Chapter 16 Solar System – Flashcards
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The heliocentric system gained support when Galileo observed that
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Venus goes through phases similar to those of Earth's moon.
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In a heliocentric system, Earth revolves around
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the sun
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The fact that each planet's orbit is an ellipse was discovered by
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Kepler
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The solar system formed from
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a gigantic cloud of gas and dust
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Small asteroid-like bodies that became the building blocks for the planets are called
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planetesimals
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The sun produces energy by
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nuclear fusion
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What layer are you looking at when you look at an image of the sun?
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photosphere
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The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles that extend outward from the sun's
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corona
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What do the four outer planets have in common
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They are much larger than Earth and are made mainly of hydrogen and helium.
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What do all of the inner planets have in common?
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They all are small and have rocky surfaces.
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Methane absorbs the red and yellow light on ____, while the clouds of these planets reflect the green and blue light.
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Uranus and Neptune
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____ has colorful clouds in bands of white, red, tan, and brown.
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Jupiter
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Vaporized gases and released dust form a bright cloud called a(n) ____ around the solid part of a comet.
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coma
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In 1543, ____ published his views of Earth and other planets revolving around the Sun.
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Copernicus
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Smaller pieces of rock from old, broken-up comets become ____.
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meteoroids
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Small pieces of rock that enter Earth's atmosphere at speeds of 15 to 70 km/s and burn up are called ____.
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meteors
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____ are pieces of rock that strike the surface of a moon or planet.
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Meteorites
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Evidence suggests that ____ originate in the Oort Cloud located beyond the orbit of Pluto.
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comets
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The structure of a comet is considered to be like a large, ____, or a mass of frozen ice and rock.
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dirty snowball
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Water is found as a solid, liquid, and gas on ____.
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Earth
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Planets formed from ____ left over from the formation of the Sun at the center of the cloud.
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gas, ice and dust
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Venus and Earth both experience a ____ because of heat trapped by their atmospheres.
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greenhouse effect
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Be able to name each planet.
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a. Mercury b. Venus c. Earth d. Mars e. Jupiter f. Saturn g. Uranus h. Neptune I. Pluto
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Most ancient astronomers thought that all celestial objects revolved around ____________________.
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Earth
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The _________________________ consists of the sun, eight planets and their moons, and several kinds of smaller objects.
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solar system
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Mars's atmosphere is mostly _________________________.
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carbon dioxide
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Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a(n) _________________________ larger than Earth.
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storm
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A meteoroid that hits Earth's surface is called a(n) ____________________.
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meteorite
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Venus experiences an intense greenhouse effect.
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True
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Galileo discovered that the orbits in which planets move around the Sun are elliptical.
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False
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A "shooting star," or meteor, is actually a meteoroid that burns up in Earth's atmosphere
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True
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The Oort cloud is a large collection of comets that surrounds the solar system.
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True
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The outer planets are small, rocky planets with iron cores.
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False
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Essay 1. What observations helped Galileo to accept Copernicus' theory that the planets revolve around the sun?
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Galileo observed that the moons of Jupiter revolved around Jupiter and not Earth. This showed that not everything revolved around Earth. He knew that Venus is always seen close to the sun and observed that Venus has a full set of phases. This could not occur if Earth was at the center of the system of planets.
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Essay 2. Describe how the solar system probably formed.
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The solar system began as a giant cloud of gas and dust. Under the pull of gravity, the cloud shrank to form a spinning disk. Gas in the center of the disk collapsed to form the sun. The remaining gas and dust formed the planets and other objects in the solar system.
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Essay 3. How are Earth and Venus similar? How is Venus different from Earth?
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Earth and Venus are similar in size, density, and internal structure. However, Venus rotates very slowly from east to west. Earth rotates much more quickly from west to east. Venus has a thick atmosphere that is mostly carbon dioxide. Earth's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen. Because of its atmosphere, and because Venus is closer to the sun, Venus is much hotter than Earth. Unlike Venus, Earth has liquid water on much of its surface.
