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Solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure far distances in space 1 AU=Distance from earth to sun. |
| Meteoroid | Chunks of rock smaller than astroid |
| Meteor | Streak of light |
| Meteorite | Space rock found on earth |
| Asteroids | Millions of small rocky objects that orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt between mars and jupiter |
| Comets | Made of has, 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 revolution Acid clouds |
| Earth | Only planet with known life Moderate temperatures Protective atmosphere Liquid water |
| Mars | Largest known mountain-Olympus Mons Possible signs of life |
| Terrestrial planets | The four inner planets |
| Green house effect | Occurs when a planets atmosphere traps solar energy and causes the temperature to increase. |
| Jupiter | Largest planet Galilean moon 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, Calisto |
| Dwarf planet | Pluto was the first Same as planet but not larger than its neighbors Ceres in the asteroid belt |