Planets and their moons
Terms
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- 57.91 million km from the sun
- Mercury
- .3871 a.u. from the sun
- Mercury
- Diameter of 4,878 km
- Mercury
- 38% of the diameter of Earth
- Mercury
- .0553 times Earth's mass
- Mercury
- 28% of Earth's gravity
- Mercury
- escape velocity of 4.3 km/sec
- Mercury
- 58.65 Earth days for one rotation
- Mercury
- About 2 degrees of axial tilt
- Mercury
- innermost planet
- Mercury
- Named after the Greek god Hermes
- Mercury
- 2nd smallest planet
- Mercury
- Virtually no atmosphere
- Mercury
- Almost always visible during twilight.
- Mercury
- 88 Earth days to revolve around the sun
- Mercury
- Surface varies from 400 degrees C to -170 degrees C
- Mercury
- No satellites
- Venus
- As a morning and evening star, it has a magnitude of about 0
- Mercury
- The next transit of this planet will occur in November of 2006 and November of 2016.
- Mercury
- 108.2 million km from the sun
- Venus
- .7233 a.u. from the sun
- Venus
-
12,102 km diameter
.949 Earth diameter - Venus
- 88% of Earth's gravitational pull
- Venus
- 10.4 km/sec escape velocity
- Venus
- 5.25 density
- Venus
- Rotates in about 243 Earth days
- Venus
- Tilted on its axis at about 177 degrees
- Venus
- length of time a body takes to complete an orbit relative to the fixed stars.
- sidereal period
- alignment of two celestial bodies as seen from the earth.
- conjunction
- the angular distance between two points in the sky as measured from a third point.
- elongation
- length of time during which a body in the solar system makes one orbit of the sun relative to the earth
- synodic period
- brightest planet
- Venus
- third brightest object in the sky
- Venus
- Named after the goddess of love, Aphrodite
- Venus
- Associated with the element copper
- Venus
- Its craters might be named after famous women
- Venus
- Atmospheric pressure is 90 times that of Earth
- Venus
- Surface temperature of about 500 degrees C
- Venus
- Atmosphere mostly carbon dioxide
- Venus
- Clouds made mostly of sulfuric acid
- Venus
- US Magellan mapped its surface in 1990
- Venus
- Volcano Maat Mons
- Venus
- Retrograde rotation
- Venus, Pluto, and Uranus
- Slowest rotation of all planets
- Venus
- 3rd brightest object in the sky
- Venus
- Magnitude of -4
- Venus
- Planet that can sometimes be seen during the day.
- Venus
- 20 month synodic period
- Venus
- When planets cross in front of the disk of the sun
- Transit
- Next transit is in June of 2012
- Venus
- 5.978 x 10 to the 24th power kg
- Earth
- 149,597,870 km from the sun
- Earth
- Density of 5.52
- Earth
- 1 a.u. from the sun
- Earth
- gravity of 9.8 meters per second squared
- Earth
- Escape velocity of 11.2 meters per second
- Earth
- 24 hour rotation
- Earth
- Sidereal period of 365.25 days
- Earth
- 23.5 degrees of tilt on its axis
- Earth
- Once thought to be the center of the universe
- Earth
- Formulated the geocentric theory
- Ptolemy
- System that had Earth in the center of the universe
- Ptolemaic system or geocentric system
- Formulated the heliocentric system
- Copernicus
- System that has the sun at the center of our solar system
- heliocentric system
- This planet's name comes from old English and not from the names of Greco-Roman mythology
- Earth
- Planets that are small and rocky with a thin atmosphere
- Terrestrial planets
- Atmosphere consists mostly of oxygen and nitrogen
- Earth
- Only planet that supports life
- Earth
- Has one satellite, the moon
- Earth
- 227.94 km from the sun
- Mars
- 1.5237 a.u. from the sun
- Mars
- 6,786 km diameter
- Mars
- 53% of Earth's diameter
- 11% of Earth's mass
- 38% of Earth's gravity
- Mars
- Escape velocity of 5.0 km/sec
- Mars
- 24.6 Earth hours for one rotation
- Mars
- A planet spinning on its axis
- Rotation
- A planet moving around the sun
- Revolution
- Sidereal period of 686.98 days
- Mars
- Synodic Period of 779.94 days
- Mars
- Its reddish gleam reminded the ancients of blood
- Mars
- Named after the Roman God of war
- Mars
- Only planet to have a star named for it (Antares)
- Mars
- Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli thought he saw canals on this planet
- Mars
- Visited by two Viking spacecraft in the 1970's
- Mars
- Its largest valley is Valles Marinaris
- Mars
- Has the largest known volcano in the solar system
- Mars
- The largest known volcano in the solar system
- Olympus Mons
- Has an atmosphere .7% that of Earth's
- Mars
- Atmosphere of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon
- Mars
- An axial tilt about the same as Earth
- Mars
- Discovered Mars' moons
- Asaph Hall
- Mars' moons
- Phobos and Deimos
- Moon that is 9380 km from Mars
- Phobos
- Moon that is 23,460 km from Mars
- Deimos
- Perihelion
- closest point to the sun
- Mars' moon with 1.263 Earth day revolution
- Deimos
- Earth is between the planet and the sun
- Opposition
- When the sun is in between Earth and another planet
- Conjunction
- Name given to planets outside of Earth's orbit
- Superior
- Name given to planets inside of Earth's orbit
- Inferior
- 778.33 million km from the sun
- Jupiter
- 5.2028 a.u. from the sun
- Jupiter
- 123,984 km diameter
- Jupiter
- 11.23 Earth diameters
- Jupiter
- 318 times Earth's mass
- Jupiter
- density of 1.33
- Jupiter
- 2.4 times Earth's gravity
- Jupiter
- Escape velocity of 59.6 km/s
- Jupiter
- 3.12 degree of axial tilt
- Jupiter
- Sidereal period of 11.8623 Earth days
- Jupiter
- Synodic period of 398.99 Earth days
- Jupiter
- Named after the Roman king of the gods
- Jupiter
- Named after the Greek king of the gods, Zeus
- Jupiter
- Largest planet
- Jupiter
- Fastest rotating planet (about ten hours to rotate once)
- Jupiter
- Rotation time of 9.841 Earth hours
- Jupiter
- This planet has an atmosphere of mostly hydrogen and helium
- Jupiter
- The Great Red Spot is located on this planet
- Jupiter
- This is a storm that has been raging on Jupiter for the last 300 years.
