1 markThe appearance of the Moon from Earth can be explained by the relative motion of the Moon and the Earth.
Explain why the Moon rises and sets.
1 markThe Moon is said to undergo a lunar cycle.
State the time it takes the Moon to complete one lunar cycle.
2 marksObservers on Earth always see the same side of the Moon.
Explain why we never see the far side of the Moon when looking from Earth.
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4 marksComplete the description of the Earth by filling in the blanks using words from the list below.
You may use words more than once, or not at all.
The Earth is a rocky planet following ........................ orbit around the Sun.
It rotates on its ........................, which is tilted at an angle of approximately 23.4° to the ........................ .
The Earth takes approximately 24 ........................ to complete one full rotation, causing the ........................ daily motion of the Sun rising and setting.
The rotation of the Earth on its axis is therefore responsible for the ........................ cycle of day and night.
| Â | apparent | hours |
| Â | axis | periodic |
| Â | a circular | real |
| Â | an elliptical | vertical |
|  | horizontal |  |
1 markFig. 1 shows the Earth orbiting the Sun.
Explain why it is summer in the northern hemisphere at position A.
4 marksComplete the description of the Moon by filling in the blanks using words from the list below.
You may use words more than once, or not at all.
The Moon is a natural ..................... of the Earth which travels in an approximately ..................... orbit.
The ..................... of the Moon's orbit is approximately 28 ..................... .
The Moon revolves around its own axis with the same ..................... as its orbit so always has the same side facing the Earth.
The Moon shines because of the ..................... light from the ....................., it does not produce its own light.
|  | circular | period |
| Â | days | planet |
|  | Earth | reflected |
|  | elliptical | satellite |
| Â | hours | Sun |
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2 marksState the definition of 'orbital period'.
2 marksState the equation needed to calculate average orbital speed.
2 marksA satellite moves in a circular orbit around the Earth.
The satellite orbits at a height of 600 km above the Earth’s surface. The radius of the Earth is 6400 km.
Determine the radius of the orbit, in metres.
3 marksThe satellite completes one orbit of the Earth every 106 minutes.
Use your answer to part (c) to calculate the average orbital speed of the satellite.
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3 marksFor each description, identify the body in the Solar System which is being described.
1 markState the location of the asteroid belt.
2 marksThe inner four planets of the Solar System are described as being small and rocky.
State the two words most commonly used to describe the outer four planets.
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2 marksAll orbits are either near-circular or elliptical.
State the position of the body which is being orbited in
1 markName the force which keeps satellites in orbit.
2 marksThe strength of the Sun’s gravitational field and the orbital speeds of the planets depend on the distance from the Sun.
State whether the following properties increase or decrease as the distance from the Sun increases:
2 marksThe table in Fig. 1 shows data for three planets orbiting the same star.
| planet |
orbital speed / km/s |
orbital period / days |
| Artemis | 35.0 | 120 |
| Hecate | 67.4 | 58 |
| Medea | 24.1 | 231 |
Fig. 1
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3 marksThe Sun lies at the centre of our solar system, with all other bodies, such as planets, orbiting it, as shown in Fig. 1.1.
State two similarities and one difference between the orbits of the planets.
2 marksThe graph in Fig. 1.2 gives data for four bodies in the outer solar system.
Uranus orbits the Sun at an average distance of 2900 million km.
Fig. 1.2
Use the graph to determine the orbital speed of Uranus.
6 marksUse data from the graph to calculate
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3 marksFig. 1 shows a diagram of the Solar System.
State the name of each body indicated at the positions (i), (ii) and (iii).
2 marksThere are more than 200 moons in our Solar System.
3 marksAstronomers launched the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 1990, placing it in orbit around the Earth.
The table in Fig. 2 shows information about the orbits around the Earth of both the HST and the Moon.
| Â | average radius of orbit / km | orbital period |
| HST | 550 | 96 minutes |
| Moon | 385 000 | 28 days |
Fig. 2
For the HST and the Moon:
4 marksUsing the data in Fig. 2, calculate the orbital speed of the HST.
The radius of the Earth is 6400 km.
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3 marksFig. 1 shows a diagram of the Solar System.
