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The solar system
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| solar system | the sun and all of the planets and other bodies that travel around it. |
| heliocentric | sun-centered |
| geocentric | decribes something that uses earth as a reference point. |
| parallax | a apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from different locations. |
| gravity | a force of attraction between objects that is due to their masses. |
| orbit | a path that a body follows as it travels around another body in space |
| aphelion | the the orbit of a planet or other body in the solar system , the point that is the farthest from the sun. |
| perihelion | the point in the orbit of a planet at which the planet is the 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 orginated in the early stages of development of the solar system. |
| nuclear fusion | the process by which nucei of small atmos combine to form a new, more massive nucleus ; the process releases energy. |
| sunspot | a drak area of the photosphere of the sun that is cooler than the surrounding areas and that has a strong magnetic field. |
| solar flare | an explosive release of energy that comes from the sun and that is assoicated with magnetic disturbances on the sun's surface. |
| prominence | a loop of relativetley cool, incandescent gas that extends above the photosphere and above the sun's edge as seen from earth. |
| terrestrial planet | one of the highly dense planets nearest to the sun ; Mercury , Venus,Mars, and Earth . |
| astronomical unit | the average distence between earth and the sun ; approximately 150 million kliometers 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 in size from dust grains up to objects tens of meters across. |
| dwarf planet | a celestical body that orbits the sun , is round beacuse of its own gravity,but has not cleared its orbits 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 a flat belt beyond Neptune's orbit. |
| comet | a small body that gives off gas and dust as it passes close to the sun; a typical comet moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun and is made of dust and frozen gases. |
| Oort cloud | a spherical region that surrounds 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 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 meteorite that reaches earth's surface without burning up completely . |