Planet Ponderings

Question 1

which planet takes the least amount of time to orbit the Sun

Answer 1

Mercury

Question 2

which planet takes the most amount of time to orbit the Sun?

Answer 2

Neptune

Question 3

factors that determine a planet’s year

Answer 3

distance from the Sun

Question 4

which planet takes the longest time to spin on its axis?

Answer 4

Venus

Question 5

which planet takes the shortest time to spin on its axis?

Answer 5

Jupiter

Question 6

what factor determines a planet’s duration of day?

Answer 6

speed of rotation

Question 7

what does the word planet mean?

Answer 7

wanderer

Question 8

what is the present criteria required for an object to be classified as a planet?

Answer 8

orbits a star

spherical shape

cleared away any objects of similar size in its orbit path

Question 9

what are two planets without an atmosphere and why

Answer 9

Mercury - close to the Sun
Pluto - doesn’t have the gravity

Question 10

what effect does the arrangement of large gas giants as outer planets have on the terrestrial planets as inner planets?

Answer 10

their gravities pull in asteroids

Question 11

is their a pattern related to the surface temperature of each planet?

Answer 11

distance from Sun

whether or not it has an atmosphere

Question 12

how is Pluto similar to the terrestrial planets?

Answer 12

it has a solid surface

Question 13

how is Pluto similar to the gas giants?

Answer 13

low density

tend to go towards elliptical orbits, with longer years

Question 14

why does Mercury have such an extreme temperature range?

Answer 14

it has no atmosphere to trap heat

Question 15

who first proposed that Venus would be a very hot planet with a constant temperature?

Answer 15

Carl Sagan

Question 16

what was the basis for Carl Sagan’s prediction?

Answer 16

the dense atmosphere holds onto heat

Question 17

why does Uranus rotate in the opposite direction compared to all the other planets?

Answer 17

it was hit by something

Question 18

what is the common explanation as to why the asteroid belt never formed into a planet?

Answer 18

wasn’t enough mass in the belt, and it is too close to Jupiter

Question 19

what is the Kuiper Belt?

Answer 19

a region in the solar system outside Neptune, believed to contain many comets, asteroids, and other small bodies made largely of ice

Question 20

what is the Oort cloud?

Answer 20

a shell that goes around the solar system made of comets

Question 21

how far out does the Oort cloud extend?

Answer 21

2000 to 5000 AU from the sun (outer edge might be 10000-100000 AU)

Question 22

what is an AU and why is it used?

Answer 22

an AU is an astronomical unit which is used to compress astronomical numbers to a more manageable size

one AU is a 150 million kilometers

Question 23

why do the gas giants have more moons than the terrestrial planets?

Answer 23

they attract more things into their orbit

Question 24

what is presently the popular idea to explain the arrangement of inner to outer planets?

Answer 24

only the terrestrial planets could withstand the heat of the Sun (not 100% sure)