Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
unit 3
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| solar system | the sun and all of the planets and other bodies that travel around it |
| heliocentric | sun centered |
| geocentric | describes something that uses Earth as the reference point |
| parallax | an apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from different location |
| gravity | a force attraction between objects that is due to their masses |
| orbit | the path that a body follows as it travels around another body in space |
| aphelion | in the orbit of a planet or other body in the solar system the point that is farthest from the sun |
| perihelion | in the orbit of a planet at which the planet is closest to the sun |
| centripetal force | the inward force required to keep a particle or an object moving in a circular path |
| solar nebula | a rotating cloud of gas and dust from which the sun and planets formed |
| planetesimal | a small body from which a planet originated in the early stages of development |
| nuclear fusion | the process by which the nucleus of heavy atom splits into or more fragments releases neutrons and energy |
| sunspot | a dark area of the photosphere of the sun that is cooler then the surrounding areas and that has a strong magnetic field |
| solar flare | the energy received by earth from of radiation |
| prominence | a loop of relatively cool incandescent gas extends above the suns edge as seen from earth |
| terrestrial planet | one of the highly dense planets nearest to the sun mercury Venus mars and earth. |
| astonomic unit | the average distance between earth and the sun approxmately 150 million kilometers symbol AU |
| gas giant | a planet that has a deep massive atmosphere such as Jupiter Saturn Uranus or neptune |
| planetary ring | a disk of matter that encircles a planet and consists of numerous particles in orbit ranging is size from dust grains up to objects tens of meters |
| dwarf planet | a celestial body that orbits the sun is round because of its own gravity but has not cleared its orbital path |
| kuiper belt | a region of the solar system that is just beyond the orbit of Neptune and that contains small bodies made mostly of ice |
| kuiper belt object | one of the hundreds or thousands of minor planet sized objects that orbit the sun in flat belt beyond Neptune's orbit |
| comet | a small body that gives off gas and dust as it passes close to the sun typical comet moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun and is made of dust frozen gases |
| oort cloud | a spherical region that surroundings the solar system that extends from the Kuiper belt to almost halfway to the nearest star and that contains billions of comets |
| asteroid | a small rocky object that orbits the sun most asteroids are located in band between are located in a band between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter |
| meteoroid | a relatively small rocky body that travels through space |
| meteor | a bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in Earth's atmosphere |
| meteorite | a meteoroid that reaches Earth's surface without burning up completely |
Created by:
McKenna Melit ;)
Popular Earth Science sets