Chapters 5-6

Question 1

Christian Huygens discovered a large moon of Saturn, later named ___.

Answer 1

Titan

Question 2

Who gets credit for a scientific discovery?

Answer 2

The person who makes the discovery public gets credit for a scientific discovery

Question 3

What is unusual about the tilt of Uranus?

Answer 3

Uranus is tilted almost 90 degrees, as if it were a barrel rolling around the sun.

Question 4

List the letters that make the mnemonic (memory aid) to name the planets in order from the sun. You can write the mnemonic if you prefer.

Answer 4

M,V,E,M,J,S,U,N (or My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos)

Question 5

How does the orbital period of the planets correlate to distance from the sun?

Answer 5

The farther the planet is from the sun, the longer it takes to orbit the sun.

Question 6

Who solved the mystery of Saturn’s rings by showing that they could not be solid, liquid, or gas, but must be many small particles independently orbiting Saturn?

Answer 6

James Clerk Maxwell

Question 7

List the five planets that can be seen with unaided eyes:

Answer 7

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn

Question 8

Who discovered Uranus?

Answer 8

William Herschel

Question 9

The ___ of Saturn’s orbit causes Saturn’s rings to disappear from view when they are viewed on-edge from Earth

Answer 9

inclination

Question 10

The density of the Jovian planets is less or more than the density of earth.

Answer 10

less

Question 11

The first astronomer to see Neptune

Answer 11

Johann Galle in Germany

Question 12

___ identified the gap in Saturn’s rings.

Answer 12

Cassini