Solar System Flashcards
LIGHT SPEED
The rate at which light travels through space
LIGHT YEAR
The distance that light travels in one year
Nearly 9,500,000,000,000 km
ASTRONOMICAL UNIT
The average distance between the Earth and the Sun
DRAKE EQUATION
An equation used to estimate the number of intelligent, extraterrestrial civlizations that exist in the Milky Way galaxy.
SOLAR SYSTEM
A star (or stars) and all objects held by it’s gravity
INNER SOLAR SYSTEM
The region of our Solar System between the Sun and the Asteroid Belt that contains the 4 terrestrial planets.
ASTEROID BELT
A collection of rocky/metallic objects between Mars & Jupiter. Believed to have once been a planet that was unable to form. Most known asteroids can be found in a donut-shaped orbit between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Scientists estimate there might be between 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter and millions of smaller ones. Early in the history of the solar system, the gravity of Jupiter did not allow planets to form in this area and this resulted in a lot of smaller bodies.
OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM
The region of our Solar System between the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt that contains the 4 giant planets.
KUIPER BELT
The region beyond Neptune that is filled with icy objects left over from the early solar system. This is where Pluto and many dwarf planets can be found. ‘Home of the short-term comets.’
OORT CLOUD
Believed to be a thick, bubble-like shell of icy debris that surrounds our solar system and marks the outer limits of the Sun’s gravitational pull. The outer limits of our solar system. ‘Home of the long-term comets.’ This distant ‘cloud’ is believed to extend about a third of the distance from our Sun to the next, closest star (5,000 to 100,000 AU).
THE SUN
The smallish, medium-sized star located at the center of our Solar System.
PLANET
Must comply with these criteria:
- Directly orbits a star but is not a star itself.
- Has enough mass for its own gravity to cause it to form into a sphere.
- Has cleared its orbital area.
DWARF PLANET
Meets all criteria for a planet but has not cleared its orbital area. One dwarf planet (Ceres) is located in the Asteroid Belt. The remaining dwarf planets are located beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt (Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea are some of the named dwarf planets found there).
MOON
A natural satellite of another celestial object that does not directly orbit the Sun. Planets can have moons. Even the asteroid “Gaspra” has a tiny moon named “Ida”.
ASTEROIDS
Solid, rocky/metallic objects orbiting the Sun. Most are found in the main asteroid belt between Mars & Jupiter. Currently (as of January 14, 2019), 791,571 have been discovered. Usually having an irregular shape, asteroids can range in size from 940 km in diameter (Vesta) to just 10 m in diameter. Ceres, a former asteroid, with a diameter of 952.4 km, is the only dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt.
COMETS
Solid objects made mostly of frozen gases and embedded with dust, grains of sand, and small rocks. When near the inner Solar System, they become active. Ices vaporize in sunlight forming an ‘atmosphere’ (coma) of gas and dust and a tail of gas and/or dust. “Dirty Snowball.” Early remnants of Solar System formation that are located in Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.
METEROIDS
Bits of, solid, rocky metallic interplanetary material that are typically only millimeters in size (grains of sand) but can range in size up to large rocks. For example, if a piece of an asteroid, comet, moon, etc. breaks off, it could become a meteoroid. Smaller than comets or asteroids. Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons (44,000 kg) of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day!
TERRESTRIAL PLANET
A smaller, dense, rocky, solid planet. In our SS, the four inner planets.
GAS GIANT
A large planet made up mostly of gas. In our SS, Jupiter and Saturn are composed of mostly hydrogen and helium, with large mantles of metallic hydrogen (which acts like a metal, due to the pressure and temperature within these planets) and only small cores of rock and ice. This is why they are called gas giants: They are mostly gaseous, with very little rock and ice.
ICE GIANT
A large planet made up mostly of frozen gas. In our SS, Uranus and Neptune are composed of some hydrogen and helium, but they also contain heavier elements such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Beneath their relatively thin outer shells of hydrogen and helium, these planets’ mantles are largely made of compressed, slushy water and ammonia. The ice giants’ rocky, icy cores are also proportionally larger than the amount of gas they contain, unlike the gas giants.
PLANETARY RING SYSTEM
A disc made up of different combinations of ice, dust, and rocks that orbit’s a planet.
SMALL SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES
Objects smaller than dwarf planets that are not moons. Chunks of ice, rock and metal leftover from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Asteroids, comets, and meteoroids fall into this category.
EXOPLANET
A planet that orbits a star(s) outside of our solar system.
METEOR
A meteoroid that has entered Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes in a flash of light (a.k.a., “shooting stars”). Small, broken off pieces of planets, moons, asteroids, or from debris left in comet trails. Typically no larger than a grain of sand. Most meteoroids that enter Earth’s atmosphere are so small that they vaporize completely and never reach the planet’s surface.
Meteorite:
Any part of a meteoroid that has enough mass to survive its fall through the atmosphere and land on Earth.
METEOR SHOWERS
Occur annually at regular intervals as Earth passes through the trail of debris left by a comet. There are several meteor showers that occur throughout the year. The Perseids (mid August), Orionids (later October), and the Gemenids (mid-December) are the best meteor showers.
PARTS OF A COMET
- Nucleus: The main, icy part of a comet that is made up of frozen gases embedded with dust, grains of sand, and small bits of metal and rocks.
