solar system vocabulary Flashcards
solar system
The collection of the sun and all of the celestial bodies that are bound to it by gravity, including planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.
Meteor, Meteoroids, and Meteorites
Meteoroids are made of rock and metals found in space that usually come from comets or asteroids. They are known as meteors while they are flying through the atmosphere. They are known as meteorites when they hit the Earth.
orbit
the curved path that a celestial body that it takes as it revolves around another body in space, such as another planet around the sun.
asteroid
They are left over material from the formation of our solar system. They are made out of rock and metal.
comet
they are chunks of ice and dust and small rocky particles whose orbits are usually very long and narrow eclipses.
dwarf planet
a celestial body that orbits the sun and is similar to a planet but does not clear its orbit of other debris.
telescope
an instrument that gathers and magnifies light to see another celestial object
satellite
a natural of artificial object that orbits a planets, such as the moon or a man-made object
Gravitational attraction
The force that pulls objects toward one another, such as the force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun
ellipse
an elongated circle; the shape of the orbit of planets around the sun
celestial body
Any natural object out of Earth’s atmosphere, including stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
orbital patterns
the specific paths that celestial bodies follow as they move through space.
compsition
the materials and elements that make up a celestial body, such as rocks, metals, and gases.
major planets
the largest planets in the solar system, including mercury, Venus, Earth, mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and neptune.
planetary positions
the locations of planets in their orbits around the sun at any given time.
