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Review Sheet for Solar System Quiz
SURVEY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Age of solar system and how it was determined – 4.6 billion years old determined by
radioactive dating of rocks from the Earth, Moon and some asteroids
Solar nebular hypothesis – solar system formed by a cloud of gas and dust collapsing into
a rotating disk with a bulge in the center. This bulge is called a solar nebula, the bulge
will become the sun and the disk will condense into the planets.
Interstellar cloud – clouds of gas and dust between stars
Solar nebula – a bulging cloud of gas and dust, which became the sun and planets
Plantesimals –tiny particles from collisions that stick together. Ranging in size from mm
to km
How planets are formed – planets formed from “gentle” collisions of the planetesimals
How gas giants are formed – possible that the outer regions of the solar nebula were cold
and dense enough to pull gas together into giant planets without the need to first form
cores
Formation of atmospheres – last planet forming process. Outer planets captured their
atmospheres from the solar nebula. Inner planets created their atmospheres by volcanic
activity and maybe from vaporized comets and asteroids
The Sun – ball of incandescent gas whose output is generated by nuclear fusion
Composition and heat formation – composed mainly of hydrogen and helium.
Heat produced through nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium
Size – 700 times the mass of the rest of the solar system combined
Planets
Inner/Terrestrial – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Small, rocky, thin or no
atmosphere
Outer/Gas giants/Jovian – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Gaseous,
liquid or icy
Orbit shape – elliptical, all planets lying in nearly the same plane except for Pluto
Direction of rotation and revolution – all planets revolve counterclockwise around
the sun. Six planets rotate counterclockwise. Venus rotates clockwise and
Uranus and Pluto rotate on their sides
Asteroids – rocky or metallic bodies ranging in size from a few meters to 1000km across
Asteroid belt – most asteroids are located between Mars and Jupiter
Comets – icy bodies that have long tails of gas and dust
Big Bang – theory on the formation of the universe
1. all matter in a single point
2. huge explosion
3. matter propelled outward
4. cooling and condensing forms objects in universe
Red shift – objects in space that are moving away from us move into the red end of the
spectrum
The farther they are, the faster they move away
Doppler Effect – similar to red shift, only with sound
The closer an object is, the louder it gets
Cosmic Background Radiation – leftover energy from the Big Bang