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Solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical units | Used to measure far distances in space 1 AU=distance from earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunk of rock smaller then 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, re |
| 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 |
| Planets | Spherical, orbits the sun, clears its orbit |
| Mercury | Closest to the sun Not the hottest , so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | Hottest planet Green house effect Day is longer then it’s year Acid cloud |
| Earth | Only planet that holds life Moderate temperatures Liquid water Protective atmosphere |
| Mars | Largest known mountain/valcano- Olympus mons Possible signs of life Known as the “red” planet because of its iron |
| Terrestrial planet | 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 planet-it would float Titan-largest 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 4 outer planets |
| Galilean moons | 4 moons discovered around Jupiter Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto. |
| Dwarf planets | Pluto was the first Same as planet but not larger then its neighbors Ceres is in the asteroid belt |