Tamar Alvarenga February 9, 2012 Study Guide for Astronomy Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,

Uranus, Neptune (order of planets) Rocky Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars Gas Giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

1. What are the eight planets in order of distance from the Sun, starting with the planet closest to the Sun? How does the size of the planets changes as you move outward from the Sun? The solar system consists of the sun and nine recognized planets. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, MAIN BELT, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Gas Giants: The size of the planets increase as they get further away from the sun because they are composed more of gas and have a core of ice and rock. A liquid or semi-solid mantle containing hydrogen and helium (or methane) surrounds the core of the gas giants. 2. How do you tell the difference between images of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars? Although all of these planets are considered the Rocky Planets we can distinguish them by their surfaces. Firstly, Mercurys terrain is made up of craters while Venus in contrast has low number of impact craters. The composition of Venus is mostly of mountainous terrain and many volcanoes. The earth very similar in composition to the earth is mainly composed of water, forests, grasslands, deserts, and ice. Mars on the other hand is made up of flat craters and ranges of mountains. 3. What are the two most common geological processes in our solar system? On which planets do you observe these, and why? 4. Which planets in our solar system have moons? Which one has the most? Earth(1), Mars(2), Jupiter (63), Saturn (34), Uranus(27), Neptune (13). Jupiter has the most moons (63). 5. Which planets in our solar system have rings? Neptune, Uranus(11), Saturn (coolest and most extensive), Jupiter 6. Compare the sizes of Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Why isn't our Moon considered a planet? The sizes of these planets are relatively small compared to the giant planets. Earth (largest), Venus, Mercury, Mars (smallest). The moon is not considered a planet because it does not orbit the sun rather it orbits earth. 7. What preconceived notion did Kepler have about planetary orbits that prevented him from discovering his Three Laws a lot sooner? He had the preconceived notion that the orbits of the planets moved in epicycles. 8. What are Kepler's Three Laws, and why were they important? Law 1 states that the orbits of the planets do not move in epicycles rather they are

elliptical. The Sun is at one focus of the ellipse (an ellipse is a loop drawn around the foci; a circle is an ellipse with a single focus). Law 2 states that as the planet moves further away from the sun then the speed of the planer slower thus the closer to the sun (foci) the faster it moves. The third law states that the square of the orbital period is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-mayor axis. 9. Which planet has the highest eccentricity? The lowest? Which has the most nearly circular orbit? Mercury has the highest eccentricity while Venus the lowest. Venus. 10. What is the difference between a heolicentric and geocentric universe? Heliocentric is an idea that believed that all the planets and sun revolved around the earth while geocentric means that the sun is the center of the solar system and every planet revolves around it. 11. What was Copernicus' contribution to the science of astronomy? He was the person/scientist that found that the earth was not at the center rather it was the sun. Geocentric v. Heliocentric. 12. Draw an ellipse and label the major, minor, semi-major, and semi-minor axes, along with the two foci. 13. What was Tycho Brahe's role in helping Kepler discover his three laws? Tyco Brahe was an excellent observer who provided Kepler with the first accurate planetary data. 14. What is an epicycle, and why was it used in early descriptions of the universe? Whose work finally put the idea of epicycles to rest? An epicycle is