Solar System

Cards (13)

what things are part of our solar system
the sun, eight planets, dwarf plants, natural satellites (moons)
what does heliocentric mean
the centre - the sun is at the centre of our solar system
examples of dwarf planets
pluto, ceres
the order of the planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
what are smaller planets made of
primarily rock
what are larger planets made of
primarily gas
why do some planets rotate in the opposite direction or on a skewed axis
past collisions throws its axis off balance
why do larger planets have rings
their gravitational field is so strong it attracts debris
what was the Geocentric model
the Earth at the center, the planets, our moon, and the sun orbited Earth
everything orbited in perfect circles
with a fixed background of stars
what was the heliocentric model
the sun at the centre - everything orbiting around that
what was the evidence for the heliocentric model
mars' "retrograde motion" - earth orbits the sun faster than mars, so we undertake it, it appears to reverse its direction in the sky
what did Galileo do
observe moons orbiting Jupiter - showed not everything orbited Earth
what did Kepler do
showed that the planets orbited in ellipses, and not circles