Solar System Overview

The solar system consists of the Sun, eight planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, and millions of pieces of rocks and ice.

Planets stay in orbit around the Sun due to the gravitational force exerted by the Sun.

A terrestrial planet is a smaller planet made mostly of a compact rocky surface and metals.

<p>Gas giants are larger planets made mostly of gases with a small rocky core, unlike terrestrial planets which have rocky surfaces.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A dwarf planet must be round, orbit the Sun, but not have enough mass to clear its orbital neighborhood of other objects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Asteroids are larger than meteoroids, which are generally pebble-sized objects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Gravity holds the rocks and ice that make up Saturn's rings in orbit around the planet.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Mercury is the closest terrestrial planet to the Sun.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Kuiper Belt is a donut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune, containing leftover materials from the solar system's formation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Saturn has 82 moons, of which 53 are confirmed by scientists, with an additional 29 awaiting confirmation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Earth's moon helps stabilize the planet's wobble on its axis, contributing to a relatively stable climate.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A galaxy is a vast collection of gas, dust, billions of stars, and their solar systems, all held together by gravity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Scientists estimate there could be as many as one hundred billion galaxies in the universe.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The gravitational pull of planets is what holds their moons in orbit around them.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Scale is a three-dimensional representation of an object or system that maintains accurate relationships between the components, including size and distance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Using a scale model helps us comprehend the vast distances and sizes of the planets more accurately.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The only star in our solar system is the Sun, which contains 99.8% of the solar system's mass and is composed of hot gases.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An object must orbit the Sun, be spherical due to its gravity, and have cleared its orbital neighborhood of other debris.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Kuiper Belt is a cold region beyond Neptune, containing comets and dwarf planets like Pluto and Eris, and is twenty times larger than the asteroid belt.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The habitable zone is the area where temperatures are suitable for liquid water, allowing for the possibility of life.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Gravity, primarily from the Sun, keeps all planets in orbit, attracting them toward its center.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An object becomes round due to its sufficient mass, which causes gravity to pull it into a spherical shape.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The gravitational force between two masses increases with the mass of the objects involved; larger masses exert stronger gravitational pulls.</p> Signup and view all the answers