Name: ___________________________________                  Grade/Section:________________

Solar System Worksheet

My assigned solar system object is: r Sun    r Mercury    r Venus    r Earth    r Mars    r Jupiter    r Saturn

r Uranus    r Neptune    r Pluto    r Ceres    r Eris (formerly known as 2003 UB₃₁₃)  

y About my solar system object (SSO)

„My solar system object is a/an:  r planet    r dwarf planet    r asteroid    r comet/Kuiper Belt Object    r star

„How many astronomical units (A.U.) from the Sun is my SSO? (If the Sun, answer = 0.)  ______________________ AU

(1 A.U. is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun: 92.9 million miles or 149.6 million kilometers.)

„What is my orbital (or sidereal) period (time to complete one orbit of the Sun)?  _______________________________

(If the Sun, answer = 0. Give your answer either in days or years. Use decimals to indicate fractional days or years.)

„What is my average (or mean) orbital velocity?  ____________________ km/s

„What is my diameter in miles and kilometers?  ____________________ miles      ____________________ kilometers

(1 kilometer = 0.621 mile)

„What is my period of rotation? (Give your answers in hours or days.)  ______________________________________

„What is my surface temperature in degrees.  Daytime ____________________     Nighttime ____________________

Use either degrees Celsius (ºC) or degrees Kelvin (K).

„What is my mass is kilograms?  ____________________ kg

„What is my mass in “Earths?”  ____________________ M_Earth (Earth = 1)

„How many moons (satellites) do I have? (If I have no moons, skip the next question.)  ____________________

„What are the names of my biggest moons (in diameter)? (If I have more than 4 moons, list just the largest 4.)

(1) ____________________  (2) ____________________  (3) ____________________  (4) ____________________

„Do I have rings?  r yes    r no   If “yes,” how many rings to I have? ____________________

„Do I have an atmosphere?  r yes    r no   If “yes,” what makes up my atmosphere (what kinds of atoms or molecules)?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

„When (date) was I discovered?  _____________________________________________________________________

„Who discovered me?  _____________________________________________________________________________

„Describe my color?  _______________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

„List any additional interesting information about me:  _____________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________