The Solar System Scavenger Hunt- Use the internet, textbooks or any other reliable source to answer the questions below. General Descriptions of the Planets 1. ___________is known as the “Red” planet. It has two polar ice caps and is believed to have once had liquid water on its surface. 2. ___________is the only planet known to have liquid water on its surface. It is also the only planet to be known to sustain life. 3. __________is the smallest planet in our solar system, as well as the coldest. 4. __________is the largest of the planets and is known as one of the gas giants. Its most distinguishing characteristic is the giant red spot in its southern hemisphere. 5. __________has the thickest atmosphere of the inner planets, and has a dull yellowish tint. 6. __________is an extremely light colored blue, and is the 7th planet from the sun. 7. __________is the second smallest of the planets, has nearly no atmosphere and is the 2nd hottest of the planets. It also has a strong magnetic field of unknown origin. 8. ___________is most famous for its rings. 9. __________is the outermost gas giant, and is a spectacular blue color, It has a large storm “spot”, and faint rings. Diameter, Distance, Orbit and Period of Rotation 10. __________has a diameter of 7,920 miles and is 93 million miles from the sun. 11. __________has a diameter of 71,000 miles and is 886 million miles from the sun. 12. __________has a diameter of 3,100 miles and is 36 million miles from the sun. 13. __________is 864,000 mi. in diameter. It rotates every 25 days at the equator. 14. __________has a diameter of 32,000 miles and is 1.8 billion miles from the sun. Orbits the sun every 84 years and rotates on its axis every 17.2 hours. 15. __________has a diameter of 1,500 miles and is 3.6 billion miles away from the sun. 16. __________has a diameter of 4,200 miles and is 141 million miles from the sun. 17. __________has a diameter of 7,700 miles and is 67 million miles from the sun. 18. __________has a diameter of 88,940 miles and is 483 million miles from the sun. 19. __________has a diameter of 31,000 miles and is 2.8 billion miles from the sun. Rings and Moons 20. __________ is defined as a large amount of debris encircling a planetary body. 21. __________is defined as a natural body orbiting around another celestial body. 22. __________has at least 16 moons. The four largest are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. 23. __________has 2 small moons called Phobos and Deimos, which means fear and panic. These moons were discovered in 1877. 24. __________has at least 18 satellites, the largest of which is Titan. 25. __________has only one satellite, called Charon and is nearly a planet itself. 26. __________ has 8 known satellites, the largest of which is Triton. 27. __________ is not always the last planet-its orbit causes it to come closer to the sun than the 8th planet for about 20 yrs. 28. __________ is often called the “vacuum” of the solar system because of its gravitational field. 29. __________has a giant red spot whish is actually a large storm, over three times the size of earth, and has been raging for over 300 years. 30. __________is the brightest object in the sky besides the sun and the moon. 31. __________has such a low density that, even though it is the second largest of the gas giants, it could float on water. 32. __________are believed to be made up of space debris left over from the formation of our solar system and has a tail. 33. __________is a “shooting star” which has not yet entered the earth’s atmosphere. 34. __________is a “shooting star” which has entered Earth’s atmosphere. 35. __________are considered minor planets, and are mainly located between mars and Jupiter. They are the remains of matter that did not form into a major planet at the formation of our solar system. Gravitational fields- 36-45 In the table below fill in the gravitational force of each object in relation to earth’s gravitational force. Object Sun Gravity Mercury Venus Earth 1.0 Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto