8 Space physics

8 Space physics

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Question 1

61%

The Sun is at the centre of our solar system.

a.

What type of object is the Sun?

[1]

b.

What is the name of the galaxy that our solar system is part of?

[1]

c.

Table 1 gives information about some of the moons in our solar system.

Moon	Radius in kilometres
Ganymede	$2630$
Triton	$1350$
Phobos	$11$

What is a moon?

[1]

d.

A student researched the radius of some other objects in the solar system:

Radius of dwarf planet Pluto = $km1190\text{ km}$
Radius of planet Mercury = $km2440\text{ km}$

The student made the following conclusions:

Conclusion 1: Moons are always smaller than dwarf planets.
Conclusion 2: Planets are always larger than moons.

Give one reason why each of the student's conclusions is wrong. Use the data given above and in Table 1.

[2]