Lenara - landed

Magellan - orbited 

What technique has been used to map the surface of Venus?

What are the basic properties of Jupiter, such as mass, composition, and distance from Sun? 

Which spacecraft have visited Jupiter? Which one included a probe that was dropped into its atmosphere? 

What is the Great Red Spot? How long has it existed? Why so long? 

What are the names and properties of Jupiter’s 4 largest moons? 

Which spacecraft have visited Saturn? Which one included a probe that landed on Titan?

Who discovered the rings of Saturn? A gap in the rings? Who first proposed that the rings are made of particles? 

Why does the orientation of Saturn’s rings change over time when seen from Earth? 

 What are Saturn’s rings made of? Their thickness? 

What is Saturn’s largest moon? Properties? 

 What are the notable characteristics of Enceladus and Iapetus? 

Which spacecraft have visited Uranus and Neptune? 

 Who discovered Uranus? How did astronomers know where to look for Neptune? 

What is Neptune’s largest moon? Properties and likely origin? 

What are the basic properties of Pluto, such as mass, composition, and distance from the Sun? 

Which spacecraft have visited Pluto? 

Who discovered Pluto? How? 

How does the orbit of Pluto compare to the 8 planets? 

Why isn’t Pluto considered a planet? What is the official classification of Pluto now? Other members of this class? 

Which moon is a twin of Pluto? 

 How many moons does Pluto have? 

What are the 3 regions of the solar system containing asteroids and comets? Typical orbital periods? 

What are the largest known members of the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt? 2nd largest?

 What are comets and asteroids made of?

Which probes have visited comets and asteroids? 

What are meteoroids, meteors, falling stars, shooting stars, bolides, fireballs, and meteorites? 

What kind of spectrum does a meteor produce? 

What is the typical rate of meteors for a random night? During meteor showers? 

What is zodiacal light? 

Why is there no record of the early earth? 

How old is the earliest evidence for life? 

What is the Miller-Urey experiment? 

 What element is the basis for organic molecules? 

  What molecule is important for helping organic molecules combine into larger, more complex molecules (and life)?

   What is the habitable zone?

 The presence of which element in a planet’s atmosphere is evidence for life?

  What are the 6 methods of searching for planets around other stars? 

      Which 3 methods are used to detect the wobble of a star? 

How does the velocity of a wobbling star depend on the planet’s distance and mass? 

  How was the first planet outside of our solar system discovered? What kind of star does it orbit? 

Which method has discovered the most planets?

How many planets have been found outside our solar system? 

Which method of searching for planets has a large participation by amateur astronomers?

   What is the name of the equation that estimates the number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy?

What are some of the factors go into that equation?

What wavelengths of light offer the best chance of communication with other civilizations? 

 Who discovered Venus has phases? 

Why doesn’t Venus transit the Sun every time it orbits the Sun? 

A larger fraction of Earth can see a transit of Venus than can see a solar eclipse. Why? 

What is the main process that reshapes the surface of Venus and determines its age? 

Which hemisphere of Mars has younger surface? 

How was Valles Marineris created? 

What is the min amount of time needed for a radio transmission from Earth to arrive on Mars? 

Which did not include an orbiter? 

First rover to land on Mars? 

If two planets have the same rotational periods (length of a day), but different diameters, for which one is the surface traveling at a higher velocity as it rotates? 

If you obtained a spectrum of the aurora on Jupiter, what would you see? 

Which orbited Jupiter? 

When the Sun becomes a red giant, Titan’s atmosphere will become: 

Triton used to be a part of… 

Which dwarf planet is smallest? 

Which dwarf planet was discovered first? 

Typical orbital periods of asteroids? 

Typical orbital periods of Kuiper belt objects? 

Typical orbital periods of Oort cloud objects? 

Average distance between asteroids in the asteroid belt? 

Largest known member of Kuiper belt? 

Short-period comets come from? 

Compared to comets, meteors are… 

Spectrum seen from a meteor?

Blackbody emission=

Building block of all forms of life: 

Habitable zone = 

The velocity of a star as it wobbles will be faster if the orbiting planet is…

Which planets are easiest to detect via transits? 

How many planets have been found around other stars? 

What technique was used to find the first known planet around another star? 

Which technique is practiced by amateur astronomers with small telescopes?