Chapter 23 - Our Solar System

Question 1

What do Pluto and other dwarf planets not have enough of to clear out other nearby orbiting objects?

Answer 1

Mass and therefore gravity

Question 2

What are dwarf planets classified as?

Answer 2

SSSB

Question 3

What are terrestrial planets?

Answer 3

Planets about the same size and density as Earth

Question 4

What are planets farther from the sun than the earth called?

Answer 4

Superior planets

Question 5

What is it called when planets appear to move backwards?

Answer 5

Retrograde motion

Question 6

Is retrograde motion an optical illusion?

Answer 6

YES

Question 7

What is the brightest planet?

Answer 7

Venus

Question 8

What were the planets named after?

Answer 8

Roman gods

Question 9

What is the third planet from the sun?

Answer 9

Earth

Question 10

Is Mars a terrestrial planet or a superior planet?

Answer 10

BOTH

Question 11

What is astrogeology?

Answer 11

A mixture of astronomy and geology

Question 12

What is the fifth planet from the sun?

Answer 12

Jupiter

Question 13

What is the largest planet?

Answer 13

Jupiter

Question 14

Who discovered the four largest of Jupiter’s moons?

Answer 14

Galileo

Question 15

What are the four largest moon’s of Jupiter called?

Answer 15

Galilean moons

Question 16

How many rings does Uranus have?

Answer 16

5

Question 17

How many rings does Neptune have?

Answer 17

At least 4

Question 18

Which dwarf planet has the most elliptical orbit of all the planets?

Answer 18

Pluto

Question 19

Which object is closer to the sun than Neptune during part of its orbit?

Answer 19

Pluto

Question 20

Where do most asteroids have their orbits?

Answer 20

Between Mars and Jupiter

Question 21

What is the asteroids orbit path called?

Answer 21

The asteroid belt

Question 22

What are the (at least) three asteroid families that exist in Earth’s vicinity called?

Answer 22

Near-earth asteroids

Question 23

What are the main parts of a comet?

Answer 23

The head, nucleus, coma, and tail

Question 24

Who noted the regular pattern of a comet that was named for him after his death?

Answer 24

Edmund Halley

Question 25

What are the comets that appear in time intervals called?

Answer 25

Periodic comets

Question 26

What’s the scientific name for a shooting star?

Answer 26

Meteor

Question 27

What happens to most meteors before they even reach the earth’s surface?

Answer 27

They burn up

Question 28

What are meteorites?

Answer 28

They’re meteors that reach the earth’s surface

Question 29

How is a planet defined?

Answer 29

• orbits the sun
• has a spherical shape
• does not share the space of its orbit with any other object of significant size, other than moons

Question 30

Which planet revolves the fastest?

Answer 30

Mercury

Question 31

Do all planets have moon’s?

Answer 31

NO

Question 32

Which planet is 1 AU from the sun?

Answer 32

Earth

Question 33

Which planets existences were known before their discovery?

Answer 33

Neptune and Pluto

Question 34

Introduced heliocentric theory

Answer 34

Capernicus

Question 35

Persecuted for criticizing the heliocentric theory

Answer 35

Galileo

Question 36

Applied gravity to planetary movement

Answer 36

Newton

Question 37

Proposed difference in epicycles

Answer 37

Ptolomy

Question 38

Combined heliocentric theory and geocentric theory

Answer 38

Tycho

Question 39

How many planets are there?

Answer 39

8

Question 40

Which planet orbits inside of Neptune during part of its orbit?

Answer 40

Pluto

Question 41

Is it possible that earth could be hit by an asteroid?

Answer 41

Yes

Question 42

Is it likely that we’d have a collision?

Answer 42

No

Question 43

Who made three laws of planetary motion?

Answer 43

Kepler