Planets and Their Facts Quiz

Study Notes

Mercury: No atmosphere, closest to the sun, cratered surface, rocky exterior with a huge iron core, temperature ranges from -170°C to 425°C. Two probes have visited.
Venus: Same size as Earth, numerous volcanoes, thick CO₂ atmosphere, runaway greenhouse effect making it hotter than Mercury, rains acid, surface temperature consistently around 460°C, no moons, rotates slowly and backwards. Visited by many probes and landers.
Earth: O₂ and N₂ atmosphere, large oceans regulate CO₂, surface heavily influenced by life, 23.4° orbital tilt creates significant seasons.
Mars: Extinct volcanoes, very thin CO₂ atmosphere, oceans have evaporated, no known life, two small moons, dust storms, 25.2° orbital tilt produces significant seasons. Many probes and landers have visited.
Jupiter: Largest planet in the solar system, extremely thick gaseous atmosphere surrounds a giant ball of liquid hydrogen, has very faint rings, more than 60 known moons to date.
Saturn: Second largest planet, structure similar to Jupiter, has distinctive rings, 60 known moons to date, several probes have visited.
Neptune: Farthest planet from the Sun, structure similar to Earth, rotation axis tilted 28 degrees, more visible surface features than Uranus.
Uranus: Coldest planet, small rocky core, thick water, ammonia, and methane mantle, thick hydrogen and helium atmosphere, rotation axis tilted 98 degrees, thin rings and numerous moons.

Earth's Moon: Rocky like Earth, no atmosphere.
Jupiter's Moons: Over 60 known moons, four moons over 1,000 km in diameter, high ice content, most geologically active body in the solar system.
Neptune's Moons: Over 60 known moons, four moons over 1,000 km in diameter, high ice content, most geologically active body in the solar system.

Nine identified, but there may be hundreds. Only Pluto and Ceres have been visited.
Around a million asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter exist in the asteroid belt. The total mass of the belt is about 3% of the Moon's mass. Several asteroids have been visited by space probes.
Kuiper belt: Vast collection of small icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. Includes several of the dwarf planets. Arrokoth visited by the New Horizons probe in 2019.

Smaller icy bodies from the outer solar system, highly elliptical orbits, emit tails when they get close to the sun

Summer: Daylight is longer and darkness is shorter, sun gets higher in the sky, so sunlight is more direct.
Winter: Daylight is shorter and darkness is longer, the sun does not get as high in the sky, so sunlight is at an angle.
The angle at which light hits a surface matters: light at a steep angle is concentrated - brighter, light at a lower angle is spread out - so dimmer.

Looking at the sky, one can see the patterns in the stars. We can imagine lines between them and picture what they might represent.
Chinese constellations: Defined as specific formations of stars.
Western constellations: Looking at the sky, one can see the stars. People imagine lines between them and picture what they might represent.
Ojibwe Constellations: Constellations developed in America are completely independent of those in Europe or Asia.
Babylonian constellations: The ancient Babylonians had their own set of constellations. This set of patterns dates back to around 1200 BC.

Western popular astrology claims to be able to determine personality based on stars and planets at the time of birth.
A double-blind study was done: psychologists and astrologists both determined personality traits. No correlation was found between them.
Horoscopes claim to be able to predict events in daily life. In several large studies these claims have failed to beat random chance.
Many people feel that astrology works for them. This may be at least partially due to the very general nature of horoscopes and confirmation bias.