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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 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 |
| Mercury | Closest 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 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 - Titan-largest 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 Nicknames 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 neighbors Ceres in the asteroid belt |