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6th
Celestial Objects
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Celestial Objects | Objects such as planets, moons, and stars that are located i the sky or in space |
System | a group of interacting or interdependent parts forming a complex whole; for example, all the factors or variables in an environment or all the planetary bodies revolving around a star. |
Solar System | The Sun together with the group of planets and other celestial bodies that are held by its gravitational attraction and revolve around it. |
Gravity | The force of attraction that pulls objects toward each other; the force that controls the motion of our solar system. |
Orbital Path | A curved path traveled by a satellite as it revolves around an object in space. |
Sun | The luminous celestial body around which Earth and other planets revolve and from which they receive heat and light. |
Star | A ball of gas in space that produces its own light and heat. |
Planet | Any of the large celestial bodies that revolve around the Sun in the solar system. |
Inner Planet | Any of the rocky, terrestrial planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, whose orbits are inside the asteroid belt. |
Rocky | Made of rocks. |
Terrestrial | Earth-like |
Outer Planet | Any of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, whose orbits lie beyond the asteroid belt. |
Asteroids | Large and small rocks or metallic masses orbiting the Sun; made up of materials similar to those that formed the planets. |
Asteroid Belt | the region between the inner and outer planets where most asteroid s orbit and around the Sun. |
Meteoroid | A natural chunk of rock or dust existing outside of Earth's atmosphere. |
Meteor | Small meteoroid that burns upon entry into Earth's atmosphere. |
Meteorites | Remains of meteoroids that strike the sruface of Earth or the Moon. |
Satellite | Something that orbits around another object; for example, a moon orbiting a planet or a human-made object orbiting Earth. |
Moon | A celestial body that revolves around a planet. |
Galilean Moons | The four largest and brightest moons of Jupiter, which were discovered by Galileo Galilei: Ganymede, lo, Callisto, and Europa. |
Comet | a celestial body of ice, dust, and rock with an elongated and elliptical orbit. |
Coma | Glowing, heated dust and vaporized gas that surrounds the icy comet nucleus as it travels near the sun; solar winds cause heated gases to stream out of the nucleus, forming a tail, which points away from the Sun. |