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Solar system
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Astronomical Unit | Used to measure far distances in space 1AU= distance from the sun to the earth |
| Meteoroid | Chunk of rock smaller than an 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 the Oort Cloud. |
| Inner planets | Terrestrial planets Solid and rocky Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars |
| Outer planets | Gas giants Ice and gas Rings and moons Hydrogen and helium Jupiter, Sat |
| Mercury | Closes planet to the sun No the hottest planet-so small it lacks the gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | Hottest Greenhouse effect Day is longer that a year-rotation is longer that its revolution Acid clouds |
| Earth | Only plant known with 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 says Least dense planet -it would float Home to titan-a moon |
| Uranus | Rotation axis is tilled 90 degrees so rotates like a billing ball |
| Neptune | Longest period of revolution Swirling storms- windiest planet |
| Gas giants | Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Nicknames for the outer planets |
| Galilean moons | 4 moons Galileo discovered around Jupiter Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto |
| Dwarf planet | Pluto was the first Same as a planet but not larger than its neighbors Ceres is the one found in the asteroid belt |