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Study Guide – Astronomy Part 2
1.) What are the names of the inner planets in order, starting at the Sun (4)? Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
2.) What are the characteristics of the inner planets? Small, rocky, iron cores
3.) What are the names of the outer planets in order, starting at the Sun (4)? Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune
4.) What are the characteristics of the outer planets? Gas giants with many moons, cold, longer years
5.) Briefly describe each of the 8 planets.
Mercury- small, closest to Sun, very hot on one side, very cold on the other
Venus- Very hot always, sulfuric acid clouds
Earth- perfect temperature for liquid water/life
Mars- red, once had running water
Jupiter- largest, most moons, Great Red Spot storm
nd
Saturn- 2 largest, most rings
Uranus- rotates on its side
Neptune- fastest winds in the solar system
6.) What are the names of the dwarf planets (5)? Ceres, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, Eris
7.) What are the characteristics of the dwarf planets? Small, round, rocky, not able to clear their orbital path .
8.) What is the area between Mars and Jupiter? Asteroid Belt
9.) Which dwarf planet is found here? Ceres
10.) What area is beyond Neptune? Kuiper Belt
11.) Which Dwarf planets are found here? Pluto, Makemake, Haumea
12.) What is the area beyond the Kuiper Belt? Scattered Disk
13.) What dwarf planet is found there? Eris
14.) What is the outer edge of the solar system where comets originate? Oort cloud
15.) What is a meteoroid? Space rock headed toward Earth
16.) What is a meteor? Space rock in Earth’s atmosphere
17.) What is a meteorite? Space rock on Earth’s surface
18.) What do comets orbit? Sun
19.) What are comets made of? What are the parts of a comet? Ice, dust, nucleus, coma, dust tail, ion tail.
20.) Describe the orbit of a comet. Long narrow ellipse
21.) Halley’s Comet takes how many years to orbit? 76 Years
22.) When was the last time Halley’s Comet came close to Earth? When is the next time? 1986 - 2061
23.) What do asteroids orbit? Sun
24.) Where are most asteroids found? Asteroid Belt
25.) What are asteroids made of? Rock and Metal
26.) How is an asteroid’s orbit different than a comet’s? more like a circle
27.) What is an AU? How long is this in miles? The distance from Earth-Sun. 93 million miles.
28.) What is a light year? How long is this in miles? The distance light travels in a year- 6 trillion miles.
29.) Describe the Milky Way galaxy. A spiral galaxy 120,000 light years across containing 200-400 billion stars
30.) Where is the Sun within the Milky Way? About 2/3 of the way out on the Orion Arm
31.) What are the main types of galaxies? Spiral, Elliptical, Irregular
32.) How far is it from our Sun to the nearest star? 4.2 ly (proxima centauri)
33.) How far is it across our galaxy? 120,000 light years
34.) How far is it from the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy? 2.6 million ly
35.) What force holds solar systems together? Gravity
36.) What force holds galaxies together? gravity