Chapter 7 - Our Solar System

What is the unit of measure most commonly used to measure interplanetary distances in our Solar System?

• kilometers

• astronomical units

• parsecs

• light years

All the terrestrial planets are ______ ______ 2 AU (Astronomical Units) from the Sun.

• greater than

• equal to

• more than

• less than

The Jovian Planets have orbital distances between ____ AU and _____ AU from the Sun.

• 10, 29

• 5, 30

• 10, 30

• 5, 29

All the planets orbit the Sun in a ________________ direction when we view those orbits from above the orbital plane.

• counter-clockwise

• clockwise

• up-stream

• down-stream

Technically what is the shape of the orbits of all the planets that orbit our Sun?

• perfectly circular

• elliptical

• hyperbolic

• parabolic

When you look down at the orbits of all the planets from above we discover that the orbits look _______ _________.

• very nice

• perfectly oval

• almost circular

• highly eccentric

What is in the large gap, about 4 AU wide, between Mars and Jupiter?

• The planet Ceres is in the gap between Mars and Jupiter.

• The planet Eris is in the gap between Mars and Jupiter. .

• The planet Sedna is in the gap between Mars and Jupiter.

• The asteroid belt is in the gap between Mars and Jupiter.

A small celestial body made mostly of _______ and __________ is known as an asteroid.

• dust, ice

• rocks, minerals

• rocks, ice

• minerals, ice

____________ is a rock or meteoroid that enters the atmosphere and lands on the Earth in a detectable.

• meteor

• asteroid

• meteorite

• comet

A __________ is a dirty icy slush ball that orbits the Sun in a very eccentric orbit.

• meteor

• asteroid

• satellite

• comet