Solar System Study Guide Flashcards
The Ancient Greeks knew all of the following planets: Earth Saturn, Uranus, Venus EXCEPT
Uranus
The heliocentric system gained support when Galileo observed that
Venus goes through phases similar to those of Earth’s moon
The sun produces energy by
Nuclear Fusion
What layer are you looking at when you look at an image of the sun?
Photosphere
The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles that extend outward from the sun’s
Corona
In a heliocentric system, Earth revolves around
The sun
What do all of the inner planets have in common?
They all are small and have rocky surfaces
Aside from Earth, which inner planet once had liquid water on its surface?
Mars
The atmospheres of the gas giant planets cannot escape into space because
The planets have very strong gravitational pulls
What do the first four outer planets have in common?
They are much larger than Earth and are made mainly of hydrogen & helium
Astronomers predicted the existence and orbit of Neptune based on
Neptune’s gravitational effect on the orbit of Uranun
The fact that each planet’s orbit is an ellipse was discovered by
Kepler
What shape are the orbits of most comets?
Long, narrow ellipses
The asteroid belt is located
between Mars & Jupiter
Meteoroids usually come from
comets or asteroids
When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere, it produces a streak of light called a(n)
Meteor
One of the conditions required for life on Earth is
Liquid water
Scientists have discovered that life forms on Earth exist
in a very wide range of conditions
Europa is considered a good place to look for life because
there may be liquid water under its icy crust
The hypothesis that Mars may once have had the conditions needed to support life is based in part on
evidence that liquid water was once present
Copernicus explained that
The sun is at the center of the system of planets
Which parts of the sun’s atmosphere become visible during an eclipse?
Chromosphere & corona
Which of the inner planets does NOT show evidence of volcanic activity
Mercury
Venus and Earth are much alike in terms of
their SIZE and DENSITY
Saturn’s rings are made up mostly of
Chunks of Ice and rock
Uranus is different from most other planets because it
Rotates on its side
The solar system consists of the sun, several kinds of smaller objects such as comets and asteroids, and
More than 100 planets
What is distinctive about Jupiter?
It is the largest and most massive planet
Neptune is very similar in size and color to
Uranus
Which is the smallest terrestrial planet?
Mercury
