Unit 4: Advancements on the Solar System Flashcards
Rocky and Earth-like
Terrestrial Planets
The region between Mars and Jupiter where most asteroids orbit the sun
Asteroid Belt
Gaseous and larger
Jovian Planets
An American astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930
Clyde Tombaugh
Its discovery questioned the status of Pluto as a planet
Kuiper Belt
An object that has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
Planet
A Kuiper Belt object estimated to be 10% bigger than Pluto
Eris
Celestial bodies that have not cleared their orbits due to lack of gravity
Dwarf Planets
The fourth planet from the sun
Mars
How ancient Chinese astronomers referred to Mars
Fire Star
“The red one”; how ancient Egyptians called Mars
Her Descher
How Mars gets its red color
Iron in soil
Largest canyon system on Mars
Valles Marineris
Solar system’s largest volcano
Olympus Mons
Smaller, farther satellite
Deimos
Slightly larger, closer satellite
Phobos
First successful mission related to Mars
NASA’s Mariner 4 (1965)
Discovered freshwater lakes and rivers existed on Mars 3 billion years ago
U.S. Mars Curiosity Rover (2012)
Sep. 2014 (i)
U.S. Maven mission
Sep. 2014 (ii)
India Mangalyaan orbiter
2016
Europe Exobiology
Mars One Program chose astronauts that will be sent to mars
2014
First crew will start its travel to Mars, reach it after a year
2022
There will be a twenty-man colony on Mars
2035
Italian astronomer who spotted the first object to be discovered in the asteroid belt in 1801
Father Giuseppe Piazzi
The largest body found in the asteroid belt; closest dwarf planet to the sun
Ceres
A mission in NASA’s discovery program; launched to research Ceres and Vesta
Dawn
Dutch astronomer who discovered Titan on March 27, 1655
Christiaan Huygens
The second largest moon in the solar system
Titan
The first spacecraft to orbit Saturn
Cassini