- Coma: The mini-atmosphere of gas that surrounds the nucleus of a comet when its outer layer of ice vaporizes as it gets closer and closer to the Sun.
- Tail: Formed from the coma, it is a stream of dust and gas that forms when a comet gets closer to the Sun. Solar wind from the Sun pushes the tail so that it always points away from the Sun so that even when the comet, is once again leaving the Sun, its tail is stretched out in front of it. Tails can be up to 250 million km long and are most of what we see.
What is the difference between a Terrestrial Planet and
the Giant Planets
Terrestrial planets have atmospheres made up mostly of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen. And have ROCKY surfaces.
The gas giants consist of lighter gases like hydrogen and helium. Are further from sun, rotate faster, have more moons, and more rings, and less dense over all
What is the difference between planets and dwarf planets?
Dwarf planets are smaller, therefore they lack gravitational forces needed to pull in and accumulate all of the material found in their orbits.
How much is the speed of space travel?
The solar system is so great that for humans to travel to other solar system bodies other then those very close to earth is not possible as it would take to long
How far is long ago?
- nothing travels faster then the speed of light
- it takes millions of billions to travel in space
- the light reaches your eye when you look at a star in the night sky, but it might be millions and billions of years old, therefore we are seeing the star as it looked millions of billions years ago
The Anatomy of the Solar System
(Draw on a map)
DRAW THIS: Planets, Comets, Asteroids, Meteroids, Moons, Dwarf Planets, Dust, and Gas
Inner solar system, asteroid belt, outer solar system, kuiper belt, ort cloud
Inner Planets
Terrestrial, Solid, Rocky, Small
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Outer Planets
Big, gas, all have rings
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
1st planet to Left NAME - 2 things
Mercury:
Smallest, greatest range in surface temp, no atmosphere
2nd planet NAME - 2 things
Venus:
Day is longer then year
hotest most dense atmosphere
3rd planet Name - 2 things
Earth:
only planet with intelligent life
water
4th planet Name - 2 things
Mars:
Covered in rust
largest canyon in solar system
5th Planet Name
Jupiter:
Largest Planet
Shortest Day
6th planet name 2 things
Saturn:
Most rings
least dense
could float in water
7th planet name - 2 things
Uranus:
Tilted nearly 90 degress on is side
most extreme weather
longest seasons
8th planet name - 2 things
Neptune:
Coldest Planet
Fastest Winds
Nebular Theory of Solar System
- Solar system formed 4.5 biliion years ago
- Supernova Exploding making a massive star is what it is made from
- All planets formed out of the same material in the same place
What are SSSB’S
Small Solar System Bodies
Asteroid
Meteroids
Comets
SSSB Compare & Contrast
Small, Solar System Bodies:
Origin, location, composition, size
The Oort Cloud, The Kuiper Belt
Comets
Meteors
What is the difference between a meteor, meteorite, and a meteroid
Meteroid is outside earth atmostphere, small rock
Meterorites inside earth atmosphere, falling star
Meteor – When meteroid hits the earth, hard ball
What is the direction of comet tails DRAW
Comet Tails point away from the sun always
They have two tails because excapign gas and dust are influenced by the sun slightly differently
So tails point in different directions
Why do meteor showers happen every year
JD knows to explain
What are the sources of a meteroid?
Come from the asteroid belt and the collision of asteroids
some are particles from comets that create meteor showers.
Some are fragments from planets or the moon.
What is the shape of planetary orbits
Oval
Elliptical
What would happen to the Earth if the Sun were to suddenly dissapear
The earth and every planet in the solar system would continue their forward motion in a straight line off into space. Instead of in an oval orbit. The earth would head off the stars.
What is the location of the solar system bodies in the solar system
The solar system is located in the Orion Arm 26,000 light years away from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy
Order of planets from Sun Outward:
Mercury
Venus
Earth Mars
Jupiter Saturn
Uranus Neptune
Location of Solar System Regions
Sun
4 Terrestrial inner planets
Asteriod Belt (Small rocky bodies)
Four Gas OUter planets
Kuiper Belt (Icy Objesct)
Oort Cloud
Why might a planet have a huge RANGE in surface temperatures over the course of one rotation?
Distance from the sun
Speed of rotation of the planet
Why does Mercury have such a huge range in surface temperatures but Venus has virtually none.
Mercury has no atmosphere therefore its temperatures vary
Venus is the hottest planet because of it’s proximity to the sun and it’s dense atmosphere trapping the heat in.
On a planet how can a day be longer then a year
Venus is unusual because it spins the opposite direction of Earth and the rotation is very slow...
One rotation on Venus axis is equal to 243 earth days
What causes meteor showers on Earth?
A shower occurs when the EARTH passes through the trail of debris left by a comet or asteroid.
What is the relationship between a planet’s mass and it’s gravitational force/gravity?
Anything with mass creates gravity, but the amount of gravity is proportional to the amount of mass. Therefore Jupiter has a stronger gravitational pull then Mercury. Distance also effects the strength of the gravitational force.
What is the relationship between the distance between two objects and the strength of the force of gravity between them
SInce gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two interacting objects more separation distance will result in weaker gravitational forces. So as two objects are separated from each other the force of gravitational attraction between them also decreases.
