Planets of the Solar System Quiz

A celestial body orbiting a star, large enough to be spherical by its own gravity and has cleared its orbital path of other objects.

A celestial body orbiting a star, large enough for gravity to make it spherical, but hasn't cleared its orbital path.

A small, icy object orbiting the Sun, often with a tail of gas and dust.

A rocky object orbiting the Sun, smaller than dwarf planets.

A small chunk of rock or ice, originating from comets or asteroids.

A bright streak of light in the sky, caused by a meteoroid burning up in Earth's atmosphere.

A meteoroid that survives its journey through the atmosphere and strikes Earth.

The central star of our Solar System.

The average temperature of a planet's surface.

Planets like Earth with solid surfaces made mostly of rock and metal.

The time it takes a planet to complete one orbit around the Sun.

The average distance between a planet and the Sun.

A large collection of asteroids located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Planets like Jupiter and Saturn, mostly composed of gases like hydrogen and helium.

The amount of matter a planet contains.

The distance from the center of a planet to its surface.

Neptune is an ice giant with a bluish color due to methane in its atmosphere. It has a very strong magnetic field and 15 known moons. Its ring system is faint and only visible from spacecraft.

Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are icy bodies that orbit the sun beyond Neptune. They are remnants from the early solar system, and Pluto is one of the largest KBOs.

The Oort Cloud is a hypothetical sphere of icy objects far beyond the Kuiper Belt. It's believed to be the source of long-period comets.

The terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are smaller, rockier, and closer to the Sun than the gas giants.

The gas giants in our Solar System are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They are large, gaseous planets with many moons.

The distance between the inner terrestrial planets is smaller, while the distance between the outer gas giants is larger.

Jupiter is the biggest gas giant. Venus is the biggest rocky planet.

Asteroids are rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, primarily located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The process by which smaller planetesimals collide and stick together, forming larger objects.

The point in the early solar system where temperatures were cold enough for water ice to condense.

The period in the early Solar System when a large number of comets and asteroids bombarded the inner planets.

A theory explaining the chaotic orbits of some moons, suggesting they were captured by planets during the early Solar System.

The idea that the Sun's gravity and the conservation of angular momentum cause a decrease in density of matter as you move away from the Sun.

The idea that the objects closest to the Sun are mostly rocky, while those further out are icy, due to temperature variations.

The idea that the formation of planets is influenced by the conservation of energy. The total energy of the solar system is constant, so objects closer to the Sun have more kinetic energy and move faster.

The idea that the total angular momentum of the solar system is constant, meaning objects further from the Sun have slower rotation speeds because they have a larger radius.

The process of determining the age of a rock or object by analyzing the ratio of radioactive isotopes present.

A specific form of an element that has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons.

The time it takes for half of the atoms in a radioactive sample to decay.

A radioactive isotope of potassium that decays into argon-40.

A sample of rock contains 81% argon-40 (daughter isotope) and 19% potassium-40 (parent isotope). How many years have elapsed since the rock formed?

The instability of some atomic nuclei, leading to the spontaneous emission of particles and energy.

The concept that the age of the solar system can be determined by analyzing the radioactive decay of isotopes.

The distance from a star where temperatures drop low enough for ices like water, methane, and ammonia to condense. This is important because the composition of planets forming beyond the frost line will be different from those formed within.

The process by which small particles in a disk, such as a protoplanetary disk, gradually gather together to form larger objects. The particles stick together due to electrostatic forces. This is a key process in the formation of planets and stars.

In the collapsing solar nebula, heavier materials sink toward the center, while lighter materials are pushed outwards. This explains why the inner planets are denser and composed mainly of rock and metal, while the outer planets are made of lighter gases like hydrogen and helium.

The process where a star's temperature influences the location of the frost line. A hotter central star will have a frost line located farther from the star compared to a cooler star.

Objects in the early stages of planet formation, larger than dust particles but still relatively small. They are a crucial step in the process of planet formation, going on to form the planets we see today.

Large planets formed beyond the frost line, where ices were readily available. Their gravity, once they grew large enough, also captured gas from the protoplanetary disk, leading to their massive size.

Smaller disks of gas and dust around forming Jovian planets led to the formation of their moons. These small disks are similar in principle to the protoplanetary disk from which the planets themselves formed.

Jovian planets are often considered