If the solar system is reduced in size by the factor of a billion (1,000,000,000) or (109) - what would be the diameter of the Earth, and how far away would be the Moon's orbit?
The Earth's diameter would be 1.3 cm and the Moon would be 1 ft away.
What is an Astronomical Unit (AU); how many kilometers is in 1 AU, and about how long does it take light to travel the distance of 1 AU?
An AU is simply the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. An AU is equal to ~149,600,000 km. It takes 8 minutes for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth, traveling at the speed of light, of course.
Radio signals travel the speed of light. If transmitted from Earth, how many seconds does it take radio signals to reach the Moon from Earth?
The Moon, the closest solar system body to us, is about 400,000 km away from the Earth, which means it takes about 2 seconds for radio signal from Earth to reach the Moon and travel back.
What is the outermost planet of our solar system, and how many AUs is it from the Sun?
Neptune is now the outermost planet in our solar system. Its orbit places it at ~ 4,500,000,000 km or 30 AU from the Sun.
How far away is the Kuiper Belt from the Sun, and what is the largest object in the Belt?
The Kuiper Belt is a disk-shaped region past the orbit of Neptune, roughly 4,400,000,000 to 14,900,000,000 km (30 to 100 AU) from the Sun, that consists mainly of small bodies which are the remnants from the Solar System's formation. The largest object in
How far is Eris from the Sun; how many times further away is Eris from the Sun than Pluto?
Eris and its moon Dysnomia have a current distance from the Sun of 97 AU, which is nearly 3 times as far from the Sun as Pluto is.
Describe the objects found beyond the Kuiper Belt.
The scattered disc is sparsely populated with icy minor planets. These so-called Scattered Disc Objects or SDO's are among the most distant and thus the most cold objects in the solar system.
Were the Scattered Disc Objects once part of the Kuiper Belt?
Yes
How far from the Sun is Voyager 1 from the Sun? How fast is Voyager 1 traveling?
This made Voyager the farthest human-made object, at more than three times the distance of Pluto. Voyager 1 continues to move away from us at 17.3 kilometers per second.
How far away is the Oort Cloud? Describe the Oort Cloud.
A vast spherical cloud residing 5,000 to 50,000+ AU from the Sun at the outer reaches of the Solar System this major reservoir of comets has come to be known as the Oort Cloud.
The Oort Cloud Theory explains the existence of these objects?
The Oort Cloud is, however the best theory to explain how long-period comets exist.
How far away is the nearest star from the Sun?
The nearest star to us is over 271,000 AU away!
How many times further away did Johannes Kepler calculate the Sun was from Mar than from Earth?
Mars was about 1.5 times farther from the Sun than the Earth.
Describe parallax technique.
Shift in viewing angle due to viewers change in position.
What is the most accurate technique to measure distances to planets? Describe this technique.
Radar - we know that radar travels at the speed of light, 2.99 x 105 km/s. We also know the distance traveled is equal to the time multiplied by the velocity. If we bounce radar off a planet, and measure the time it takes the signal to go there and back,