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space
solar system
Term | Definition |
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ROTATION | The spin of an object in space (Note: Period of rotation is the amount of time it takes for an object to make one complete rotation) |
REVOLUTION | The elliptical motion of a body as it travels around another more massive body in space (Note: Period of revolution is the amount of time it takes for one object to revolve around another object) |
ORBIT | The elliptical PATH an object takes in space while revolving around another object |
GRAVITY | Attracting force due to mass or rotation |
ATMOSPHERE | Mixture of gases that surrounds a planet |
SUN | A medium sized star;the center of our solar system |
PLANET | Body that orbit around the sun or a star and does not produce its own light |
TERRESTRIAL PLANET | A small, dense, rocky planet similar to earth (Inner planets) |
GAS GIANT | A large, gaseous planet of the outer solar system with no known solid surface (outer planets) |
NATURAL SATELLITE | Smaller body that orbit around a larger body |
MOON | A natural satellite of a planet |
ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE | Any human made object placed in orbit around a body in space |
COMET | A small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust loosely packed together |
ASTEROID | – a small, rocky body that revolves around the sun |
METEOROID | a very small, rocky body found in space HINT: mini asteroid |
METEORITE | a meteoroid that reaches Earth’s surface without burning up completely HINT: It takes the “right” path to Earth |
METEOR | a bright streak of light caused when a meteoroid or comet dust burns up in the atmosphere NOTE: Many people call this a “shooting star”, but it is not) |
THRUST | the force that accelerates a rocket |
ORBITAL VELOCITY | the speed and direction a rocket must have in order to orbit Earth |
ESCAPE VELOCITY | the speed and direction a rocket must have in order to completely break away from a planet’s gravitational pull |
CENTRICIPATAL FORCE | the force that causes an object to follow a curved path |