The Outer Planets 30.3 Flashcards
Jupiter
the fifth planet from the Sun; the largest planet with continuous, swirling high-pressure gas storms
Saturn
sixth planet from the Sun; the second-largest planet with the most complex ring system
Uranus
seventh planet from the Sun; appears blue-green due to methane in the atmosphere; its axis of rotation is tilted on its side
Neptune
eighth planet from the Sun; has storms similar to Jupiter’s and is blue due to methane in the atmosphere
dwarf planet
nearly-spherical object in orbit around the Sun that is not a satellite, and has not cleared the debris in its orbit.
comet
object in elliptical orbit around the Sun composed of dust and particles, frozen water, methane, and ammonia; vaporized due to heat from Sun, producing a coma and tail
asteroid
rocky object formed from material similar to that of planets, orbiting the sun
meteroid
sand-to-boulder rocky sized object orbiting the Sun
Sedna
distant planetoid, smaller than Pluto, larger than comets, with a very elliptical orbit
extraterrestrial life
life beyond Earth, object of the search by exobiologist
Which space probes flew past Jupiter in 1979?
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2
Which space probe reached Jupiter in 1955?
Galileo Space probe
What did the Voyager probes and Galileo study?
studied the composition, structure, and motion of Jupiter’s atmosphere, many features of its moons, volcanoes, new moons and faint rings around Jupiter
How many known moons does Jupiter have?
63
What are the 4 Galilean moons?
Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa
Which of the Galilean moons is the largest in the solar system?
Ganymede
