What is the dominant mass of the solar system?
the Sun The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a low-mass star that contains 99.86% of the system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally. The Sun's four largest orbiting bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the remaining mass, with Jupiter and Saturn together comprising more than 90%.
What is solar geology?
The geology of solar terrestrial planets mainly deals with the geological aspects of the four terrestrial planets of the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – and one terrestrial dwarf planet: Ceres. Earth is the only terrestrial planet known to have an active hydrosphere.
Which planet is most geologically active quizlet?
Because of its small size, Mercury has lost most of its internal heat from its formation and is nearly geologically dead. Io is smaller than Mercury, but it is the most geologically active object in the Solar System, with volcanic eruptions constantly repaving its surface.
What is the most widely accepted explanation for the origin of our solar system?
The most widely accepted hypothesis of planetary formation is known as the nebular hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that, 4.6 billion years ago, the Solar System was formed by the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud spanning several light-years.
What is our solar system made up of?
Our solar system is made up of a star—the Sun—eight planets, 146 moons, a bunch of comets, asteroids and space rocks, ice, and several dwarf planets, such as Pluto. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Mercury is closest to the Sun.
What are the main components of the solar system?
Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets such as Pluto; dozens of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.
Which is the most geologically active of the terrestrial planets?
Earth With its 1,500 potentially active volcanoes, Earth is the most geologically active inner planet and the only body in the Solar System with significant liquid water on its surface. It is home to the only known life in the universe. Earth is the only rocky/inner planet known to have active plate tectonics.
What is required for geological activity on a planet?
The amount of tectonic activity on a planet is controlled by the amount of heat stored in the planets interior after formation. The larger the amount of heat, the more energy stored that is transfered to the surface in the form of geological activity.
What is the most geologically active object we know of in the solar system quizlet?
Because of its small size, Mercury has lost most of its internal heat from its formation and is nearly geologically dead. Io is smaller than Mercury, but it is the most geologically active object in the Solar System, with volcanic eruptions constantly repaving its surface.
Which of these world is the most active geologically?
Which is the most geologically active Terrestrial world? Why? Earth because it has cooled most slowly.
How was our solar system formed?
The Sun and the planets formed together, 4.6 billion years ago, from a cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. A shock wave from a nearby supernova explosion probably initiated the collapse of the solar nebula. The Sun formed in the center, and the planets formed in a thin disk orbiting around it.
What is the origin of the solar system?
Formation. Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it formed a solar nebula – a spinning, swirling disk of material.
What is our solar system called?
Our planetary system is named the "solar system" because our Sun is named Sol, after the Latin word for Sun, "solis," and anything related to the Sun we call "solar."
What are the two component of the solar system?
The solar system includes: Inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. Outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
How was the solar system formed?
The Sun and the planets formed together, 4.6 billion years ago, from a cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. A shock wave from a nearby supernova explosion probably initiated the collapse of the solar nebula. The Sun formed in the center, and the planets formed in a thin disk orbiting around it.
What is geologically active?
When we talk about “geologically active” as it relates to Earth, we know what that means: mountain-building processes, volcanic flows, earthquakes, canyon-creating processes, plate motions, erosion (by wind and water), and so on. These are processes that geologists study.
What geologic process es would dominate on a small cold planet?
Most of the small, icy bodies in the outer solar system are also dominated by impact craters. Besides this similarity, a tremendous diversity in crater shapes and sizes is apparent. Impact cratering is the result of the transfer of a projectile's kinetic energy to a planet's surface.
What are the major geological processes?
The four major geological processes are impact cratering, volcanism, tectonics, and erosion. Earth has experienced many impacts, but most craters have been erased by other processes. We owe the existence of our atmosphere and oceans to volcanic outgassing.
What is the current dominant geological process on Mars?
Abstract. Recent and continuing missions to Mars are showing that the Red Planet may be more geologically active than previously thought. Volcanoes and erosion by running water have shaped the surface. And evidence is growing that fluvial and possibly volcanic processes have been active in the very recent past.
Which of the following is the primary reason for geologically active processes occurring on some of the moons of Jupiter?
All of Jupiter's moons experience tidal heating from Jupiter, and they show signs of recent geological activity because of it. Based on their appearance, rank the four Galilean moons in order from the most recently geologically active to the least.
Which object has the most active volcanoes in the solar system?
Jupiter's Moon Io: The Most Active Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system.
What makes a planet geologically active?
The amount of tectonic activity on a planet is controlled by the amount of heat stored in the planets interior after formation. The larger the amount of heat, the more energy stored that is transfered to the surface in the form of geological activity.
What planets are geologically active?
Additionally, this fact explains why the Earth and Venus are still geologically active worlds with relatively thick atmospheres (for terrestrial worlds, Table ). Atmosphere's are formed and maintained by volcanic outgassing. Mercury and Earth's moon have been geologically dead for billions of years.
What makes up our solar system?
Our solar system is made up of a star—the Sun—eight planets, 146 moons, a bunch of comets, asteroids and space rocks, ice, and several dwarf planets, such as Pluto. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Mercury is closest to the Sun.
How did our solar system begin to form quizlet?
The solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago from a swirling, disk-shaped cloud of gas, ice, and dust, called the solar nebula.
How did the Earth’s geographical formation came to?
Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula, a disk-shaped mass of dust and gas left over from the formation of the Sun, which also created the rest of the Solar System.
What are the two main regions of the solar system?
The Solar System is divided into two main regions. The inner planets consist of the four rocky, or terrestrial planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, while the outer planets consists of the two gas giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, and the two ice giant planets, Uranus, and Neptune.
What are the primary components of matter in the solar system?
The solar system consists of the sun, the eight planets and several other miscellaneous objects, such as comets, asteroids and dwarf planets. The most abundant elements among these objects are hydrogen and helium, primarily because the sun and the four largest planets are predominantly made up of these two elements.
What is our solar system made of?
Our solar system is made up of a star—the Sun—eight planets, 146 moons, a bunch of comets, asteroids and space rocks, ice, and several dwarf planets, such as Pluto. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Mercury is closest to the Sun.
How did the solar system form quizlet?
The solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago from a swirling, disk-shaped cloud of gas, ice, and dust, called the solar nebula. What orbits the protosun? The planets and other debris in the solar system today formed from gas, ice, and dust in the solar nebula orbiting the protosun.