Y6 Space content

Terrestrial Planets

Smaller planets that are solid and rocky compared to the others: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Gas Giants

Larger, gaseous planets of the outer solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Inner planets

The four planets closest to the Sun and inside the asteroid belt: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Outer planets

The four planets furthest from the Sun and outside the asteroid belt: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Rotation

The spinning of Earth on its axis

Phases of the Moon

The monthly progression of changes in the appearance of the Moon, which result from different portions of the Moon's sunlit side being visible from Earth

Sun-Centered Solar System (Heliocentric)

The Sun is the center of the solar system

Earth

Third planet from sun. It has an atmosphere that protects life.

Moon

A natural satellite/object that orbits a planet.

Sun

The star at the center of our solar system. Made of hot gases.

Galaxy

A system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction

The Milky Way

Our Galaxy

Universe

All existing matter and space considered as a whole; the cosmos. Contains millions or billions of galaxies; it has been expanding since its creation in the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago.

Orbit

The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon.

Gravity

The force that attracts a body toward the center of the Earth, or toward any other physical body having mass.

Gravitational Pull/Force

Why everything in our solar system orbits around the Sun. The Sun has the largest mass and pull.

Orbital period of a planet

The amount of time it takes a planet to travel all the way around the Sun.

Planet

A celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star.

The order of the planets from the Sun

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

"My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles"

The inner planets

Have smaller orbits and travel at faster speeds.

The outer planets

Have larger orbits and travel at slower speeds.

Dwarf Planet

Similar to a planet but NOT large enough to gravitationally clear its orbital region of most or all of celestial bodies. Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet.

Planets

8 in our Solar System

Dwarf planets

5 in our Solar System

Comet

A celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a "tail" of gas and dust particles pointing away from the Sun.

Moons

A natural satellite of a planet; an object that revolves around a planet.

Asteroid

A small rocky body orbiting the Sun.

Moons in our Solar System

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