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Solar system
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure far distances in space 1 AU= distance from the earth from the sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunks of rock smaller than asteroid |
| Meteor | Streak of light |
| Meteorite | Space rock found on earth |
| Asteroids | Millions of small rock objects that orbit the sun in the asteroid belt between mars and Jupiter. |
| Comets | Made of gas, dust, and ice, revolve around the sun in the Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud. |
| Inner planets | Terrestrial planets Solid and rocky Mercury,Venus,earth, mars |
| Outer planets | Gas giants Made of ice and gas Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Rings and moons Hydrogen and helium |
| Mercury | Closest planet to the sun Not the hottest- so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | Hottest planet Greenhouse effect Day is longer than a year-rotation time is longer than it’s revolution |
| Earth | Only planet with know life Moderate temperature Protective atmosphere Liquid water |
| Mars | Largest known mountain- Olympus mons Possible signs of life |
| Terrestrial planets | The four inner planets |
| Greenhouse effect | Occurs when a planets trap solar energy and causes the temperature to increase |
| Jupiter | Largest planet Galilean moons Great Red Spot |
| Saturn | Most complex ring system Least dense planet-it would float Home of titan-a moon |
| Uranus | Rotation axis is tilted 90 degrees So rotates like a ball |
| Neptune | Longest period of revolution Swirling storms-windiest planet |
| Gas giants | Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Nickname for the 4 outer planets |
| Galilean moons | 4 moons Galileo discovered around Jupiter -io,Europa,Ganymede, Callisto |
| Dwarf planet | Pluto was the first Same as planet but not larger than its neighbor Ceres in the asteroid belt |