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82 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
A _______ is described as a giant dirty snowball. It is composed of frozen gases, water,______ and icy lumps.
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comet, dust
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A distinguishing feature of Jupiter is _____ _______ ______ Spot. This spot is a giant storm that is 30,000 miles long and _______ miles wide.
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The Giant Red, 10,000
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________ is a region beyond the Earths atmosphere where there is very little molecular activity.
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space
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Many people generally agree that space occurs at about _____ miles outward from Earth.
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250
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The _________ includes everything, stars, planets, galaxies, animals, plants and humans.
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universe
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Space is characterized by a lack of __________.
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oxygen
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Small or low gravity is called ______________.
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microgravity
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Our sun, which is the center of our solar system, is but a tiny spot in our _________. In fact, there are 200 billion _____ in our galaxy, and our galaxy is just one of millions of galaxies.
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galaxy, suns
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A _________ is an enormous collection of stars, and these stars are arranged in a particular shape.
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galaxy
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The three main shapes of galaxies are _________, _________ and __________.
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elliptical, spiral and irregular
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Elliptical galaxy is oval shaped. _________ galaxy has arms spiraling outward from a center. _________ galaxy has no particular shape.
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spiral, irregular
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Our galaxy is called the ________ ______. It is ________ shaped.
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Milky Way, spiral
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Galaxies contain giant clouds of gas and dust called ___________.
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Nebulae
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_________ are bodies of hot gases.
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Stars
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The _______________ is a part of the atmosphere divided by its electrical activity.
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Ionosphere
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The ______ is the primary cause of the Van Allen belts.
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Sun
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Most stars are composed of __________ and ________ in their gaseous state.
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hydrogen and helium
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About half of all stars come in pairs with the stars sharing the same gravitational center. These are called _________ stars.
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binary
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A ___________ is a grouping of stars that look like imaginary figures.
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constellation
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The Big Dipper is an example of a ______________.
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constellation
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Our _______ _______ is the sun and the bodies that orbit around it.
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solar system
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Without heat and light, the Earth would be a lifeless, _____-_________ planet.
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ice-covered
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The central star of our solar system is the _______.
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sun
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The Earth is _____ _________ miles from the sun.
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93 million
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The sun is composed of about ____% hydrogen, ___% helium and minor amounts of several other elements.
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90, 9
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The temperature of the sun ranges from ______degrees C in its coolest regions to over ____ _______ degrees C at its center.
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4200, 15 million
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_________ are darker, cooler areas of the sun.
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sunspots
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_______ _______ are short-lived high-energy discharges.
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solar flares
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_______ _____________ are larger and longer lasting high-energy discharges.
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solar prominences
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The Earths Moon has a diameter of about ______ miles, which is about ___ of the Earths diameter.
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2155, ¼
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The distance from the Earth to the Moon varies from approximately ______ miles at its farthest point to ________ miles at its nearest point.
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252,000 221,000
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The Moon rotates on its axis in the same amount of time it takes to orbit the Earth, _______ days. Therefore, the same side of the Moon, the near side, always faces the Earth.
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27
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When the Moon is on the side of the Earth nearer the sun, the Moon is ______.
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new
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When it is on the opposite side of the Earth, the Moon is _______.
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full
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Primarily, the Moon has two types of terrain, ___________ and ___________.
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highlands lowlands
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Temperatures on the Moon range from about _____degrees in the day, to below ______degrees at night.
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250, -250
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___________ is the closest planet to the sun, and it revolves around the sun every _____ days.
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Mercury, 88
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_________ is the closest planet to Earth. It revolves around the sun in _____ days.
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Venus, 225
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Venus is the ________ planet in the solar system with temperatures in excess of _____degrees.
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hottest, 850
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__________is the only known planet to rotate in a clockwise manner.
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Venus
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The atmosphere of Venus is 96% _________ __________ and 4% nitrogen.
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carbon dioxide
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The Earths atmosphere contains 78% ___________ and 21% ____________.
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nitrogen, oxygen
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The surface of our planet is covered with over 67% __________.
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water
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The Earth revolves around the sun in _______ days.
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365
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Mars is known as the _____ planet and even with the naked eye we can see this _______ color.
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red, red
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The red color of Mars is due to the ______ and _______ covering the surface.
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rock, dust
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The surface of Mars is covered with deserts, high mountains, deep craters and huge ____________.
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volcanoes
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One of Mars ____________ is the highest known mountain in our solar system.
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volcanoes
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The atmosphere of Mars consists of 95% _________ ___________.
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carbon dioxide
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Daytime temperatures on Mars reach ____degrees F, while nighttime temperatures can dip to______degrees F.
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65, -130
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In July 1997, the space probe called the ______ _____________ landed on Mars. The next day the rover, Sojourner Truth began its exploration of the planet. The rover was ____ feet long and _____ foot tall.
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Pathfinder, two, one
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Next to Earth, _______ has the most favorable conditions for life of any of the other planets in our solar system.
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Mars
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__________ is the largest planet in our solar system.
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Jupiter
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Jupiter is ____ times larger than Earth.
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11
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Jupiter is a gas giant, with ___________ accounting for about 90% of the atmosphere, followed by helium, __________ and ammonia.
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hydrogen,methane
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Jupiter is known for its ____ moons.
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16
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The rings are the most recognizable feature of ________.
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Saturn
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Saturn's rings are made of icy chunks of ______ ranging from tiny particles to large _________.
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rock, boulders
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Saturn's main rings are made up of hundreds of narrow __________.
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Ringlets
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Saturn's entire ring system is about one mile thick and extends about _________ miles from the planet.
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250,000
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Saturn has an _____ _____ core surrounded by metallic hydrogen with an outer layer of hydrogen and helium.
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icy, rock
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It takes Saturn ____ years to revolve around the sun.
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29
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The winds of Saturn have been known to reach ______ mph.
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1100
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Saturn is ____ _______ miles from the sun.
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900 million
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________, one of the moons of Saturn, is the only moon in the solar system to have its own ______________.
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Titan, atmosphere
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___________ is about 1.7 billion miles from the sun. It has a rocky core surrounded by water, ammonia and methane, in both ice and _________ form.
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Uranus, liquid
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Uranus revolves around the sun in ____ years.
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84
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Daylight on Uranus lasts for ___ years followed by ___ years of night.
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42, 42
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Uranus also has 11 very narrow and black ________ around it.
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rings
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Neptune is about ___ ________ miles from the sun and takes ____ Earth years to complete an orbit.
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3 billion, 165
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Neptunes atmosphere consists of ___________, helium and __________.
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hydrogen, methane
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The ___________ gives Neptune a bluish color.
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methane
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___________ is the most windy planet in the solar system. It has recorded winds of _______ mph.
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Neptune, 1340
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________ is the smallest planet in our solar system. It is a dark and ________ planet.
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Pluto, frozen
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Pluto's surface is made up of __________ ________.
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methane frost
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Asteroids, comets and meteoroids are collectively thought of as _________ orbiting in space.
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Debris
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______________ are chunks of rock that range in size from particles of dust to some that are a few hundred miles across.
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Asteroids
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Most _______ travel in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. This area is known as the ________ ______.
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asteroids, asteroid belt
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_______ are tiny particles of dust and sand that are usually leftover from a comet.
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meteoroids
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If a meteoroid enters the Earths atmosphere it is called a _______.
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meteor
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Meteors that actually hit the Earth are called ______________.
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meteorites
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Mercury's daytime temperature reaches_____degrees F, while its nighttime temperatures reach _____degrees F.
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800, -300
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