The Solar System Study Guide
1. Most ancient astronomers thought that all celestial objects revolved around _____________________________.
2. An Earth-centered model of the universe is called a ________________________________ model.
3. Who discovered that each planet’s orbit is an ellipse? _____________________________
4. What model did Copernicus further develop? ______________________________________________________
5. _____________________________ discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons.
6. The heliocentric system gained support when Galileo observed that Venus ______________________________
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7. In a heliocentric system, Earth revolves around the ________________.
8. The ____________________________ consists of the sun, eight planets and their moons, and smaller objects.
9. How do scientists think the solar system formed? ___________________________________________________
10. What are the small asteroid-like bodies that became the building blocks for the planets called? ______________
11. The sun produces energy by ____________________________.
12. Nuclear fusion occurs in the ________________________________, or center, of the sun.
13. Energy is transferred from the sun’s core toward the convection zone in the form of ______________________.
14. What layer of the sun are you looking at when you look at an image of the sun? __________________________
15. Which parts of the sun’s atmosphere become visible during a total solar eclipse? _________________________
16. The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles that extend outward from the sun’s ______________.
17. What is the middle layer of the sun’s atmosphere? __________________________________________________
18. Magnetic storms are a result of an increase in solar wind caused by eruptions on the sun called _____________.
19. What do all of the inner planets have in common? __________________________________________________
20. Which is the smallest terrestrial planet? _____________________________________
21. The planets that are closer to the sun than Earth are Venus and _________________________________.
22. Venus and Earth are much alike in terms of _______________________________________________________.
23. Earth’s three main layers are the core, mantle, and ___________________________________.
24. Besides Earth, which inner planet once had liquid water on its surface? _________________________________
25. Mars’s atmosphere is mostly ______________________________________________.
26. What do the four outer planets have in common? __________________________________________________
27. What is distinctive about Jupiter? _______________________________________________________________
28. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a ____________________________________ larger than Earth.
29. Saturn’s rings are made up mostly of _________________________________________________.
30. Uranus is different from most other planets because it ______________________________________________.
31. Neptune is very similar in size and color to _________________________________.
32. The asteroid belt is located ________________________________________________________________.
33. A comet’s head consists of a nucleus and a fuzzy outer layer called the _________________________________.
34. Meteoroids usually come from ___________________________________________________.
35. A meteoroid that hits Earth’s surface is called a _______________________________________________.
36. Name all objects on this picture numbered 1-11.
1. __________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ____________________________
4. __________________________ 5. ___________________________ 6. ____________________________
7. __________________________ 8. ___________________________ 9. ____________________________
10. _________________________ 11. __________________________
**There will be an experiment question on the test so make sure you can identify independent, dependent, and
controlled variables.