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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 | Chunk of a rock smaller than a 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 Kupier 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 to the sun - NOT THE HOTTEST- so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | - Hottest planet - Greenhouse - Day is longer than a year-rotation time is longer than it’s 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 |
| Greenhouse effect | Occurs when a planet’s 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 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 neighbors - ceres in the asteroid belt |