Comprehensive Resource To Help You Ace 2026-2027
Includes Frequently Tested Questions With ELABORATED
100% Correct COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
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1. Planets - Correct Answer: -Divided into two main types: large, low-density
gas giants and smaller, rocky terrestrials
-There are at least 341 identified planets, 8 of which are in the Solar System
2. Solar System - Correct Answer: -4 terrestrials: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth
-4 gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
-At least 5 dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, Eris
3. Venus - Correct Answer: -Takes approx. seven and a half earth months for
Venus to revolve around the sun
-Takes approx. eight earth months to rotate on its axis
-Therefore, a day on Venus is longer than a year
-Similar in size to Earth
-One of the few planets that rotate from east to west
-Similar in size to Earth
-Atmosphere is primarily composed of carbon dioxide
,-This thick atmosphere traps heat due to the greenhouse effect
-The Magellan probe reached Venus in 1990 and provided detailed images of the
planet
4. Comet - Correct Answer: -A small Solar System body that orbits the Sun
-When close enough to the sun, exhibits a visible coma (atmosphere) or a tail,
both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the comet's nucleus
-Comet nuclei are loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles,
measuring a few kilometers or tens of kilometers across
-Have a variety of different orbital periods, ranging from a few years, to hundreds
of thousands of years, while some are believed to pass through the inner Solar
System only once before being thrown out into interstellar space
5. Short-period comets - Correct Answer: Thought to originate in the Kuiper
Belt, or associated scattered discs, which lie beyond the orbit of Neptune
6. Long-period comets - Correct Answer: -Believed to originate at a much
greater distance from the Sun, in a cloud (the Oort cloud) consisting of debris left
over from the condensation of solar nebula
-Comets are thrown from the outer planets or nearby stars, or as a result of
collisions
7. Asteroids - Correct Answer: -Sometimes called minor planets or planetoids
-Bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System—that are smaller than planets but
larger than meteoroids, excluding comets
,-The distinction between asteroids and comets is made by visual appearance;
when discovered, comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not
8. Earth - Correct Answer: -Travels in an orbit that is slightly elliptical (oval),
and so the distance from the sun ranges from 91.5 to 94.5 million miles
-Its daily rotation deforms the earth to a flattened spheroid, with a polar radius
slightly less than the equatorial radius
Locations of the surface are described by a grid of latitude and longitude lines
9. Gravity and inertia - Correct Answer: -Both gravity and inertia work
together to keep planets in orbit around the sun
-Inertia makes a planet travel in a straight line
-By definition, inertia is the tendency of a moving object to stay in a straight line
or a stationary object to remain in place
-However, the power of the sun's gravity pulls the planets toward the sun
-The sun's gravity pulls the planets while their inertia keeps them moving forward
in an elliptical orbit around the sun
-The strength of gravity in our solar system depends on both the masses of the
celestial objects and the distance between them
-Gravity helps to explain the tides on earth
-Without inertia, a planet would be pulled into the sun
10. Weight and mass - Correct Answer: -Gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune have diameters far larger than Earth's and have far greater masses
-An individual weighing 200 lbs on Earth would weigh more on a larger planet
, -Weight is a function of gravity
11. Latitude - Correct Answer: The degrees north or south of the equator
12. Longitude - Correct Answer: The degrees east or west of the prime
meridian through Greenwich, England
13. Moon - Correct Answer: -Travels around the earth each month
-Distance from the earth averages 237,000 miles
-Has rugged topography formed billions of years ago by volcanic eruptions and
meteorite impacts
-Mass is 1/6th that of Earth
14. Phases of the moon - Correct Answer: -New moon occurs when the moon
sets at sunset
-Then the moon is between the earth and the sun, so we see only the dark half of
the moon
-Each night, the moon sets a few minutes later and we perceive more of its
illuminated half
-After the moon has waxed through crescent, quarter, and gibbous phases, a full
moon appears
-At that time, the moon rises at sunset, and we see all of its illuminated side
-Then the phase wanes gradually to another new moon
-There are approx. 29.5 days between each cycle