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PCS Earth Science
Chapter 28 Vocabulary - Solar System
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| astronomical unit | the average distance between earth and the sun, about 150 million km; a unit of length used for distances within the solar system |
| ellipse | a regular oval shape, traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points is constant, or resulting when a cone is cut by an oblique plane which does not intersect the base |
| planeteismal | molecules in cloud stick together creating gravity and pulling more into it and eventually baby planets form, static electricity started the formation of baby planets |
| retrograde motion | the apparent motion of the planets when they appear to move backwards (westward) with respect to the stars from the direction that they move ordinarily |
| scarp | cliffs formed by Mercury shrinking |
| terrestrial planet | the name given to the four inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars |
| gas giant planet | large, gaseous planets that are very cold at their surfaces, have ring systems, many moons, and lack solid surfaces - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune |
| liquid metallic hydrogen | form of hydrogen with both liquid and metallic properties that exists as a layer in the Jovian atmospher |
| comet | a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit |
| dwarf planet | a celestial body resembling a small planet but lacking certain technical criteria that are required for it to be classed as such |
| Kuiper belt | beyond Neptune, containing Pluto, lies the disk-shaped Kuiper belt (pronounced "koy-per" of comets and assorted objects |
| meteor | a streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere; any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that is in the earth's atmosphere |
| meteorite | a meteoroid that has hit earth's surface |
| meteoroid | a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space |
| meteor shower | an event where a large number of meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere from the same direction in space at nearly the same time. Most meteor showers take place when the Earth passes through the debris left behind by a comet |
| perihelion | orbital point nearest the sun |
| aphelion | the place in the Earth's orbit where Earth is farthest away from the sun |
| belt | low, warm, dark-colored cloud that sinks and flows rapidly in the Jovian atmosphere |
| zone | high cool light colored cloud that rises and flows rapidly in the Jovian atmosphere |
| eccentricity | ratio of the distance between the foci to the length of the major axis; defines the shape of a planet's elliptical orbit |
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