Term | Definition |
Asteroid belt | located between mars and Jupiter; separates the terrestrial planets from the gas giants |
types of galaxies | irregular ( no definite shape ) elliptical ( oval shaped ), and spiral ( frisbee shaped ). |
comet | A chuck of rock and ice that orbits the sun in a long elliptical orbit. |
Meteor | A meteorite that completely burns in Earth's atmosphere. |
Light year | The distance light can travel in one year; used to measure extreme distances in space |
Reflecting telescopes | Use lenses and mirrors to view distant objects |
Refracting telescopes | Use lenses to view distant objects |
Radio telescopes | Gathers radio waves from space. Can be used in all weather and all times of the day or night. |
Satellite | Any natural or man made object that revolves around another object. |
Asteroid | A large chunk of rock orbiting the sun in a location between Mars and Jupiter. |
Gas giants | Gas atmospheres, rings, moons, larger orbits |
Space probe | tools sent to distant areas in space to collect and sending back information. |
Milky Way | our galaxy; spiral shaped |
Spectroscope | Tool used to determine the composition of stars. |
Inner Planets | Terrestrial, no rings, few to no moons |
Meteorite | meteoroid that strikes Earth's surface. |
Mercury | • Closest to the Sun.
• no true atmosphere
• temps range: -170C (-274F) to 425C (840F)
• “planet of extremes”
• No moons |
Venus | • “Earth’s twin”- similar size and mass
• thick Carbon dioxide atmosphere
• Greenhouse effect-
• 864 F (average temp)
• “Evening star”
• Retrograde rotation- backwards spinning: East to West
• No moons |
Earth | • 70% water
• Atmosphere -mostly Nitrogen
• Rotates West to East
• 1 moon
• Axis is tilted and causes seasons |
Mars | • “Red Planet”
• Ice Caps
• Thin atmosphere -mostly Carbon Dioxide
• Axis is tilted & has seasons like Earth.
• 2 moons- Phobos, Deimos |
Jupiter | • Most massive
• “Great Red Spot”- storm of swirling high-pressure gas
• Faint rings
• 4 famous moons- Io, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa |
Saturn | • visible rings made of ice, dust, and rock.
• 2nd most massive planet
• Less dense than water (would float in water)
• Largest moon (Titan)- is bigger than Mercury |
Uranus | • Methane Atmosphere
• Bluish in color
• Rotates from top to bottom (like a tire)
• Faint rings that surround the planet vertically (up and down) |
Neptune | • Atmosphere has very visible clouds.
• “great dark spot”
• Faint rings
• 8th and final planet |