Moons, Meteor-oids-rites

Practice flashcards covering the historical origin of the universe, and the characteristics, formation, and types of moons, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets based on Week 3 lecture notes.

Mercury

The closest planet to the Sun and the smallest of them all.

Venus

The second planet from the Sun which possesses a beautiful name.

Mars

A cold place full of iron oxide dust, characterized by its red appearance.

Geocentric Model

A historical theory explaining the origin of the universe dating back to circa 4th Century.

Heliocentric Model

A model of the universe developed during the 16th to 17th Century.

Steady State Theory

A theory regarding the historical development of the universe associated with the year 1948.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

A major event in the timeline of the universe's development occurring in 1964.

Moon

An object that orbits a planet or something else that is not a star; also known as natural satellites.

Impact-formed

A moon formation theory suggesting an object the size of Mars crashed into Earth, creating material that accumulated into the Moon.

Formed within Circumplanetary

A moon formation process where gravity pulled dust and gas into clumps, with smaller clumps orbiting a larger primary, such as the Galilean Moon.

Captured Objects

Moons that were formerly asteroids pulled into orbit by a primary's gravity, such as Triton on Jupiter.

Europa

A large moon orbiting Jupiter with an icy surface that may cover a liquid ocean of water.

Moon Composition Layers

The structural layers consisting of the Crust, Mantle, Outer Core, and Inner Core.

Asteroids

Rocky remnants of material leftover from the formation of the solar system and its planets approximately 4.6 billion years ago.

Main Asteroid Belt

The location between Mars and Jupiter where the majority of asteroids originate.

Ceres

Discovered in 1801 with a diameter of $939\,\text{km}$, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.

Vesta

An asteroid discovered in 1807 with a diameter of $525\,\text{km}$.

Pallas

An asteroid discovered in 1802 with a diameter of $512\,\text{km}$.

Juno

An asteroid discovered in 1804 with a diameter of $247\,\text{km}$.

Types of Asteroids

Classifications including Metal-Rich, Rocky, and Rubble-Pile.

Meteoroids

Rocks still in space ranging in size from dust grains to small asteroids.

Meteors

The fireballs or "shooting stars" created when meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burn up.

Meteorites

The name for a meteoroid that survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground.

Comets

Icy bodies of frozen gases, rocks, and dust left over from the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud

The regions beyond Neptune and Pluto, respectively, where billions of comets are thought to orbit the sun.

Structure of Comets

The primary components including the Nucleus, Coma, Hydrogen Envelope, and Plasma & Dust Tails.

Comet Composition

Material consisting of rock, complex organic molecules, and various ices including water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane.