s moons, Titan, may have a chance of supporting primitive life.

29. A deep liquid ocean may exist below the surface of Europa, a moon ofJUPITER

30. URANUSwas not discovered until 1781 when more powerful telescopesbecame available.

31. Like a typical gas giant NEPTUNE has bands of winds that have been clocked at 2000 km/hr which are the fastest winds in the solar system.

32. URANUS’axis of rotation is unusual because it is tipped almost completely over so it spins on its side.

33. What does Terrestrial mean? “EARTH-LIKE” or “LIKE-EARTH”

34. What does Jovian mean? “JUPITER-LIKE”or “LIKE-JUPITER”

35. What separates the inner from the outer planets?ASTEROID BELT

36. Besides “close to the sun,” describe the qualities the Terrestrial planets share (at least three):

SMALL, SOLID, ROCKY, DENSE, FEW MOONS, NO RINGS

37. Besides “far from the sun,” describe the qualities the Jovian planets share (at least four):

LARGE, GASEOUS, ALL HAVE RINGS, MANY MOONS

Use the terms below to complete each sentence:

Asteroids, Meteors, Meteorites, or Meteoroids

38. More commonly known as “shooting stars” METEORS are small pieces of rock that burn up after entering the earth’s atmosphere.

39. A METEORshower takes place when the Earth passes through a stream of comet debris and 1-1000 of them can be seen from Earth per hour.

40. Pieces of rock that actually hit Earth’s surface are METEORITES.

41. The leftover debris of a comet are called METEOROIDS.

42. A(n) ASTEROIDis thought to have killed the dinosaurs.

43. METEOROIDSare small pieces of rock moving through space.

44. Most ASTEROIDS orbit the sun and lie between Mars and Jupiter.

Comets

45. Where do comets come from? OORT CLOUD AND KUIPER BELT

46. Besides colliding with something, how does a comet end?IT VAPORIZES

47. What forms a comet’s tail? THE SUN (SOLAR WIND)

48. Which direction does a comet’s tail face? AWAY FROM THE SUN

49-50. Sketch the comet’s tail from the nucleus at positions A, B, C, D, E, F, & G in the appropriate direction in relation to the sun.