State the name of each body indicated at the positions (i), (ii) and (iii).
3 marksThe asteroid belt can be thought of as the dividing line between the inner and outer planets.
Compare the differences between these two groups of planets.
3 marksThe graph in Fig. 2 shows the relationship between orbital speed in km/s and mean distance from the Sun measured in astronomical units, AU. 1 AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
The positions of Saturn and Pluto have been plotted and labelled.
Fig. 2
For the planet Uranus:
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2 marksFig. 1 shows a diagram of the Solar System.
Fig. 1 (not to scale)
On Fig. 1, mark the location of the asteroid belt.
3 marksDescribe the physical properties of comets.
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4 marksState the name of:
2 marksTick the correct statement(s)
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The Earth orbits the Sun once every 365 days
The Moon takes five weeks to orbit the Earth
The Moon rotates on its axis
Day and night on Earth are caused by the Moon's orbit
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3 marksThe table in Fig. 1 shows some planetary data for planets in our Solar System.
| Planet | Orbital distance / million km | Orbital duration / days or years | Density / kg/m3 | Surface Temperature/ °C | Surface Gravitational Field Strength/ N/kg |
| Mercury | 57.9 | 88 days | 5427 | 350 | 3.7 |
| Venus | 108.2 | 225 days | 5243 | 460 | 8.9 |
| Earth | 149.6 | 365 days | 5514 | 20 | 9.8 |
| Mars | 227.9 | 687 days | 3933 | –23 | 3.7 |
| Jupiter | 778.6 | 11.9 years | 1326 | –120 | 23.1 |
| Saturn | 1433.5 | 29.5 years | 687 | –180 | 9.0 |
| Uranus | 2872.5 |  75 years | 1271 | –210 | 8.7 |
| Neptune | 4495.1 | 165 years | 1638 | –220 | 11.0 |
Fig. 1
Explain how the length of a year on a planet correlates to its distance from the Sun.
4 marksCompare the orbital speeds of Mercury and Saturn using data from Fig. 1. Explain your answer.
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1 markA student states that the nearest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri.
Explain what is wrong with this statement.
4 marksLight from Proxima Centauri takes 2.2 × 106 minutes to reach the Earth. Light from the Sun takes 8.3 minutes to reach the Earth.
The distance from the Sun to the Earth is defined as 1 astronomical unit (AU).
The speed of light is 3.0 × 108 m/s.
Calculate the distance to Proxima Centauri:
2 marksA light year is the distance that light travels in one year.
Astronomers usually give the distance from stars in terms of light years rather than using metres and kilometres.
Suggest a reason for this.
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3 marksThe data table in Fig. 1 shows data on the four inner planets.
| Â | Mean distance from the Sun / million km |
Orbital period / days |
Surface temp / °C |
Density / kg/m3 |
Diameter / 103 km |
Mass / 1024 kg |
Surface gravity / N/kg |
| Mercury | 57.9 | 88 | 350 | 5427 | 4.8 | Â | 3.7 |
| Venus | 108.2 | 225 | 460 | 5243 | 12.1 | Â | 8.9 |
| Earth | 149.6 | 365 | 20 | 5514 | 12.8 | 5.97 | 9.8 |
| Mars | 227.9 | 687 | 23 | 3933 | 6.8 | Â | 3.7 |
Fig. 1
Use the data in Fig. 1 to predict how the orbital speeds of the four outer planets compare to the four inner planets.
4 marksExplain how Newton's Second Law applies to the calculation of orbital speed.
6 marksDeduce whether the masses of Mercury, Venus and Mars, are larger, smaller or very similar to the mass of Earth, referring to the data in Fig. 1 to support your answer.
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1 markFig. 1 shows Jupiter and the orbits of two of its moons, Ganymede and Europa.
The positions of the two moons are marked for various dates.
The radius of Europa’s orbit is 671 000 km. The radius of Ganymede’s orbit is 1 070 000 km
Fig.1.
Determine the time for Ganymede to complete one orbit of Jupiter.
2 marksCalculate the distance from Europa to Ganymede on 8 June.
5 marksDescribe and explain how the distance between Europa and Ganymede changes during three orbits of Europa.
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