Our Solar System

Our solar system consists of ________.

• the Sun, eight planets, many stars, dwarf planets, and other celestial bodies

• the Sun, eight planets, one moon, dwarf planets, and other celestial bodies

• the Sun, eight planets, many moons, dwarf planets, and other celestial bodies

• the Sun, nine planets, many moons, dwarf planets, and other celestial bodies

Answer explanation

Our solar system has: One Sun... eight planets ...many moons...dwarf planets...and other celestial bodies such as asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

Put the outer planets in order from closest to furthest from the sun.

• Saturn

• Jupiter

• Uranus

• Neptune

Answer explanation

"My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos"

This is a common mnemonic device to used to memorize the order of the planets from closest to the sun to farthest.

Move each fact to its correct column.

Groups:

(a) the Sun

,

(b) Earth

,

(c) Jupiter

• 5th closest planet from the sun

• home of The Great Red Spot

• molten, heavy-metal core

• largest object in our solar system

• a terrestrial planet

• center of our solar system

Which planet has the shortest orbit around the sun?

• Mercury

• Mars

• Venus

• Jupiter

Answer explanation

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Therefore it has the shortest orbit around the Sun compared to the other planets.

It takes about 88 Earth days for Mercury to complete one orbit around the Sun.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

Which of the following planets have a terrestrial surface?

Select all.

• Mercury

• Venus

• Mars

• Uranus

• Neptune

Answer explanation

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface. The terrestrial planets are the "inner planets" because they are the four planets closest to the Sun.

Which of the following planets are gas giants?

Select all.

• Mercury

• Venus

• Jupiter

• Uranus

• Neptune

Answer explanation

A gas giant is a large planet mostly composed of helium and/or hydrogen. These planets do not have hard surfaces. They have swirling gases above a solid core.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the "outer planets" because they are farthest from the Sun. They are the gas giants.

Why does the sun look so much larger and brighter than other stars?

• The sun is cooler than other stars

• The sun is larger than other stars

• The sun is hotter than the other stars.

• The sun is closer than the other stars.

Answer explanation

The sun is MUCH closer to Earth than the other stars.

The Sun is about 93,000,000 (93 million) miles away from Earth. The next closest star, Proxima Centauri, is about 24,970,000,000,000 (24.97 trillion) miles away from Earth.

So the next closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri, is about 268,000 times farther away from Earth than the the Sun.

It takes a little more than 8 minutes for the Sun's light to reach Earth. It takes more than a year for light from the next closest star to reach Earth.

How are the inner planets and the outer planets alike and different?

Groups:

(a) inner planets

,

(b) outer planets

,

(c) both

• smaller core

• thinner atmosphere

• spherical in shape

• fewer moons

• rotate on their own axes

• colder

• heavy-metal core

• orbit the Sun

• longer years

Answer explanation

Inner Planets = Terrestrial; made of rock and metal; shorter orbit so fewer days in a year; slower rotation so more hours in a day; thin atmosphere; few moons; no rings.

Outer Planets = Gas Giants; made mostly of hydrogen and helium; longer orbits so longer years; faster rotation means short days and nights; many moons; rings

What is a dwarf planet?

• A nearly round celestial body that orbits the Sun, but has not been able to clear its orbit of debris.

• A small, rocky, irregularly shaped object that orbits the Sun.

• A type of asteroid found in the asteroid belt.

• A large, round celestial body that orbits the Sun in its own orbit.

Answer explanation

Dwarf planets orbit the Sun like planets, but they are smaller. Each known dwarf planet in our solar system is actually smaller than Earth's Moon.

So far, scientist have only recognized five dwarf planets. In order of distance from the Sun they are: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

Like the Sun, the outer planets are composed mostly of ________.

Select all

• hydrogen

• helium

• oxygen

• ozone

• nitrogen

Answer explanation

The outer planets, like the Sun, are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium.