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WorksheetsPlanet Presentations 2020
Total questions: 49
Worksheet time: 20mins
1. In 2006 it was decided that which of the following criteria must be met for an object to be a planet?
It is in orbit around the Sun.
It has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape).
It has “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbit.
All of the above
What is unusual about Pluto and its moon Charon?
They are the same size.
Charon is larger than pluto.
They orbit each other.
They are the furthest things in the solar system.
Pluto is named after the Roman god of the underworld. Who chose this name for the dwarf planet? (Originally it was called planet-X)
11 year old Venetia Burney of Oxford England.
Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered it.
Falconer Madan, University of Oxford librarian.
Herbert Hall Turner, an Oxford astronomer.
Besides the moon and sun, what is one of the brightest objects in the sky?
Mercury
Venus
Jupiter
Saturn
Which of the following is a term that means when an object travels across the sky in front of the sun? It provides an excellent opportunity to closely observe the object-such as Venus.
transmission
transit
transverse
crossing
Venus (Roman) was named after the goddess of ________________. In Greek she was called "Aphrodite".
Nature
Sports
The sky
Love
Which of the following is not a fact about Venus.
One of the most volcanicaly active objects that we know.
Has an iron core and rocky mantle (like Earth).
It's atmosphere traps heat, making it the hottest planet.
It (and Uranus) are the only planets to rotate backward.
Unlike many of the other celestial bodies, Pluto was unknown until discovered by whom in 1930?
Albert Einstein
Niels Bohr
Edwin Hubble
Clyde Tombaugh
This dwarf planet is shaped like a football and is one of the fastest spinning objects in the solar system (1 rotation in 4 hours)!
Make-Make
Sedna
Quaoar
Haumea
This is a region beyond Pluto where many dwarf planets and other small solar system bodies exist.
asteroid belt
Kuiper belt
WWE belt
IBF belt
Haumea (Hawaiian goddess of fertility) has two moons. Hi'aka (Hawaii and hula dancers) and Namaka (water) are Haumea's daughters. What other interesting feature does this trans Neptunian object have?
rings (discovered in 2017)
volcanoes
holes
magnetic fields
Human kind has been aware of the sun since time began. What discovery by Anaxagoras (450 BC) was not immediately accepted?
The sun is a planet.
The sun is a chariot flown by the gods.
The sun is a star.
The sun is an asteroid.
At what point is the sun in its life?
Newborn
Mid life
Senior citizen
End of its life
The sun is actually closer to the earth in winter than summer. (In the northern hemisphere)
True
False
What happens to the sun's magnetic field every 11 years?
It ceases to exist.
It switches polarity.
It gets stronger.
It gets weaker
The sunspots discovered by Galileo are made of ...
Hydrogen
Helium
Nitrogen
Water (steam)
The sun rotates opposite the Earth.
True
False
Which of the following is not true about the sun?
It is egg shaped.
The equator rotates faster than the poles.
It has never been explored by a probe.
It rotates the same direction as the Earth.
What did Galileo use to study Mars?
computer
space probe
telescope
internet
What makes Mars appear red?
sulfur
iron oxide (rust)
carbon
its atmosphere
Mars has been explored by robots.
True
False
Which is the Roman god of war?
Mars
Ares
Zeus
Poseidon
Which of the following are moons of Mars?
Io and Ganymede
Rhea and Phoebe
Phobos and Deimos
Charon and Hydra
What gas makes up 95% of Mars atmosphere?
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Carbon Dioxide
Sulfur Dioxide
Mars has water ice.
True
False
Where is the ice on Mercury located?
at the equator
at the poles
in the atmosphere
inside the planet
Which of the following is a thin atmospheric like volume surrounding a planet? It is made of particles gravitationaly bound to the planet but not enough to create a gas.
atmosphere
exosphere
ionosphere
troposphere
What are "Caloris" and "Rachmaninoff"?
Discoverers of Mercury
Volcanoes on Mercury
a drink cosmonauts drink (salut!)
Craters on Mercury.
Why doesn't Mercury have any moons?
solar wind blew them away.
It's too fast 105,947 miles/hour=29 miles/second)
Mercury doesn't have enough gravity to keep them (the sun's gravity would pull them
away.)
It spins too fast.
Which scientist proposed the Earth and other planets actually go around the sun (and claimed Earth was the third planet)?
Nicolaus Copernicus (1532). Aristarchus should have honorable mention 310-230 BC
Isaac Newton (1682)
Galileo Galilei (1632)
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
The only planet known to have life.
Mercury
Earth
Io
Mars
This makes up 78% of the Earth's atmosphere.
Oxygen
CO2
Nitrogen
Argon
What protects life on Earth from harmful cosmic radiation?
Moon
Magnetosphere
Solar Wind
Gravity
Which two languages is the word "Earth" from?
Dutch and French
Latin and Greek
Spanish and Gaelic
German and English
Discovered just a few days after Easter, the dwarf planet 2005 FY9 was called....
Easter Bunny
Easter Egg
Little Egg Bunny
Cadbury Bunny Egg
Finally 2005 FY9 was given the proper name
Sedna (Inuit god of the sea and and marine animals")
Ceres (Roman god of war)
Quaoar (Tongva creator god)
Make-Make (Polynesian creator god)
Second largest object in the Kuiper belt.
Pluto
MK2 (Make Make's moon)
Make Make
Eris
This planet was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel. He was observing stars with his telescope and accidentally found it. (People may have seen it earlier-128 BC and thought it was a star)
Neptune
Uranus
Saturn
Pluto
Britain's John Couch Adams and France's Urbain Le Vellier had noticed that Uranus' orbit was slightly off. They suggested there might be an 8th planet. The German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle actually spotted the planet close to Le Vellier's (1 deg) prediction and Adams (12 deg) prediction. Which planet was this?
Mars
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Because of its color, Neptune was named after the Roman god of the...
sea
sky
underworld
blue gatorade
Which of the following are characteristics of Neptune?
It has moons
It has rings
It is the smallest of all the gas giants
all of the above
Which planet is the furthest form the sun in our solar system (careful)?
Neptune
Pluto
Eris
The "ninth" planet Goblin
Which of the following solar system object was discovered in 2005 leading to a new definition for what a planet is (sorry Pluto!)?
Sedna
Krypton
Ceres
Eris
Uranus is the first planet to be discovered by a telescope and is named after...
the greek god of the sky.
the father of Saturn.
the roman god of the sky.
the element "uranium"
Which of the following are facts about Uranus?
Fastest spinning planet.
Has rings that give off heat.
Tilted at 98 degrees because of many impacts.
All of the above.
The great red spot on Jupiter is which of the following?
A storm that has been happening for over 300 years.
An area of iron oxide on the surface.
A hole in the gas clouds.
An impact caused by a meteor.
Jupiter is named after the Roman king of the gods. What did the Greeks call this planet?
Apollo
Artemis
Zeus
Hypnos
Voyager I discovered Jupiter's rings in 1980. Unlike Saturn's rings made of ice, Jupiters rings are faint and made of...
dust
tiny pieces of rock
a broken up space probe
This solar system object is too big to be an asteroid but too small to be a dwarf planet. Thus it is actually called a "planetoid"
Ceres
Eris
Pluto
Sedna
