Final

Question 1

Venus

Answer 1

Brightest planet, rotates backwards, volcanic surface, “morning/evening star”

Question 2

Mercury

Answer 2

Closest to the sun, fastest orbit period, almost no atmosphere, volcanic surface, extreme temps

Question 3

Mars

Answer 3

Thin CO2 atmosphere, two moons (Phobos & Deimos), “Red planet”, geologically dead, trace amounts of water detected

Question 4

Asteroids

Answer 4

Smaller rocky objects that orbit the sun, Ceres was the largest but was reclassified as a dwarf planet

Question 5

Jupiter

Answer 5

The largest planet, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, fastest spinning planet, made of light gases

Question 6

Saturn

Answer 6

Largest ring system, Titan is its largest moon, least dense of the planets, very quick day

Question 7

Uranus

Answer 7

Discovered by Herschel, rotates nearly perpendicularly Westward

Question 8

Neptune

Answer 8

Discovered because of Uranus, blue color due to raging storms of methane gas, 165 year orbit

Question 9

4 criteria for planetary status

Answer 9

1. Must orbit the sun
2. Cannot be a moon
3. Must have obtained hydrostatic equilibrium
4. Must have cleared its orbital path

Question 10

New moon

Answer 10

Beginning of the lunar period

Question 11

Waxing phases

Answer 11

14 days, visible part increasing

Question 12

Full moon

Answer 12

Halfway into the lunar period

Question 13

Waning phases

Answer 13

14 days, visible part decreasing

Question 14

Crescent

Answer 14

Less than half the moon visible

Question 15

Gibbous

Answer 15

More than half the moon visible

Question 16

Maria

Answer 16

Depressed areas on the moon

Question 17

Highlands

Answer 17

Higher areas of the moon

Question 18

Photosphere

Answer 18

Glowing surface of the sun

Question 19

Prominences

Answer 19

Glowing pieces of the sun’s atmosphere radiating outward

Question 20

Corona

Answer 20

Sun’s atmosphere, made of reactive ions

Question 21

Solar winds

Answer 21

Ions ejected from the corona

Question 22

Parallax

Answer 22

A shift in a star’s perceived location due to the earth’s movements

Question 23

Light-year

Answer 23

The distance light travels in a year

Question 24

Luminosity

Answer 24

Measure of the total amount of light produced by a star

Question 25

Brightness

Answer 25

Measure of light reaching the earth

Question 26

Variable stars

Answer 26

Stars that have fluctuating brightness

Question 27

Cepheid variables

Answer 27

Stars that have a regular period related to luminosity, these are used to calculate the distance to other galaxies

Question 28

Moho

Answer 28

The boundary between the crust and the mantle that bends P and S waves