Solar System

Question 1

Nebula

Answer 1

a cloud of gas and dust in outer space, visible in the night sky either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.

Question 2

Solar nebula

Answer 2

The solar nebular hypothesis describes the formation of our solar system from a nebula cloud made from a collection of dust and gas. It is believed that the sun, planets, moons, and asteroids were formed around the same time around 4.5 billion years ago from a nebula.

Question 3

Nuclear Fusion

Answer 3

a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy.

Question 4

Sunspot

Answer 4

a spot where the sun is

Question 5

Astronomical Unit

Answer 5

a unit of measurement equal to 149.6 million kilometers, the mean distance from the center of the earth to the center of the sun.

Question 6

Terrestrial Planets

Answer 6

A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Question 7

Prograde Rotation

Answer 7

Having a rotational or orbital movement that is the same as most bodies within a celestial system. In our solar system, prograde movement for both rotating and orbiting bodies is in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from a vantage point above the Earth’s north pole. Compare retrograde.

Question 8

Retrograde Rotation

Answer 8

All eight planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in the direction that the Sun is rotating, which is counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun’s north pole.

Question 9

gas giant

Answer 9

a big gas planet

Question 10

Satellite

Answer 10

a thing that aliens use

Question 11

Phase

Answer 11

a distinct period or stage in a process of change or forming part of something’s development.

Question 12

Eclipse

Answer 12

an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination.

Question 13

Comet

Answer 13

an asteroid hitting earth

Question 14

Asteroid

Answer 14

a big rock hitting earth

Question 15

Asteroid Belt

Answer 15

he asteroid belt is a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where most of the asteroids in our Solar System are found orbiting the Sun

Question 16

meteroid

Answer 16

a small body moving in the solar system that would become a meteor if it entered the earth’s atmosphere.

Question 17

Meteorite

Answer 17

a meteor that survives its passage through the earth’s atmosphere such that part of it strikes the ground

Question 18

Meteor

Answer 18

a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth’s atmosphere, becoming incandescent as a result of friction and appearing as a streak of light.