The Planets (plus the Dwarf Planet Pluto) Questions:

1. Name the planets from closest to the sun to farthest out.

 

 

2. Develop you own mnemonic for the order of the planets and record it here.

 

3. List the inner planets.

 

4. List the outer planets.

 

5. What separates the inner planets from the outer planets?

 

6. Are there more inner or outer planets? _______________ How many more? ______________

7. Which two planets are closest to Earth? _________________ and __________________

8. If a day is different on every planet, how can you define what a day is?

 

9. Answer the following chart:

  relative size mostly composed of moons?
Inner planets
.		      
Outer planets
.		      
Pluto
.		      

10.

 

Graphic of All 9 Planets

What Planet am I?

There are 9 known planets in our solar system. How much do you know about each one? Well, here's your chance to find out. Each of these mystery planets has five clues. Can you pick the right planet from the clues?
1. My day is equal to 58.7 of your days.
2. I am the eighth largest planet is our solar system.
3. My name in Roman mythology is the god of commerce, travel and thievery.
4. I have also been called Apollo or Hermes, depending on when I show up in our sky.
5. The Hubble Space Telescope will not look at me because it would be damaged.

A:

 1. Clyde Tombaugh didn't know the math for my orbit was wrong and found me anyway.
2. My name in Roman mythology was the name of the god of the underworld.
3. I have never been visited by a spacecraft from your planet.
4. Some people want to call me a large asteroid, but I am a planet. I even have my own moon.
5. I rotate in the opposite direction than the other planets in our solar system.

A:

 1. I rotate around my axis only once every 243 days.
2. I am the sixth largest planet in our solar system.
3. My Greek name is Aphrodite.
4. I am the brightest object in your sky, except, of course, for our Sun and your moon.
5. My interior is similar to your planet's: an iron core of about 3000 km in radius.

A:
1. I go around our Sun once every 165 of your years.
2. In Roman mythology, my name means god of the Sea. In Greek, it is Poseidon.
3. Because of my orbit and that of my neighbour planet, I am sometimes the farthest from our Sun.
4. My surface winds are the fastest in our solar system, sometimes reaching 2000 km/h!
5. My rings each have their own name.

A:

 1. I am 19.2 astronomical units from our Sun.
2. My name is that of the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god.
3. My rotation is almost parallel to the ecliptic - I rotate on my side.
4. I get my pretty colour because red light is absorbed by methane in my upper atmosphere.
5. I also have rings, but they are very faint.

A:

1. I take nearly 12 of your years to orbit our Sun.
2. I am more than twice as massive as all eight other planets combined.
3. My name is derived from the Greek Zeus - king of the gods.
4. A huge storm rages on my surface and can be seen from your planet in small telescopes.
5. I have rings, but they are very dark so cannot be seen except with infrared telescopes.

A:
1. My rotation rate is closest to that of your own planet.
2. I am the seventh largest planet in our solar system.
3. In Greek, my name is Ares, the god of war.
4. At one time in your history, I was thought to be criss-crossed with deep canals of water.
 The largest mountain in our solar system is on me. Olympus Mons is 24 km high!

A:

 1. My "day" is only 10.7 hours long.
2. I am the second largest planet in our solar system.
3. In Roman mythology, I am the god of agriculture.
4. I have 18 known moons.
5. I have many beautiful rings circling me.

A:

1. I am one astronomical unit away from our Sun.
2. My name is the only one that did not come from Greek or Roman mythology.
3. I have only one natural satellite, but lots and lots of humans thought that I was the center of the universe.
5. I am 71% covered with liquid water flowing in great oceans.

A: