Planet

Key questions

Answers

Mercury

1.    Why was it odd to find a magnetic field?

2.    What object does it resemble?

3.    Why is it so cratered?

 
  1. Rotates too slow; too close to the sun
  2. Moon: Earth’s moon- craters, color, etc.
  3. Sun’s gravity pulls stuff in and Mercury is in the way; the atmosphere is too small to protect it (burn up objects)

Venus

1.    What is a runaway greenhouse effect?

2.    What does it “rain” on Venus?

3.    Why thought to be Earth’s twin?
  1. Too much greenhouse effect- mostly carbon dioxide in atmosphere so all heat that comes in, stays in
  2. Sulfuric acid
  3. Similar size, similar distance from sun, clouds

Earth

1.    Why is Earth habitable for life?

 

1.  Just right distances away from Sun (Goldilocks Theory)

 

 

 

Mars

1.    Why is Mars red?

2.    Why is a rounded rock evidence of water?

3.    Does Mars have seasons?

4.    What is ALH84001?

5.    How did we know ALH84001 came from Mars?
  1. It is rusting- has iron oxide in rocks and dirt
  2. Water erosion makes rocks round, so if rocks were round must have been water on surface
  3. Yes, Mars is tilted on its axis just like the Earth
  4. It was a rock from Mars found on the surface of the Earth
  5. trapped gases in rock same composition as the air on Mars

 

Jupiter

1.    What if Jupiter was 80x more massive?

2.    What are Jupiter’s rings made of?

3.    What is so special about Io?

4.    What is so special about Europa?

5.    What is the Great Red Spot?
  1. It would have been a star
  2. Rocks and dust
  3. Most volcanically active place in our solar system
  4. There is liquid water under the icy surface which may indicate life there
  5. It is a giant hurricane

 

 

 

 

Saturn

1.    What are Saturn’s rings made of?

2.    Why did Galileo think Saturn had “ears”?

 
  1. Ice and dust
  2. when he looked at it through the first telescopes the rings were not clear and they instead looked like “ears” around the planet

 

 

 

Uranus

1.    What gives Uranus its blue/green color?

2.    What is odd about Uranus’ rotation?  How did this happen?

3.    Does Uranus have rings?
  1. Methane gas in the atmosphere
  2. Rotates on its side; an ancient impact when the planets were forming

 

 

 

Neptune

1.    Why is Neptune sometimes the 9th planet?

2.    What gives Neptune its blue/green color?

3.    What is the Great Dark Spot?
  1. Pluto’s orbit crosses inside of Neptune’s
  2. Methane gas in the atmosphere
  3. Giant storm discovered by Voyager 2 in the 1980’s.  But when HST looked at it in the 90’s it was gone and a new storm had formed in the southern region of the planet

 

 

Pluto

1.    What is the name of Pluto’s moon?

2.    Give reason’s why Pluto may be an escaped moon of Neptune.

3.    Give reason’s why Pluto may be a comet.

4.    What happens to Pluto’s atmosphere when Pluto is far from the sun?
  1. Charon
  2. Orbit crosses insides Neptune’s which is odd; it is the same size as many of the larger moon’s in our solar system
  3. Odd orbit (long elliptical) like comets; similar composition as comets; near the Oort cloud (where comets are born)
  4. Atmosphere freezes and collapses on the planet