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Solar system
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | Used to measure far distances in space 1 AU = Distance from earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chuck 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 |
| 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 planet to the sun NOT THE HOTTEST- so small it lacks gravity and atmosphere |
| Venus | Hottest planet Greenhouse effect Day is longer than a year-rotation 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 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 | Largest period of revolution |
| Gas Giants | Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune |
| Galilean moons | 4 moons Galileo discovered around Jupiter - Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto |
| Dwarf Planet | Pluto was the first Same as planet but not larger than its neighbors Ceres in the asteroid belt |