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Unit 8
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 | sand grain- to boulder- sized rocky body that travels through space. |
| meteor | 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. |