solar system Flashcards
If you were to stay on Mercury for one day, how long would that be in earth days?
59 days
Why is Mercury so hot during the day then so cold at night?
Mercury’s atmosphere is very thin which allows a lot of heat to be absorbed during the day. at night the atmosphere cannot hold the heat so it becomes very cold at night.
What does the surface of Mercury look like?
Mercury looks like a bowl because meteors hit Mercury which creates basins and craters.
Why is Mercury’s orbit unusual?
It is eliptical
What is the order for mercury in our solar system
it is the first planet
Why does Venus shine so brightly in the night sky?
Venus has a thick cloud layer that helps reflect the sun so it looks very bright in the night sky.
Name six ways in which Venus and the Earth are alike.
- Mountains 2. continets 3. valleys 4. oceans 5. plains 6. volcano
If you visited Venus for one week how many Earth days would that be? How many Earth years?
seven venus days equal 1701 earth days
seven venus days equal 4 earth days
describe venus’s atmosphere.
It is very thick, the air would feel like 3000 ft of water crushing you
what planet rotates the opposite of Venus.
Earth
what makes Earth diffrent from every other planet in our solar system?
Earth is the only planet which is known to have life
How do clouds protect our planet?
Clouds protect humans from extreme heat. The clouds retain heat so the Earth is not extremely cold at night.
What feature of the Earth gives it seasons.
The earth is tilted on an axis, rotating at an angle which allows us to experience seasons.
describe Earth’s cololurs.
It is mostly blue (three fourths of its surface is covered with water), with brown and green continents and white ice-capped poles.
1 day on Earth is how many days on earth.
23 hours 56 min
Why does the same side of the moon always face the Earth.
because the moon revoles and rotates at the same rate
What caused all of the craters on the moon.
meteors
List three facts about the moon’s gravity.
- too weak to hold an atmosphere 2. strong enough to cause ocean tides 3. 1/6 of the Earth’s gravity
Why does the moon get so hot during the day and so cold at night
The moon is close to the sun but at night there is no clouds to trap the height.
The moon has no what.
Food, Air, and Water
Why is Mars often called the Red Planet?
Becuase of the amount or iron in the soil gives mars that reddish colour.
What observation led earlier astronomers to believe Mars might support life.
Swirls and Dark Patches were thought to be clouds and seas.
How do we know so much about the surface of Mars when no man has ever set foot on the planet ?
Space probes have collected informaiton and have taken pictures.
What is the gigantic canyon called and how far does it stretch.
Valles Marineris and it stretches 4000 km
1 day on Mars in how many earth days
24 hours 40 min
Jupiter has 16 satellites. name the 4 largest ones discovered by Galileo.
- Lo 2. Europa 3. Ganymede 4. Callisto
Jupiter is composed of gases that become liquids when.
1/4 of the way to the core
Jupiter has large white spots and the great red storm what are these dark spots called.
storms
there is no what on the planet
solid surface
why does jupiter appeared to be flattened around the center and longer at the poles
becuase Jupiter rotates very quickly
How much of the solar system can fit into Jupiter.
2/3
Name the largest Moon (satellite) of saturn
Titan
What is unusual about the wind system of Saturn
It has 2 wind systems opperating in opposite direction. one system blows East to West and the other blows West to East
What year did Galileo discover the rings of Saturn
1610
Why is there no solid surface on the planet Saturn
Becuase of SAturn’s quick rotation
What are Saturn’s rings made up of
Rock and ice particles
Which astronomers discovered the five larger moons of Uranus and which year was each of the moons discovered.
Miranda - Gerard Kuiper - 1948
Ariel and Umber - William Lassel - 1851
Titan and Oberon - William herschel - 1787
Why weren’t the ten smaller satellites discovered until a space probe passed close to Uranus
Becuase the ten smaller satellites are dark in colour and don’t reflect as much sunlight as the larger ones.
When and who discovered Uranus
Sir William Herschel - 1781
What did the Voyager 2 find on Uranus and when
Uranus has 11 rings ten narrow ones and one large. it was discovered in 1986
What is the great dark spot on Neptune
they are belived to be storms
Who discovered Triton and Nereid and in what year
Triton - William Lassel - 1846
Nereid - Gerard Kuiper - 1949
What makes Neptune look blue
Methane gas
What makes Triton the most unusual satellite in the solar system
Triton’s has a retrograde (backwards) orbit around Neptune
What year did people find the six smaller satellites
1989
Why haven’t scientists learned as much about pluto as they know about other planets
Because people still dont know if pluto is considered a planet and pluto is the farthest away from Earth.
What is unusual about Pluto’s orbit
it is nearly the same size as the planet it orbits
Describe the surface of pluto
it is covered in Nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane frozen into and unusual show that feels like a soft pudding
When pluto is closet to the sun it travels inside what planet
Neptune
What is pluto’s one moon called
Charon
