Study Guide for Unit 7

The sun and the moon look to be the same size, but we know that the radius of the sun is 696,000 kilometers while the moon has a mean radius of only 1,737.5 kilometers. Why do they appear to be the same size?

• It's due to the relative distances and sizes of the sun and moon.

• The sun and moon are the same size because they are both spherical.
• The moon reflects sunlight, making it seem larger than it is.
• The sun appears smaller due to atmospheric distortion.

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When building a model of the solar system, if you use a large exercise ball for the sun, what could you use for Earth?​ ​ ​ (a)  

• A basketball
• A grapefruit
• A large watermelon
• A small orange or a ping pong ball.

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Choose a definition and choose a picture for each word. Which is the definition for planet? Which is the picture of a planet? Which is the definition for solar system? Which is a picture of a solar system?

Groups:

(a) Planet Definition

,

(b) Planet Picture

,

(c) Solar System Definition

,

(d) Solar System Picture

• 
• 
• a relatively large spherical body that orbits a star

  
  

• The sun, four rocky planets, and four gas giant planets.

A galaxy is a vast collection of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. Which image shows a galaxy?

• 
• 
• 
• 

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List the following in order from largest to smallest. (galaxy, planet, solar system, star, universe)

• star

• galaxy

• solar system

• universe

• planet

Do we study space, other planets, stars and galaxies, by direct observation or remote observation? Why?

• We study them through remote observation because they are far away.

• We study them using only telescopes on Earth because they are close.

• We study them only through direct observation because they are nearby.

• We study them by sending humans to other planets because it is easy to do.

We use different measurements in space than we do on Earth. Order the distances below from smallest to largest unit of measurement, with 1 being the smallest measurement unit, 4 being the greatest measurement unit.

• kilometer

• light year

• astronomical unit

• parsec

List the following in order from closest to farthest from the Earth. (the sun, our moon, the planet Neptune, a star in the constellation Orion).

• Star in Orion

• Moon

• Neptune

• Sun

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Remember a Light Year is a measure of distance using how FAR light travels in one year. With that in mind, how long does it take light from a star to reach Earth if research shows that the star is 6 ly away from earth?

• 1 year
• 6 years
• 12 years
• 3 years

Jenn says there are thousands, maybe even millions of galaxies in the universe. What is her error?

• There are only a few hundred galaxies in the universe.
• The universe contains exactly one million galaxies.
• There are over two trillion galaxies in the universe.
• There are billions of galaxies in the universe.