Astronomy & Space

Planets and Their Moons:

Mercury: The smallest planet
- Closest to the sun; no moons
- Orbital period: 88 days

Venus: The “greenhouse effect” planet
- No moons
- Probes: Venera (Russian)
- Orbital period: 225 days

Earth: The only planet not named after a mythological figure
- One moon, walked on by twelve astronauts from the Apollo program
- Lunar probe: Surveyor

Mars: The red planet
- Moons: Phobos (largest) and Demos (fear and dread)
- Probes: Ranger and Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity (2012)
- Volcano: Olympus Mons (largest known volcano in the solar system)
- Orbital period: 1.9 years

Jupiter: The largest planet; larger than all others put together
- Distinguishing feature: a great red spot (a huge storm bigger than Earth)
- Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede (largest moon in the solar  system)
- Jupiter has many other smaller moons
- Probes: Voyager I & II, Galileo
- Orbital period: 12 years

Saturn: The ringed planet
- Moons: Titan (moon with mysterious atmosphere) and many others
- Probes: Voyager I & II, Cassini
- Orbital period: 29 years

Uranus:
- Moons: Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, and others (Thirteen of  Uranus’ moons are named after Shakespearian characters).
- Probe: Voyager II
- Discoverer: William Herschel, 1781
- Orbital period: 84 years

Neptune: The blue planet
- Moons: Triton, Nereid and others.
- Distinguishing feature: the great blue spot
- Probe: Voyager II
- Discoverer: Johann Galle, 1856
- Orbital period: 165 years

Pluto: (declassified from planet to dwarf planet in 2006)
- Moon: Charon
- Discoverer: Clyde Taumbaugh (on calculations from Percival Lowell, the “PL” in  Pluto)
- Orbital period: 248 years

Other Facts:

    
Early 20th century American astronomer.................................... Edwin Hubble
American female astronomer................................................... Maria Mitchell
Danish astronomer................................................................... Tycho Brahe
English astronomer royal................................................... Sir Edmund Halley
English astronomer family.............................................................. Herschel
French astronomer family................................................................. Cassini
German astronomer............................................................ Johannes Kepler
Greek astronomer (2nd century)...................................................... Ptolemy
Italian astronomer.............................................................. Galileo (Galilei)
Polish astronomer..................................................................... Copernicus
First dog in space.........................................Laika (Russian German Shepard)
First man in space................................................................... Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin's capsule......................................................................Vostok
First woman in space.................................................. Valentina Tereshkova
First space walk.................................................................... Alexei Leonov
First American in space (suborbital).......................................... Alan Shepard
Second American in space (suborbital)....................................... Gus Grissom
Third American in space (three orbits).......................................... John Glenn
First American woman in space..................................................... Sally Ride
First American to walk in space................................................ Edward White
First American woman to walk in space.................................. Kathryn Sullivan
American female who has longest duration in space................... Shannon Lucid
First man to walk on the moon............................................... Neil Armstrong
Second man to walk on the moon................................................ Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 13 commander.............................................................. James Lovell
Oldest U.S. astronaut, launched in 1998..................... John Glenn (77 yrs. old)
Man who played golf on the moon............................................. Alan Shepard
First space shuttle crew................................................... Young and Crippen
Frist female space shuttle commander....................................... Eileen Collins
First satellite, 1957........................................................................ Sputnik
First U.S. satellite....................................................................... Explorer I
First weather satellite........................................................................ Tiros
First communications satellite........................................................... Echo I
First telecommunications satellite..................................................... Telstar
USA's first space station....................................................................Skylab
Russian space station ("Peace" in Russian)..............................................MIR
Current space station...................................ISS (International Space Station)
The sun's visable surface...........................................................Photosphere
The sun’s “halo”.............................................................................. Corona
The sun’s “breeze”...................................................................... Solar wind
Solar magnetic storms with 11-year cycles...................................... Sun spots
The Earth’s magnetic belt....................................................... Van Allen Belt
Belt between Mars and Jupiter.................................................. Asteroid belt
Largest known asteroid...................................................................... Ceres
Closest major galaxy.......................... Andromeda (can be seen by naked eye)
Milky Way’s satellite galaxies...................... Large and Small Magellanic Cloud
Galactic cloud of dust and gas.......................................................... Nebula
Nebula named for sea creature .................................................. Crab nebula
“Equine” nebula............................................................... Horsehead nebula
Nebula that can be seen with naked eye.....................................Orion Nebula
Measure of a star's brightness.......................................................Magnitude
“Dog Star”, brightest star in the sky..................................................... Sirius
North star or pole star...................................................................... Polaris
Closest star................. Proxima Centauri (some references say Alpha Centauri)
Stars known as “seven sisters”....................................................... Pleiades
Theory of the expanding universe.......................................... Big Bang theory
Moon probe.................................................................................. Surveyor
Mars probes.............................................................. Mariner and Pathfinder
Pathfinder mobile rover................................................................ Sojourner
Jupiter probe.................................................................................. Galileo
Saturn probe.................................................................................. Cassini
“Grand tour of planets” probes................................................ Voyager I & II
First man-made object to leave the solar system............................ Pioneer 10
One-person U.S. space program....................................................... Mercury
Two-person U.S. space program........................................................ Gemini
Three-person U.S. space program....................................................... Apollo
Apollo 11 landing module.................................................................. Eagle
Where the Eagle landed.....................................................Sea of Tranquility
Apollo 12 landing site.........................................................Ocean of Storms
First two astronauts on the moon.............. Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
He “played golf” on the moon................................................... Alan Shepard
Last man on the moon.......................................................... Eugene Cernan
Reusable U.S. space vehicle.................................................... Space Shuttle
Space shuttle names ................................................Enterprise (atmospheric
tests only), Columbia, Challenger, Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavor
1983 book chronicling the U.S. space program......................... The Right Stuff
Comet that returns every 76 years.......................................... Halley’s Comet
Comet that struck Jupiter in 1994....................................... Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet visible for several months in 1996....................................... Hale-Bopp
Highly-touted comet that fizzled in 1973............................... Comet Kahoutek