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Space Unit Review
Study stack for Space Unit Test
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Terrestrial Planets | Mercury Venus Earth Mars; a small, dense, rocky inner planet. |
Gas Giants | Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune; a large, gaseous outer planet of the outer solar system with no known solid surface |
Magnetic field | protects worlds from solar wind |
Barometer | measures atmospheric pressure |
Magnetometer | measures strength of magnetic field |
Thermometer | measures temperature of world |
Temperature scales | Fahrenheit, Celsius, Kelvin |
Seismograph | measures presence of seismic activity (volcanoes/earthquakes) |
Spectrograph | obtains information about the world's composition |
RADAR | maps the surface of a world (elevation levels) |
Infrared Camera | measures heat regions on a world |
Probe types | flyby, orbiter, orbiter with lander |
Spectra | "signature" of an element's presence |
Supernovae | A star that has run out of fuel and collapses on itself, which creates a big explosion |
Craters | formed when a meteorite or asteroid slams into the surface of a world |
Gravity | the force of attraction between two objects that is due to their mass and distance. |
Moons of Jupiter | Io, Europa, Ganymede, Calisto |
rotation | the spin of an object in space also known as one “day”. |
revolution | the motion of a body as it travels around another more massive body in space also known as one “year”. |
orbit | the PATH an object takes in space while revolving around another object. |
atmosphere | mixture of gases that surrounds a planet; protects the world from meteoroids and asteroids. |
Sun | a medium sized star; the center of our solar system. |
Planet | body that orbits around the sun or a star and does not produce its own light. |
natural satellite | a smaller natural body that orbits around a larger body. |
moon | a natural satellite of a planet. (Note: satellites are natural or artificial bodies that revolve around more massive bodies such as planets) |
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. |
Meteor | a bright streak of light caused when a meteoroid or comet dust burns up in the atmosphere. |
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. |
Centripetal force | the force that causes an object to follow a curved path. |