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Solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure far distance in space 1 AU= distance from Earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunks of rock smaller than asteroid |
| Comets | Made of gas dust and ice that revolve around the sun in the kuipier belt and Oort Cloud |
| Meteorite | Space rock found on earth |
| Asteroids | Millions of small rock objects that orbit the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter |
| Inner plants | 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 affect Day is longer than a year - rotation time is longer than it’s revolution also acid clouds |
| Earth | Only planet with known life Moderate temperature Protective atmosphere Liquid water |
| Mars | Largest known mountain-Olympus mons Possible signs of life |
| Terrestrial planets | The four inner planets |
| Greenhouse affect | Occurs when a planet atmosphere traps 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 bowling 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 |
| Meteor | Streak of light |