Earth in the Universe

Question 1

What is the order of the planets that orbit our Sun?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What are asteroids?

Answer 2

They are irregular lumps of rock, mostly in near-circular orbit between Mars and Jupiter

Question 3

What are Comets?

Answer 3

Comets are small objects made of rock and ice, with very elongated orbits around the sun

Question 4

What are dwarf plants?

Answer 4

They are small spherical lumps of rock in orbit around the sun

Question 5

How long ago was the solar system formed?

Answer 5

It was formed from clouds of gases and dust in space, about five thousand million years ago

Question 6

How many stars make up the Universe?

Answer 6

The sun is one of thousands of millions of stars in the Milky way galaxy, there are millions of galaxies each containing millions of stars that make up the universe

Question 7

What is diameter of the solar system, distance to the nearest star, the diameter of the milky way and the distance to the nearest galaxy?

Answer 7

The diameter of the solar system is 0.006 light years,
The distance to the nearest star is 4.2 light years,
The diameter of the milky way is 100000 light years,
The distance to the nearest galaxy is 2,300,000 light years

Question 8

What is the speed of light through a vacuum (space)?

Answer 8

300,000km/s

Question 9

What is a light year?

Answer 9

The distance light travels in a year

Question 10

Where does the sun’s energy come from?

Answer 10

Nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei

Question 11

All elements heavier than what element are formed in stars?

Answer 11

All elements heavier than helium were made in stars

Question 12

What does red-shift suggest about the movement of distant galaxies?

Answer 12

It suggests that the distant galaxies are moving away from us and are moving away at an accelerating rate

Question 13

How old is the Earth, the Sun and the Universe?

Answer 13

The Earth was created 4500 million years ago,
The Sun was created 5000 million years ago,
The Universe is expanding from a single point about 14000 million years ago

Question 14

How did the Universe begin and how do we predict the Universe’s fate will be?

Answer 14

Current theories suggest that the Universe started with a Big Bang, and we believe that the Universe will continue to expand till it explodes back in on itself