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The solar system
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | To measure far distances in space 1 AU= distance from earth to sun |
| Meteoroid | Chunk of rock smaller than 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 jupiter |
| Comets | Made of gas,dust,and ice, revolve around the sun in the Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud |
| Inner planets | Trrrestrial 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 | Closest 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 time is longer than its revolution Acid clouds |
| Earth | Only planet with known life Moderate temperatures Protective atmosphere Liquid water |
| Mars | Largest known mountain Olympics 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 |