Planetary Postcards Trivia Quiz

Answer: The sun

At 100 times the size of Earth, the Sun is the largest and hottest thing in the Solar System.

Every so often the Sun shoots out fountains of flaming gas called prominences, which can be many thousands of miles high.

The surface temperature is around 5,537 degrees Celsius.

Answer: Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. The diametre of the Caloris Basin is 1,550 kilometres, making it Mercury's largest impact crater.

Pluto is either the Solar System's smallest planet or one of its larger planetoids, and lies approximately 3,670 million miles from the Sun.

Rather than being planets, Phobos and Deimos are small potato-shaped asteroids that orbit around Mars.

Answer: Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is similar in size to Earth.

Its atmosphere is made almost entirely of carbon dioxide and the thick clouds are made from drops of sulphuric acid. The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus is almost 90 times more than what it would be on Earth.

The highest mountain on Venus is Maxwell Montes, which stands approximately 10,600 metres tall.

Answer: Mars

Due to its red colour, the ancient Romans named Mars after their God of War.

The largest features on Mars are Olympus Mons, a 22-kilometre-high volcano and the Mariner Valley, a canyon that measures almost 4,000 kilometres long.

Io and Europa are two of Jupiter's moons while Titan is Saturn's largest moon.

Answer: The Asteroid Belt

The Asteroid Belt is a large band filled with irregular-shaped chunks of rock that spin around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

The Oort Cloud is a massive cloud of comets that circles the entire Solar System.

About 20 times the size of the Asteroid Belt, the Kuiper Belt is situated within the orbit of Pluto.

To my knowledge, the Neptunian Cloud does not exist.

Answer: Jupiter

At 318 times the weight of Earth, Jupiter is a swirling ball of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. There is no solid surface.

Jupiter takes 11.9 years to orbit the Sun at a distance of approximately 484 million miles.

Answer: Saturn

Saturn is often regarded as being the Solar System's most beautiful planet. Its rings are made from thousands of pieces of rock that range in size from being as small as a grain of rice to as big as a house.

Saturn has 62 known moons and, lying at a distance of 887 million miles, orbits the Sun in 29.5 years.

Answer: Uranus

At a distance of 1,783 million miles, Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.

While the other planets have an almost upright axis of rotation, Uranus is lying on its side. Astronomers still aren't sure why.

Uranus has fifteen known moons.

Eris is the name astronomers have given to a planet popularly known as "Planet X".

Answer: Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet in the Solar System. At an average distance of 2,794 million miles, it takes 165 years to orbit the Sun.

The storm that Melanie is watching is known to astronomers as the "Great Dark Spot" which is similar to Jupiter's "Great Red Spot". Neptune is also the windiest planet, with gusts of up to 1,240 miles per hour.

Ceres is an asteroid while Triton is the largest of Neptune's thirteen known moons.

Answer: Pluto

At an average distance of 3,670 million miles, Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the Sun.

Unfortunately, astronomers no longer regard Pluto as being a planet. Instead, they call it a Dwarf Planet.

Nix, Charon and Hydra are Pluto's moons.