Astro Expert TA 7
Arrange the planets in order of how high the central temperature is likely to be (planets not shown to scale).
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Below is a list of characteristics of solar system minor bodies. Using the Venn diagram shown, classify them according to whether they describe asteroids, comets, or both.
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Below is a list of planetary characteristics. Classify them in the two boxes by whether they belong with terrestrial planets or giant planets.
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Drag the image of each planet to its correct orbital position with respect to the Sun (not drawn to scale).
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From the list below, distinguish between what would make it easier or harder for a planet to retain an atmosphere.
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Match each planet with one or more of its defining characteristics.
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Match these terms to their correct meanings.
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Put these five events in the history of the solar system in chronological order, from the earliest to the most recent.
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Sort the planets by significance of seasonal changes.
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The inner part of the Sun's "family" includes four round solid worlds, called ________________. Further out are four larger round worlds made mostly of gas or liquid, called __________________. Between the two groups is a belt of smaller rocky chunks (which are mostly not round) called ________________. Many but not all of the big worlds have objects orbiting around them, called _________. Our beyond Neptune, astronomers have found Pluto and other _____________. In that cold realm they also find smaller icy pieces that are given the name _________. Astronomers believe that all of these objects have their origin more than four and a half billion years ago in a spinning cloud which they call the _______________.
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Which of the solar system object categories below would be ideal for studying the composition of the solar nebula from which our system is thought to have formed?
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Which of the solar system characteristics below have led astronomers to believe that the objects in our solar system all formed from the same "mother cloud" (solar nebula)?
The Sun rotates in the same direction that the planets revolve , All planets orbit in nearly the same plane , Large gas giants have the same composition as the Sun , All planets revolve in the same direction
Which of the statements below best describes planetary orbits in our solar system?
They generally have low eccentricity and lie in the same plane.
Radioactive dating techniques have revealed that our Earth and Moon are approximately how old?
about 4.5 billion years
During the process of differentiation,
heavier materials sink toward the centers of planets that are in a liquid or gas state
In studying the surfaces of solid bodies in the solar system, astronomers have learned that the number of craters (per unit area):
is roughly proportional to the age of the surface we are examining
In general, the further planets are from the Sun, the cooler they are. What other factor can have a significant influence on a planet's surface temperature?
its atmosphere (whether it has one and how thick it is)
Which of the following ways that jovian (giant) planets differ from the terrestrial planets is NOT CORRECT?
jovians (being larger) rotate significantly more slowly than terrestrials
All the planets (without exception)
revolve around the Sun in the same direction
Our best evidence and theoretical calculations indicate that the solar system began with a giant spinning system of gas and dust that scientists call:
the solar nebula
