Our Solar System/Planets vocab Notes

Terrestrial Planet

Rocky worlds, larger terrestrial (Twice as massive as Earth) are classified super Earths.

Ellipse

Oval

Inner planet

Any of the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars whose orbits are within the asteroid belt.

Orbit

A path described by one body in its revolution about another (As by the Earth about the sun)

Planet

A celestial body that is in orbit around a star; it has enough mass for its gravity to create a round shape; and it has cleared its neighborhood of smaller objects

Atmosphere

The blanket of gasses which surrounds a planet

Geocentric

any object orbiting a heavenly body; the Earth, such as the moon or artificial satellites.

Rotate

the circular movement of an objects about a point in space

Asteroid

Small rocky objects orbiting the sun

Meteor

A small chunk of rock or iron that travels through space

Gas Giant

Fluid planets with atmospheres primarily made of hydrogen and helium.

Gravity

mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy

Outer planet

Gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and Ice giants Uranus and Neptune

Solar System

A star and all the planets, moons, and comets and asteroids that move around it

Dwarf planet

A celestial body that orbits a star, have enough mass to be round, has not cleared its neighborhood, is not a moon.

Heliocentric

Representing the sun as the center.

Inertia

to oppose any force that would cause a change in it's motion

Revolve

orbital motion around another object

Comet

Frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system

Meteorite

the last stage in existence of space rocks. Before they were meteorites, the rocks were meteors.

What are sunspots?

Areas on the sun that are cooler

How many planets orbit the sun?

8

Order of solar system:

The sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth (Moon), Mars, (Asteroid Belt), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, (Pluto)

The terrain of inner planets:

Rocky

The terrain of outer planets:

Gas Giants

Hottest planet

Venus

Planet that rotates to the side

Uranus

How many moons do outer planets have?

15+

requirements to be a planet:

Must orbit a star, have a strong enough gravitational force to be a sphere, and must be able to clear the objects around them

Red planet, and why is it red.

mars in the reddest planet from the iron dust on it.

Smallest Planet?

Mercury

The Latin word "Terra":

Means "Earth"

What is the sun made up of?

70% hydrogen, 27% helium

What does H and He stand for in the periodic table?

H: Hydrogen, He: Helium

When hydrogen and Helium are put together, what happens?

Nuclear Fusion, which creates a star.

Where's the asteroid belt?

Between inner and outer planets.

What does the photosphere do?

It is where the light is made

The chromosphere:

Where the sun gets its glow

When can you see the Corona?

During an eclipse

Where does nuclear fusion happen?

In the core of a star.

Biggest planet:

Jupiter