What characteristic is shared between all of the outer planets?
A.
They have no moons that orbit them.
B.
They are made mostly of gaseous materials.
C.
They are all very warm, similar to Venus.
D.
They orbit the Sun opposite to Earth.
B. They are made mostly of gaseous materials.
B. They are made mostly of gaseous materials.
To find the characteristic shared between all of the outer planets, we need to know the basic details about them. The outer planets in our solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Here's how we can determine the common characteristic:
First, let's consider option A: "They have no moons that orbit them." We know that all of the outer planets have moons, so we can eliminate this option.
Next, let's look at option B: "They are made mostly of gaseous materials." This is a characteristic that actually applies to the outer planets. Jupiter and Saturn, in particular, are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium gases, and Uranus and Neptune also have a significant amount of gases in their atmospheres. So, option B seems to be a potential common characteristic. However, we should still evaluate the remaining options.
Option C: "They are all very warm, similar to Venus." This statement is incorrect. Venus is known for its extremely high surface temperature, but the outer planets have different temperature ranges. For example, Uranus and Neptune are much colder than Venus. Therefore, we can eliminate option C.
Finally, let's assess option D: "They orbit the Sun opposite to Earth." This is also incorrect. While it is true that the outer planets have a different orientation compared to Earth's orbit around the Sun, not all of them orbit in the opposite direction. Only Venus and Uranus have retrograde (opposite) rotation compared to other planets, but their orbits around the Sun are still in the same direction as other planets. Therefore, we can eliminate option D.
After examining all the options, we can conclude that option B is the correct answer: "They are made mostly of gaseous materials." This characteristic accurately applies to all of the outer planets in our solar system.