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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 of rock 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 ans Oort Cloud |
| Inner planets | -Terrestrial planets -Solid and rocky -Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars |
| Outer planets | -Gas giants -made of ice and gas -Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune -Rings and moons -hydrogen and helium |
| Planets | Spherical, orbits the Sun, clears its orbit |
| 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 -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 Titian- largest 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 | Nickname for outer planets |
| Galilean moons | 4 moons Galilean discovered around Jupiter -Io, Europa ,Ganymedes, and Callisto |
| Dwarf planets | -Pluto was the first -same as planet but not larger than its neighbors -ceres in the asteroid belt |