Question

State whether the following statements are true or false and justify your answer.
1) Pole star is a member of the solar system.
2) Mercury is the smallest planet of the solar system.
3) Uranus is the farthest planet in the solar system.
4) INSAT is an artificial satellite.
5) There are nine planets in the solar system.
6) The constellation named Orion can be seen only with a telescope.

Answer 1

Hint: The Solar System constitutes the Sun and the objects that revolve around it (directly or indirectly) and is bounded by gravity. The objects revolving around the Sun directly are the eight planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, dwarf planets, and small Solar System bodies. The objects revolving indirectly around the Sun are the moons.

Complete step by step solution:
1: Pole star is a member of the solar system, is true or false. Provide necessary justification.
The given statement is false.
Justification: Pole star is a not member of the solar system, but a member of the galaxy. The galaxy is a big collection of billions of stars and their Solar Systems, gas, dust, and is bounded by gravity. Our galaxy is the Milky Way galaxy. Billions of galaxies like the Milky Way galaxy make up the universe.
2: Mercury is the smallest planet of the solar system, is true or false. Provide necessary justification.
The given statement is true.
Justification: Mercury is the smallest planet in our Solar system and is slightly larger than the Moon. It is the planet nearest to the Sun.
3: Uranus is the farthest planet in the solar system, is true or false. Provide necessary justification.
The given statement is false.
Justification: The order of the eight planets from the Sun is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and then Neptune. Therefore, Uranus is the second farthest planet in our solar system. The farthest planet is Neptune.
4: INSAT is an artificial satellite, is true or false. Provide necessary justification.
The given statement is true.
Justification: A satellite is described as a body that revolves around a star (the Sun) or a planet. Satellites can be naturally occurring or human-made. The INSAT or the Indian National Satellite is an artificial satellite that was used for communication and weather prediction purposes.
5: There are nine planets in the solar system, is true or false. Provide necessary justification.
The given statement is false.
Justification: In 2006, Pluto was declared as a dwarf planet thus reducing the number of planets in our Solar System to eight planet - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
6: The constellation named Orion can be seen only with a telescope, is true or false. Provide necessary justification.
The given statement is false.
Justification: Orion, also known as the Hunter, can be seen with naked eyes in the night sky. The constellation Orion is present on the celestial equator.

Note:
Satellites can be a moon, planet, or a machine that orbits a star or planet. An example is the Moon orbiting around the Earth. So, the Moon is the Earth’s natural satellite. The Earth is, however, the natural satellite of the Sun.
Consider an imaginary sphere with the observer at the center and all the celestial objects lie in this sphere. Now, the great circle of this sphere that lies in the same plane as the Earth’s equator is called the celestial equator.