Solar System Notes

Scientists observed a rocky ring, rotating object orbiting in space. This rocky object is located several times farther away from the Sun than the Earth.

• comets

• meteors

• meteorites

• asteroids

The decision to visit planets other than earth is not supported by everyone. An individual that would argue against sending humans to other planets would be most reasonable in explaining that…

• water and food cannot be brought into space and the trip would be too long

• the process is very expensive and alien life would not welcome human contact

• the process is very expensive and it would be difficult to support human life for such a long journey

• humans cannot survive the journey into space and the process is very expensive

Why does it take Neptune so long to revolve around the sun?

• The Sun is applying large amounts of gravity on the planet, slowing it down.

• Neptune has a large diameter causing the planet to be less aerodynamic, slowing it down.

• Neptune is such a long distance away that it has a large orbital path.

• Neptune is rotating fast for its size, and the energy of its orbit is being transferred into rotational speed.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Based on the orbits of the objects, which object is affected the least by the gravitation of its star?

• A

• B

• C

• They all have the same amount of gravitation pull

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Exploration has been a large part of human history. In the mid 1900's, humans developed technology which made the exploration of space possible. Which countries were the world leaders in The Space Race throughout the 1960’s?

• United States and Soviet Union

• United States and China

• Japan and Soviet Union

• Germany and United States

Based on Sir Isaac Newton's first law of motion, an object will remain moving in a constant straight path of motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. The unbalanced force with the most influence in changing the path of the planet Saturn from straight to curved is —

• the gravitational force between Saturn and the Sun.

• the electromagnetic force between Saturn and distant stars outside the solar system.

• the strong force between attractive minerals in Saturn's core and Neptune's core.

• the gravitational force between Jupiter and Saturn.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

The picture below shows one of Jupiter's moons, Io, taken by the space probe Cassini.Similar to the reason that planets in Earth's solar system orbit the Sun, Io maintains a constant orbit around Jupiter because —

• the gravitational pull from Jupiter is much greater than any other forces acting on Io.

• the magnetic forces between Jupiter and Io repel these two masses at a perfect distance, causing Io to travel on a curved path.

• Jupiter is the closest planet to the Sun; therefore, the force of gravity from the Sun pushes Io around Jupiter.

• high pressures and gases on Jupiter pull Io toward Jupiter.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

The picture below shows Halley's Comet, which has an elliptical orbit around the Sun and can be seen from Earth every 75 to 76 years.Halley's Comet orbits the Sun because —

• the force of gravity between the comet and the Sun influences the comet's motion.

• it has a negative magnetic field that is attracted to the Sun's positive magnetic field.

• it is attracted to the outer planets that sling it toward the Sun.

• the rotation of the solar system creates winds that push it around the Sun.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

A celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun is -

• meteor

• comet

• asteroid

• meteoroid

Which of these is an accurate conclusion that can be drawn from this data?

• Planets far from the Sun are usually larger.

• Planets far from the Sun are close to the size of Earth.

• Planets close to the Sun are the same size.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3