Download Outer Planets Review Sheet with answers: 1.) Give the order of the

Outer Planets Review Sheet with answers:
1.) Give the order of the Solar System, going from the sun to the furthest fullsized planet outward. (12 Marks)
The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroid Belt, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune. (After this come the dwarf planets: Pluto and Eris.)
2.) How big is the moon, compared to Earth? (1 Mark) About 1/4 of the size.
3.) What is the 5th largest planet? (1 mark) Earth
4.) What is the approximate mass of Jupiter, compared to all of the other
planets? (2 Marks)
It is about 2x the mass of all of the other planets combined.
5.) Which constellations are most useful to sailors and why? (4 Marks)
a.)
b.)
c.)
The Big Dipper, because it points to the Little Dipper and, in
particular, the North Star.
The Little Dipper, because it contains the North Star.
Cassiopeia, because it points towards the Little Dipper.
6.) Which planet is the only one to be given a Greek name? (1 Mark) Uranus
7.) What is the planet with the second fastest winds in the Solar System? How
fast are its wind speeds? Saturn has the second fastest wind speeds, at
1800km/h. (2 marks) Neptune with wind speeds of up to 2000 km/h.
8.) What are the fastest wind speeds on Earth? (1 Mark) km/h
Tornados contain wind speeds of between 416-510 km/h
9.) How much of the mass of the Solar System does the Sun make up? (1 Mark)
98%
10.)
Name the system of religion, whose gods share their names with
many of the planets in our solar system? (1 Mark) Roman
11.)
12.)
13.)
Jupiter’s other name could be called Zeus. (1 Mark)
How many times bigger than Earth is Jupiter? 318 (1 Mark)
What is the Third brightest object in the sky? (1 Mark) Venus
14.)
What are the names of the Jupiter’s four largest moons and why are
they named the Galilean moons? (5 Marks)
a.) Ganymede
b.) Callisto
c.) Io
d.) Europa
These moons are named this way because Galileo discovered them.
15.)
What is the name of the largest moon in the solar system? (1 Mark)
Ganymede
16.)
Interesting, but useless fact: Saturn is the root of the English word
"Saturday" (1 Mark)
17.)
This planet that has a low enough density to float in water? (1 Mark)
Saturn
18.)
How many sets of rings does Saturn have? What are they called?
(2 Marks)
3 sets of rings: The A ring, B ring and C Ring.
19.)
How many satellites have been found around Saturn? (1 Mark)
It has about 71 known moons as of when I updated this sheet.
20.)
How wide is the Cassini divide on Saturn? What would fit in this gap?
(2 Marks)
4000 KM, which is about as wide as North America
21.)
Why is Uranus blue? (2 Marks)
Uranus atmosphere contains a lot of methane, which absorbs all red light,
making it appear blue.
22.)
What writer has not only given names to plays and characters, but
planets as well? (1 Mark) Shakespeare
23.)
Which was the first planet to be discovered in modern times? What
did they mistake it as, the first time that they saw it? Why did it take so long
to call it a planet? (3 Marks)
Uranus; It was mistaken for a star; they then thought it was a comet and
then there was a debate until its orbit and size proved it to be a planet.
24.)
How many rings does Uranus have? What is the brightest ring called?
(2 Marks) It has 11 rings, the brightest of which is called the Epsilon Ring.
25.)
What was Neptune’s Greek name? (1 Mark) Poseidon
26.)
What was the name of the only spacecraft to visit Neptune? (1 Mark)
Voyager 2
27.)
How long does it take for the fast moving dark spot to move around
Neptune? (1 Mark) 16 hours
28.)
How often does Neptune orbit the Sun? (1 Mark)
It orbits the sun every 165 years.
29.)
What geological surprise does Neptune’s moon Triton have? (1 Mark)
Triton has active volcanoes.
30.)
How many major spots does Neptune have? (1 Mark)
It has 2 major spots.
31.)
What temperature have they recorded on Triton? Why is this
important? (2 Marks)
- 235, which is important because this is only 39 degrees warmer than
Absolute Zero; the temperature at which all life and movement stops.
32.) What are the names of Pluto’s moons? (5 Marks)
Charon, Hydra, Styx, Kerberos, Nix
33.) Which of the solar system’s moons are larger than Pluto? (7 Marks)
Ganymede, Titan, Our Moon, Triton, Callisto, Io and Europa are all
larger than Pluto. In fact, Ganymede and Titan are both larger than
Mercury.
34.) Name the massive canyon on Pluto’s largest moon. (1 Mark)
The massive canyon is called the Argo Chasma.
35.) Which planet helped to get Pluto declassified as a planet? (1 Mark)
Eris is the planet that helped to get Pluto declassified as a planet.
36.) How many moons does this planet have? (1 Mark)
This planet is currently known to have 1 moon named Dysnomia.
37.) Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet (2 Marks)
38.) Which asteroid is in the same planet class as Pluto? (1 Mark)
The asteroid Ceres is also known as a dwarf planet.
39.) What are the 3 rules for determining what makes a planet? (3 Marks)
a.) The object must orbit the sun.
b.) The object must have enough mass for its gravity to have pulled it into a
sphere shape.
c.) The Planet must have cleared its orbit. (The objects orbiting the planet
must not combine to make up more than half of the actual planet’s size.)
40.) Which of these rules did Pluto fail? (1 Mark)
Pluto failed part C, because if you combine Pluto’s moons, they would
actually be larger than Pluto. Charon alone is more than half the size of
Pluto.
41.) In honour of Pluto’s place in our space exploration history, small solar
system bodies that can’t be called planets are called (1 Mark)
In honour of Pluto’s place in the history of our space exploration, we can
small solar system bodies “Plutoids.” (As if Pluto knows or cares…)
42.) Eris is found in a second asteroid belt-like area called the… (2 Marks)
Kuiper Belt
43.) Pluto was named by a little girl from… (1 Mark)
Pluto was named by a little girl from England. (I typed this question
incorrectly)
44.) Eris takes 557 Earth years to orbit the sun once. It has a day that is 25 hours
long. (2 Marks)
45.) Eris’ moon is called Dysnomia, which means Confusion (2 Marks)
46.) Eris was the Greek goddess of discord, argument or strife. (1 Mark)
47.) Because Eris is so far from the sun, its atmosphere freezes onto the surface
of the planet when it is far away. As it nears the sun, it thaws out again. (2
Marks)
48.) Name the 2 constellations that were supposed to be 2 Greeks who fell in
love, but were banished to the sky. (2 Marks)
The two constellations are the queen on the tipped throne, Cassiopeia, and
her husband the somewhat house-shaped constellation, Cepheus.