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Solar System
Solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure far distances in space 1 AU =92,955,807.273 mi Distance from earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunks of rock smaller than asteroid |
| 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 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 - Hydrogen and helium |
| Mercury | -Closet planet to the sun -NOT THE HOTTEST - so small lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | -Hottest planet -Greenhouse effect -day is longer than a year-rotation time is longer then its revolution -acid clouds |
| Earth | -Only planet with known life -moderate temperatures -protective atmosphere -liquid water |
| Terrestrial planets | The four inner planets |
| Mars | -Largest known mountain-Olympus Mons -Possible signs of life |
| Greenhouse effect | Occurs when a planets atmosphere trap solar energy and causes temperature to increase |
| Jupiter | - Largest planet -Galilean moons -Great red spot |
| Saturn | -Most complex ring system -least dense planet - would float -Home of Titan-a moon |
| Uranus | -Rotation axis 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 and Callisto |
| Dwarf planet | -Pluto was named as a dwarf planet first -same as planters but not larger than its neighbors -Ceres in the asteroid belt |