Test Review Unit 4.

1 (Solar
System)
1. The yearly motion of Earth around the sun is called its revolution.
2. On the summer solstice:
Explain the length of the day. The days are the longest in the northern
hemisphere and shortest in the southern.
Explain how high youd expect to see the sun in the sky. The Sun would be
directly above in the sky.
Explain if sunrise and sunset would come sooner or later. The sunrise would
come sooner and sunset would come later because it is the longest day of the year.
3. What causes the Suns apparent motion across the sky each day? Earths rotation
causes the Suns apparent motion.
4. During which phases of the Moon do tides occur? Which phases do neap tides
occur? Spring tides occur during full & new moon phases and neap tides occur a
week after spring tides.
5. Why can we see only one side of the moon? The moon makes one rotation for
each revolution of Earth.
6. List the two times of the year when the number of daylight and dark hours are
equal. The March Equinox and the September Equinox are when the number of
daylight and dark hours are equal.
7. List the four inner planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars are the inner planets.
8. Which Planet has no atmosphere? Mercury has no atmosphere.
9. What causes a comet to develop a tail. The energy and heat of the Sun pushes
gas off of the comet and develops the bright tail.
10. What is the largest planet in the solar system, and is the 5 th planet from the
sun? Jupiter is the largest planet and is the 5th planet from the sun.
11. Solar energy trapped by gasses in Venuss atmosphere causes the surface
temperature to increase.
12. Mercury is the first planet from the sun.
13. Earth is the third planet from the sun.
14. Draw a picture of the orbits of the inner planets.
 Test Review Unit 4.1 (Solar
System)
15. Venus and Earth both experience a greenhouse effect because of heat trapped
by their atmospheres.
16. Why cant astronomers directly observe the surface of Venus without landing
probes there? There is a thick layer of clouds that cover Venus and make it not
visible.
17. Which of the outer planets is tilted on its axis so that it appears to be rolling
along its orbit? Uranus is tilted on its axis so that it appears to be rolling along its
orbit.
18. Why is Venus hot? The greenhouse effect causes the surface and atmosphere to
heat up.
19. What do scientists think is the cause of Uranuss tilted orbit? Scientists believe
that Uranus collided with an Earth-sized object to cause Uranus tilted orbit.
20. In what direction do comet tails point? Comet tails always point away from the
Sun.
21. What is the largest object in the Solar System? The Sun is the largest object in
the solar system.
22. What is a meteorite? A meteorite is a meteoroid that strikes a planet or a moon.
23. What is The Great Red Spot on the surface of Jupiter? The Great Red Spot is a
storm of swirling gases.
24. One AU is approximately equal to 150 million kilometers.
25. Why does Mercury have no atmosphere? Mercury has no atmosphere because
the planets mass is so small its gravity is not strong enough to hold one.
26. What is a distinction between an asteroid and a dwarf planet? An asteroid is a
piece of rock and ice and a dwarf planet is an object, with enough mass and gravity
that makes a sphere, that orbits a star.
27. When Earths northern hemisphere experiences summer, which direction is the
northern hemisphere tilted? The northern hemisphere it tilted toward the Sun.
28. List the inner planets starting with the one nearest to the sun and ending with
the one farthest away. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the inner planets in this
order.
29. Olympus Mons, the largest mountain in the Solar System can be found on which
planet? Olympus Mons can be found on Mars.
30. List objects found in the Solar System that are larger than dwarf planets. Planets
and some moons are larger than dwarf planets.
 Test Review Unit 4.1 (Solar
System)
31. How many of the outer planets (gas giants) have moons? How many of the
outer planets (gas giants) have rings? All of the outer planets have moons and all of
them have rings.
32. Where do short period and long period comets come from? Short period comets
come from the Kuiper belt and long period comets come from the Oort cloud.
33. Give a description for the term weight: The heaviness of a person or thing.
34. Explain what would happen to your mass and weight if you were to travel to a
different planet. Your mass would remain the same, but your weight would change
depending on the gravity of the planet.
Match the vocabulary words with the definitions below (comet, meteorite,
meteoroid, meteor, solstice, Maria, asteroids, Galilean Moons):
35. A meteoroid that strikes a moon or planet. Meteorite
36. A small rocky particle that moves through space. Meteoroid
37. It is made out of ice and dust and revolves around the Sun in an oval shaped
orbit. Comet
38. A meteoroid that glows as it moves through Earths atmosphere. Meteor
39. Small rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Asteroids
40. Large, dark, flat areas on the Moon. Maria
41. The four largest moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Galilean
Moons
42. A day when Earths rotation axis is the most toward or away from the Sun.
Solstice