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Science Notes
Small Bodies in the Solar System Notes
Term | Definition |
---|---|
dwarf planet | a celestial body that orbits the sun and is round because of its own gravity |
Kuiper Belt | a region of the solar system that begins just beyond the orbit of Neptune and contains small bodies made mostly of ice |
Kuiper Belt object (KBO) | any of the minor bodies in the Kuiper Belt outside the orbit of Neptune |
comet | a small body of ice, rock, and dust that follows a highly elliptical orbit around the sun |
oort cloud | a spherical region that surrounds the solar system and extends almost halfway to the nearest star |
asteroid | a small, irregularly shaped, rocky object that orbits the sun |
meteoroid | a sand grain- to boulder- sized rocky body that travels through space |
meteor | a bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in earth’s atmosphere |
meteorite | a meteoroid that reaches Earth’s surface without burning up |