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Solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure far distances in space 1 AU= Distance from earth and sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunk of rock smaller than asteroid |
| Meteor | Streak of light |
| Meteorite | Space rock found on earth |
| Astreroids | 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 Ort 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 | Closet planet to the sun. NOT THE HOTTEST- so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | Hottest planet. Greenhouse effect. Day longer that a year. 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 trap a 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 it rotates like a bowling ball |
| Neptune | Longest, period of revolution, swirling storms-windiest planet |
| Gas giants | The 4 outer planets |
| Galilean moons | 4 moons galilieo discovered around Jupiter, -lo, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto |
| Dwarf planet | Pluto was the first, same as planet but not larger than its neighbors, ceres in the asteroid belt |