The Solar System
Scavenger Hunt- Use the internet, textbooks or any other reliable source to answer the questions below.
Write your answers on a separate piece of paper
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 now considered a dwarf planet in our solar system.
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 major satellite called Charon and surprisingly has 4 confirmed others.
26. __________ has 8 known satellites, the largest of which is Triton.
27. __________ has a very elliptical orbit that causes it to come closer to the sun than the 8th planet for
about 20 years at a time.
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