- The Great Red Spot
- Has a ring, though it is too faint to see from Earth
- Jupiter
- Known as a mini solar system
- Jupiter
- Has 16 known satellites
- Jupiter
- Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe are its four inner satellites
- Jupiter
-
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are known as this.
(4 of Jupiter's moons) - Galilean Satellites
- The most volcanically active object in our solar system.
- Io (Jupiter's Moon)
- Io's volcanoes consist mostly of molten ___________.
- sulfur
- Jupiter's moon that has a smooth surface, probably of water ice.
- Europa
- The largest planetary satellite in the solar system
- Ganymede (Jupiter's moon)
- The most cratered surface in the solar system
- Callisto
- Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, and Elara
- Jupiter's Moons
- Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae, Sinope
- Jupiter's outermost moons
- This planet has about a 13 month synodic period.
- Jupiter
- At opposition, it is the 4th brightest star in our night sky
- Jupiter
- 1.4 billion km from the sun
- Saturn
- 9.5 a.u. from the sun
- Saturn
- 120,536 km in diameter
- Saturn
- 95.181 times Earth's mass
- Saturn
- 9.41 Earth diameters
- Saturn
- density of .69
- Saturn
- .923 times Earth's gravity
- Saturn
- Escape velocity of 35.5 km/sec
- Saturn
- Axial tilt of 26.73 degrees
- Saturn
- Sidereal period of 29.458 years
- Saturn
- Synodic period of 378.09 days
- Saturn
- Thought to be the mark of the outer boundary of the solar system until 1781
- Saturn
- Named after the god of agriculture and time
- Saturn
- Second largest planet
- Saturn
- Planet that would float in water because of its very low density (.69)
- Saturn
- 2nd fastest rotator of the planets
- Saturn
- Since the chemical reactions in its hydrogen-helium atmosphere is weaker, it has a duller color than Jupiter
- Saturn
- The dark area between Saturn's two main rings
- Cassini's division
- Its rings are probably less than 100 km thick
- Saturn
- Planet that has at least 18 satellites
- Saturn
- Its largest moon is Titan
- Saturn
- With its cloud cover, it is the largest moon in the solar system
- Titan
- Every 15-17 years, Earth passes through the ring plane of this planet, making them difficult to see
- Saturn
- Saturn's moons that are able to be seen with moderate sized instruments
- Titan and Rhea
- 2.9 billion km from the sun
- Uranus
- 19.19 a.u. from the sun
- Uranus
- 51,118 km diameter
- Uranus
- 14.5 times Earth's mass
- Uranus
- Density of 1.29
- Uranus
- 79% of Earth's gravity
- Uranus
- Escape velocity of 21.3 km/sec
- Uranus
- Rotation period of 17.9 hours
- Uranus
- Axial tilt of 97.86 degrees
- Uranus
- Sidereal period of 84.01 Earth years
- Uranus
- Synodic period of 369.66 Earth days
- Uranus
- First planet discovered in modern times
- Uranus
- Planet found by William Hershel in 1781
- Uranus
- Named after the Greek sky god
- Uranus
- its axis nearly lies in the plane of its orbit
- Uranus
- 15 known satellites
- Uranus
- Oberon, Umbriel, Titania, Ariel, and Marinda are moons of this planet
- Uranus
- Until 2015, it will be in the constellations Pisces, Aquarius, and Cetus
- Uranus
- 4.5 billion km from the sun
- Neptune
- Diameter of 49,528 km
- Neptune
- 3.81 times Earth's diameter
- Neptune
- 17.135 times Earth's mass
- Neptune
- Density of 1.64
- Neptune
- 1.122 times Earth's gravity
- Neptune
- Escape velocity of 23.3 km/sec
- Neptune
- Rotation period of 19.2 hours
- Neptune
- Sidereal period of 164.79 Earth years
- Neptune
- Axial tilt of 29.6 degrees
- Neptune
- Discovered in 1846
- Neptune
- Named after the Roman god of the deep sea
- Neptune
- Named after the Greek god Poseidon
- Neptune
- Outermost gas giant
- Neptune
- Only Venus has a more circular shaped orbit than this planet
- Neptune
- Has eight known satellites
- Neptune
- Triton is this planet's largest satellite
- Neptune
- Nereid is this planet's outermost satellite
- Neptune
- Through 2015, this planet will be in the constellation Copernicus
- Neptune