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Solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure for distances in space 1 AU = distance from earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunk of rock that is smaller then 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 jupiterb |
| Comets | Made of gas dust and ice revolve around the sun in the killer belt |
| Inner planet | 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 |
| Planet | Spherical orbits the Sun clears its orbit |
| Mercury | Closet planet to the sun Not the hottest - so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | Hottest planet Greenhouse effect Day is longer then 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 planets 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 - it would float Titan - largest moon |
| Uranus | Rotation axis is titled 90 degrees So rotates like a bowling ball |
| Neptune | Longest period of revolution Swirling storms - windiest planet |
| Gas giants | Jupiter , Saturn Uranus , Neptune Nickname for the four outer planets |
| Gallilean moons | 4 moons Galileo discovered around Jupiter - Io , Europa , Ganymede, Callisto |
| Dwarf planets | Pluto was the first Same as a planet but not larger then its neighbors Ceres in the asteroid belt |