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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 or smaller than asteroid |
| Meteor | Streak of light |
| Meteorite | Space of rock found in earth |
| Astroids | 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 the Oort cloud |
| Inner planets | Terrestrial planets Solid and rocky Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars |
| Outer planets | Gas giants Made of ice Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Rings and moons |
| 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 round time is longer than it’s reveloution Acid clouds |
| Earth | Only planet with known life Moderate temperatures Protective atmosphere Liquid water |
| Mars | Largest known mountain- Olympus moms Possible signs of life |
| Terrestrial planets | The four inner planets- nickname |
| 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 | Nickname for the outer planets |
| Galilean moons | Four moons Galileo discovered around Jupiter IO, Europa, Ganymede Callisto |
| Dwarf planet | Pluto was the first Same as a planet but not larger than its neighbors Ceres is in the Astro belt |