1. What are the four inner planets?

2. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

3. What are the gaseous planets or what planets are called “gas giants”?

4. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

5. Which planets have rings?

6. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

7. One astronomical unit (AU) is the distance between…

8. Earth and Sun

9. Which is the largest? Solar system, universe, or galaxy?

10. Universe

11. What is the largest planet in our solar system?

12. Jupiter

13. What is the order of the planets from the sun?

14. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

15. Where is the asteroid belt located?

16. Between Mars and Jupiter

17. How long does it take the Earth to rotate once?

18. 24 hours

19. What does Earth’s rotation on its axis give us?

20. day and night

21. What is the imaginary line that a planet spins around?

22. Axis

23. A light year is defined as…

24. The distance that light travels in one year

25. Who was the first person in space?

26. Yuri Gagarin (Russia)

27. How long does it take for the Earth to revolve around the sun?

28. 1 year

29. What is the sun?

30. A star

31. How long does it take the moon to rotate once?

32. 27 days

33. What scientist improved the telescope and used this telescope to see the moons of Jupiter?

34. Galileo

35. What astronomer was the “grandfather” of science, believed the Earth was in the center of the solar system, and said that we can logically study planets, animals, and people?

36. Aristotle

37. If there is a high tide at 2pm, when is the next high tide?

38. 2am

39. Which two ancient astronomers believed the heliocentric theory of the solar system?

40. Copernicus and Galileo

41. Which planet takes the longest to revolve around the sun?

42. Neptune

43. What planet takes the shortest time to revolve around the sun?

44. Mercury

45. In what direction do all of the planets and the asteroid belt revolve around the sun?

46. Counter clockwise

47. What is the name of the famous comet that orbits clockwise around the sun every 76 years?

48. Halley’s comet

49. How far is Earth tilted?

50. 23.5 degrees

51. Earth’s tilt causes what?

52. Seasons

53. What is caused primarily by the gravitational force between the Earth, Moon, and Sun?

54. Tides

55. What planet is the smallest?

56. Mercury

57. Why does the Moon orbit Earth?

58. The gravitational attraction between the Moon and the Earth

59. What layer of our atmosphere burns up most meteors?

60. Mesosphere

61. What layer of our atmosphere contains the ozone layer and protects us against most UV radiation from the sun?

62. Stratosphere

63. Why is Pluto a “dwarf planet”?

64. Because it cannot clear its own orbit

65. What happens to the distances between the planets going away from the sun?

66. The distances increase

67. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and this hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, what season are you experiencing?

68. Winter

69. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere and this hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, what season are you experiencing?

70. Winter

71. What part of Earth receives the most direct sunlight?

72. The equator

73. What is a meteoroid that has entered Earth’s atmosphere called?

74. Meteor

75. What is frozen ball or ice, dust, and gases called?

76. Comet

77. What is the path that the planets travel called?

78. orbit

79. What is the rising and falling of the ocean water levels on the face of the Earth called?

80. Tides

81. What planets are 1 AU or less from the Sun?

82. Mercury, Venus, and Earth

83. Why did scientists develop new methods to measure distance in space?

84. Because distances in space are so large

85. When one celestial body moves into the shadow of another celestial body and is ether partially or totally obscured by it, this is called what?

86. Eclipse

87. How long does the moon take to revolve around Earth?

88. 27 days

89. What is the movement of a planet in an elliptical orbit around the sun called?

90. Revolution

91. What happens to cause moon phases?

92. Moon’s revolution around Earth

93. During which phase does the Moon receive sunlight only on the side facing away from Earth?

94. New moon

95. What makes Earth the “Goldilocks” planet?

96. 1. Perfect size = mass = gravity to keep us on the planet 2. Tectonic plates = landforms 3. Water exists in all 3 states = essential to life 4. Magnetic field = protection against cosmic rays 5. Only planet known to sustain life 6. Protective atmosphere = stratosphere (ozone layer); mesosphere (burn up meteors) 7. Perfect distance from sun = perfect temperature

97. What does “dark side of the moon” mean?

98. The side of the Moon that Earth doesn’t see

99. Why don’t we have eclipses every month?

100. Moon’s orbit is tilted at 5 degrees and not always lined up with Earth’s orbit

101. What would happen if the sun’s gravity suddenly stopped?

102. Earth would go flying out in a straight line

103. What are some characteristics that the inner planets share?

104. rocky, terrestrial, small, no rings, closer to the sun, before the asteroid belt, faster revolution,

105. What are some characteristics that the outer planets share?

106. gaseous, Jovian, large, rings, farther to the sun, after the asteroid belt, slower revolution, moons

107. What project was responsible for putting men on the moon?

108. Project Apollo: landed 12 humans on the moon between 1969 and 1972

109. What program sent the first Americans into space in 1961?

110. Mercury Program

111. What was launched in 1990 and produces images five times as sharp as those from any telescope on Earth?

112. Hubble Telescope

113. What probes used instruments to see through the thick clouds of Venus?

114. Pioneer Probes

115. What are the first useable spacecraft in use since 1981?

116. Space shuttles

117. What landed on Mars and sent back data about the planet’s soil and atmosphere?

118. Viking 1 and 2

119. What event launched modern space exploration in 1957?

120. Soviet launch of the satellite, Sputnik 1

121. What space probe sent back pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune?

122. Voyager Space Probes