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Ch6 The Solar System

Vocabulary

TermDefinition
Solar System the Sun and all of the objects that orbit it
Comparative Planetology study of the planets to understand how the solar system formed and evolved
Star glowing ball of gas held together by its own gravity and powered by nuclear fusion
Planet one of eight major bodies orbiting the Sun
Asteroid one of thousands of smaller rocky bodies usually orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter
Comet one of thousands of smaller bodies made of ice & dust orbiting the Sun in highly elliptical orbits
Meteoroid small chunk of interplanetary debris outside of Earth's atmosphere
Meteor small piece of interplanetary debris that heats up as it enters Earth's atmosphere
Meteorite any part of a meteoroid that survives entry through the atmosphere & lands on Earth's surface
Kuiper Belt Object small icy body orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune in the Kuiper belt (ex: Pluto)
Exoplanet planet orbiting a star other than the Sun (a.k.a. an extrasolar planet)
Rotation Period time it takes a body to spin once about its axis
Ecliptic orbital plane of the planets, most asteroids, and Kuiper Belt Objects about the Sun
Satellite any object that orbits another, natural or man made (a.k.a. a moon)
Orbital Plane geometric plane in which a body's orbit lies
Mass total matter within an object
Volume amount of space that a substance or object occupies
Density the compactness of matter within an object (mass divided by volume)
Terrestrial innermost planets of the solar system, which resemble the Earth (rocky)
Jovian outermost planets of the solar system, which resemble Jupiter (gaseous)
Atmosphere layer of gas held close to a planet or large moon's surface by the force of gravity
Ring System material organized into thin, flat rings encircling a giant planet above its equator
Magnetic Field accompanies any changing electric field and governs all magnetized objects
Interplanetary Matter cosmic "debris" that is not part of any planet, moon, or star
Gravitational Slingshot use of gravity to change the flight path and/or speed of a spacecraft
Solar Nebula swirling gas cloud surrounding the early Sun during the solar system's formation
Nebular Theory original model where a large gas cloud contracted under its own gravity to form the Sun & planets
Condensation Theory builds on the nebular theory with interstellar dust grains that act as condensation nuclei
Conservation of Angular Momentum law explaining how a gas cloud must spin faster as it contracts
Accretion Disk rotating disk of matter formed by accretion around a massive body under the influence of gravity
Created by: john_bailey720
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