Solar System - Study Guide
General
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What are the most basic and obvious features of our Solar System?
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How many planets are there in our Solar System?
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What aspect(s) of our Solar System tell us how it was formed?
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What are the most obvious features of the distribution and motions of our
Solar System planets?
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What are the basic features of the main classes of planets?
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What does the difference between Terrestrial and Jovian planets tell us
about how they were formed?
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How and why does the composition of the "gas giants" differ from that of the "ice giants"?
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What do asteroids and comets have to do with planets?
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Why are planets differentiated (layered)?
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What processes shape the surfaces of terrestrial planets?
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What are the most important internal sources of heat in terrestrial planets?
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What determines how readily planets lose their heat?
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Why are some planets/moons geologically active and others dead?
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Where do terrestrial planets get their atmospheres?
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Which terrestrial planets are known to have active volcanos?
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Which terrestrial planets have evidence of liquid water, in the past or present?
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How can there be moons as small as our Moon and Mercury with atmospheres?
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Where else in our Solar System do we think there might be life?
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Which planets have ongoing volcanic activity?
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Which moons have atmospheres?
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What generates magnetic fields in planets?
Earth
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How is Earth's surface unique among the planets?
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Why is the Earth geologically active?
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When were Earth's continents last combined into one?
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How do we know the Earth used to be fully molten?
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What is particularly unique about the Earth's atmosphere?
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What two molecules make up most of the Earth's atmosphere and
where do they come from?
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What is the main source of heat for the Earth's atmosphere?
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Where and why does the Earth's atmosphere absorb light (heat) from
the Sun?
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What are some examples of greenhouse gases?
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What gas is most responsible for increasing our global warming?
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What is the evidence for global warming on Earth?
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Where is the bulk of the carbon dioxide on the Earth's surface?
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Could the Earth's atmosphere ever get as thick and hot as Venus'?
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How does the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere protect us?
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What has been destroying the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere?
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What drives the Earth's weather?
Moon
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Why do Mercury and the Moon have virtually no atmospheres?
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Why does the Moon have many more impact craters than the Earth?
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Is there any erosion on the Moon?
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How did the Earth-Moon system form? Why do we think so?
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What are the dark patches on the Moon?
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How do we estimate the ages of various parts of the Moon's surface?
Mercury, Venus, Mars
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Why are Mercury and the Moon geologically dead compared to Venus and Earth?
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Were Mercury and the Moon ever geologically active?
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Why do we think Venus is geologically active?
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Why is the atmosphere of Venus so hot?
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The atmospheres of Mars and Venus are mostly made of what greenhouse gas?
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Why is Venus' atmosphere so much denser than the Earth's?
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Why do we think Venus rotates backwards compared to most of the other planets?
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Have we found life on Mars?
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Have we found fossils on Mars?
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Why is Mars red?
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Have we found running water on Mars?
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Why do we think Mars used to have substantial amounts liquid water on its surface?
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Where is most of the water on Mars now?
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What has happened to Mars' atmosphere over time?
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Are there active volcanos on Mars?
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Why are the volcanos on Mars so huge compared to Mars' size?
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How substantial is the atmosphere of Mars? Why?
Jovian planets
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What are the Jovian planets mostly made of? How are they structured?
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How does the composition of Jupiter and Saturn differ from Uranus and Neptune?
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What causes the banding in Jupiter's and Saturn's atmospheres?
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What is the Great Red Spot?
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Why is Jupiter's magnetic field so strong?
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Jupiter's moon Io is smaller than our Moon. How then can Io be so volcanically active?
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Why are some of the icy Jovian moons so geologically active?
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Where do the rings of Jovian planets come from?
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Why haven't Saturn's rings collected into a single moon?
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What are Uranus and Neptune mostly made of?
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Why are Uranus and Neptune blue?
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What was the Great Dark Spot of Neptune?
Pluto
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How does Pluto differ from Terrestrial and Jovian planets?
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Why do we think Pluto is a Kuiper Belt object?
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Why was Pluto demoted from planethood?
Asteroids, Comets, Meteors
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What are asteroids and where are they?
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Why is there an asteroid belt where it is?
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Why are large asteroids spherical and smaller asteroids irregularly shaped?
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What are comets and where are they?
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Do comets always have tails?
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What causes comets to have tails and how are they structured?
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What are Kuiper belt objects?
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What is the relation between the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud of comets?
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What are meteors and where do they come from?
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What causes meteor showers?
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How have meteor impacts affected life on Earth?
Extrasolar Planets
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Have we found other planetary systems?
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How do we search for other planetary systems?
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Have we directly observed any planets around other stars?
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Have we found life anywhere else in the Universe?
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How do extrasolar planets compare to the planets in our own Solar System?
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How does the nature of extrasolar planets detected so far impact our notions of how our Solar System formed?