Solar System all vocabulary

Solar System

The Sun and all the objects that orbit around it.

Terrestrial Planets

The four inner planets made of solid rock and metal.

Gas Giants

The four outer planets made mostly of gas and ice.

Mercury

The smallest planet and closest to the Sun.

Venus

The hottest planet with a thick, toxic atmosphere.

Mars

The Red Planet with iron-rich soil and thin air.

Jupiter

The largest planet in our solar system, famous for its Great Red Spot storm.

Saturn

A gas giant famous for its large, bright rings.

Uranus

An ice giant planet that spins sideways on its axis.

Neptune

The farthest major planet from the Sun, famous for fast winds and deep blue color.

Dwarf Planet

A round space object smaller than a regular planet, like Pluto.

Orbit

The curved path an object takes as it travels around another object in space.

Gravity

The pulling force that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun.

Asteroid Belt

A region of rocks orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroid

A large piece of rock or metal in space orbiting the Sun.

Comet

An object made of ice, dust, and rock that forms a glowing tail when near the Sun.

Meteoroid

A small rock or particle moving through outer space.

Meteor

A streak of light made when a small space rock burns up in Earth's atmosphere.

Meteorite

A space rock that survives its trip through the atmosphere and hits Earth's ground.

Kuiper Belt

A ring of icy objects beyond Neptune where dwarf planets live.

Oort Cloud

A giant shell of icy objects surrounding the very edge of our solar system.

Nebular Theory

The idea that our solar system formed from a spinning cloud of gas and dust.

Kepler's Laws

Three rules that explain how planets move in oval-shaped orbits around the Sun.

Ellipse

An oval-shaped path that planets follow around the Sun.

Astronomical Unit (AU)

A unit of distance equal to the distance from Earth to the Sun.