Solar System Review

Who developed the heliocentric model of the Solar System?

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Albert Einstein

• Johannes Kepler

• Isaac Newton

What objects are thought to be leftover planetesimals that never formed planets from the time of the solar system’s formation?

• asteroids

• stars

• satellites

• space ships

Kepler’s first law demonstrates that the Sun is located in the exact center of an elliptical orbit.

• true

• false

What is the Oort cloud?

• It is a spherical shell that surrounds the entire solar system.

• It is a ring of icy bodies that is located outside the orbit of Neptune.

• It is the interstellar cloud that the solar system was formed from.

• It is the ring of asteroids located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

What is retrograde motion?

• It is the apparent backward movement of Mars as Earth passes it in its orbit.

• It determines the shape of a planet's orbit.

• It is the phenomenon in which a planet begins to rotate in the opposite direction.

• It is used in the prediction of horoscopes.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Which of the following is NOT an outer planet?

• Venus

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Neptune

Pluto is located at an average distance of 5,909,200,000 km from the Sun. What is the distance in AU?

• 39.5 AU

• 3.95 AU

• 8.84 AU

• 0.84 AU

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

What is the eccentricity of an orbit?

• The eccentricity of an orbit is a ratio that measures the "roundness" of the ellipse.

• The eccentricity of an orbit determines the direction of an object in space.

• The eccentricity of an orbit determines which direction the planet spins.

• The eccentricity of an orbit determines how fast the planet is moving.

Which of the following statements about dwarf planets is false?

• Dwarf planets are smaller in size than regular planets.

• The dwarf planets in our solar system are located in the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt.

• Dwarf planets are made of gas.

• The paths of dwarf planets are full of other objects.

The outer planets tend to have more moons than the inner planets.

• true

• false