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Solar system
Topic 6 vocab
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Astronomical Unit | Used to measure far distance in space 1 AU=Distance from earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chuck of rocker 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 plants | Terrestrial planets Solid and rocky Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars |
| Outer planets | Gas giants Made of ice and gas |
| Mercury | Closest planet to the sun NOT THE HOTTEST- so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | HOTTEST planet Greenhouse effect Day longer than a year rotation time is longer than it’s revolution Acid clouds |
| Earth | Only planet with know 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 the 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, and Neptune |
| Galilean Moons | 4 moons Galileo discovered around Jupiter Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto |
| Dwarf Planet | Pluto was the first Same as planet, but not larger than it’s neighbors Ceres in asteroid belt |