Science Project Planet: in-ner, outer and dwarves By

Wendy Park

The inner planet

What causes Mercury’s atmosphere? Ans: Mercury doesn’t have substantial atmosphere.

The scientists have found a magnetic field sur-rounding Mercury. Scientists think that field is made because of an iron-bearing core or solar winds.

What two elements can be found in the at-mosphere?

Ans: The 2 elements found in atmosphere is sodium and helium.

What three processes shaped Mercury?Ans: The three processes are impact cratering, vol-

canism, and tectonic activity.

Mercury

Why is Venus referred to as the “Evening Star”?

Ans: Because it is nearer to the sun than the earth, so they can never appear very far from the sun in the sky. when the sun sets in the evening they might be in the west, near the sun as an evening star.

What two elements can be found in the atmosphere?

Ans: They are carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. What is retrograde rotation?

Ans: It means rotating slowly on its axis in clockwise direction Why is a day on Venus longer than a year on Venus?

Ans: The reason is because Venus is the only planet that rotates in a clockwise direction. The time Venus takes to complete a rotation is 243 Earth days and to complete revolu-tion takes 225 Earth days. Which is why in Venus, a day is longer than a year.

If you were standing on Venus, why would the Sun appear to rise in the west and set in the east?

Ans: It is because Venus rotate in clockwise direction. Why is Venus the hottest planet in our solar system?

Ans: It is because the Venus has a really thick atmosphere and the pressure on the planet’s surface is about 90 times of a Earth surface. The carbon dioxide rich atmos-phere starts a strong greenhouse effect that raise the surface temperature to over 400 Degree Celsius.

Venus

What elements make up our atmosphere?Ans: The oxygen, nitrogen, argon, water vapor, carbon dioxide,

neon, methane, krypton, helium, xenon, hydrogen, nitrous ox-ide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone.

What two things does our atmosphere protect us from?Ands: They help to absorb harmful solar radiation before it can

reach the surface of Earth because if they becomes large, they are poisonous. They also protect us from the meteors.

What is the rotational tilt of the Earth?Ans: It is 23.5 degree angle. What produces the magnetic field on earth?Ans: The rapid spin of the Earth along with the liquid, hot

metallic core causes a magnetic field to surround the Earth.What is the satellite of the Earth?Ans: The moon

Earth

What evidence do scientists have to life on Mars?Ans: Some meteorites of Mars found on Earth is studied by

the scientists for evidence of tiny ancient bacteria and other signs that life may have existed on Mars.

What is the primary element of the atmosphere?Ans: The carbon dioxide.Why does the planet appear to be red?Ans: The surface is covered by rocks and soil which is rich in

iron-laden clay. Because of the iron, the planet appears to be red.

What is Olympus Mons?Ans: Olympus Mons means one of the largest volcano in the

solar system.What are the two satellites of Mars?Ans: They are phobos and deimos.

Mars

The outer planet

How is the shape of Jupiter affected by the planets rota-tion?

Ans: The shape cause planet to flatten at the poles and bulge at the equator.

What elements make up Jupiter’s atmosphere?Ans: They are hydrogen, helium, sulfur, and nitrogenWhat is the Giant Red Spot?Ans: The Giant Red Spot is a hurricane-like storm that

has been seen in Jupiter's southern hemisphere since Jupiter was first discovered.

How many know natural satellites does Jupiter have?Ans: It has 63 natural satellites.What is interesting about Jupiter’s satellite Io?Ans: Io is volcanically active.

Jupiter

What elements make up Saturn’s atmosphere?Ans: The hydrogen and helium.What may have caused Saturn to have rings?Ans: The thousand individual rings which contains water ice

and dust are the composition of the rings. What is the composition of the rings?Ans: The rings are composed of ice and dust particles which

astronomers believe resulted from the break-up of satel-lites that came too close to Saturn.

Why could Saturn float in water? Ans: Because the Saturn has the lowest density in the solar

system and if the density is low, the planet would float on the water.

How long do the seasons last on Saturn?Ans: It last more than seven Earth years

Saturn

What is different about Uranus’s rotation?Ans: The Uranus is different because it is tilted

98 degrees and from Earth it appears to be rotating on it’s side.

What elements make up Uranus’s atmos-phere?

Ans: The hydrogen, helium and methane.How many known satellites does Uranus

have?Ans: It has 27 know natural satellites.

Uranus

What elements make up Neptune’s atmosphere?Ans: The ammonia, helium and methane.How many known satellites does Neptune have?Ans: The Neptune has 13 known satellites.What is Triton? Explain how astronomers be-

lieve Triton became a satellite.Ans: Triton is a largest satellite of the Neptune.

The astronomers believe that Triton was not ac-tually a satellite of the Neptune, they think it was captured by Neptune’s gravitational pull, forcing it into an orbit around the planet.

Neptune

Dwarf planet

What are the names of Pluto’s three moons?Ans: They are Charon, Nix and Hydra.What have scientists learned about Pluto by

using a spectroscope?Ans: They have learnt that there are methane

frost on the Pluto and water frost on Charon. What is so unusual about Pluto’s moon

Charon?Ans: The Charon is unusually large for a moon.

Pluto

How long is one revolution?Ans: It is approximately 4.6 Earth years for Ceres to make

one revolution around the Sun.Why was Ceres once considered an asteroid?Ans: Because Sir William Herschel labeld Ceres as an as-

teroid, not a planet. But it was known as the largest know asteroid in the asteroid belt. But in 2006, the Interna-tional Astronomical Union formed a new class called the “Dwarf Planet”. The definition of it is spherical and trav-els in an orbit around the Sun and Ceres fit it perfectly.

What can be found on Ceres’ surface?Ans: The mixture of water ice, carbonates, and clays are

found on the Ceres’ surface.

Ceres

What was Eris’ original name?Ans: It was “Xena”.How long does it take Eris to orbit the sun?Ans: It takes 557 Earth years for Eris to make one orbit

around the Sun.What is the name of Eris’ moon?Ans: It is called “Dysnomia”.Why is Eris not considered to be a planet?Ans: The reason is because iUnder the newly recognized official definition of a planet,

Eris did not meet the requirement that a planet must clear out its orbit.

Eris

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=200

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/planets.html

http://www.bobthealien.co.uk/innerouter.htmhttp://web.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/dwarfpl

anets/http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?

qid=20080211014643AAgBA0L

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Venus'_day_longer_than_its_year

Bibliography