solar system vocabulary Flashcards
(15 cards)
Orbit
The curved path that a celestial body takes as it revolves around another body in space,such as a planet around the sun.
Solar System
The collection of the sun and all the celestial bodies that are bound to it by gravity,including planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.
Asteriod
They are left over material from the formation of the solar system.They are made out of rock and metal.
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 meteorites when they hit Earth.
Comet
They are chunks of ice and dust and small rocky particles whose orbits are usually very long, narrow eclipses.
Dwarf planet
A celestial body that orbits the sun and it’s similar to a planet but does not clear it’s orbit of other debris.
Satellite
A natural or artificial object that orbits a planet, such as the moon or a man-made satellite.
Telescope
An instrument that gathers and magnifies light to observe distant celestial objects.
Celestial body
Any natural object outside Earth’s atmosphere, including stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
Ellipse
An elongated circle; the shape of the orbit of planets around the Sun.
Gravitational Attraction
The force that pulls objects toward one another, such as the force that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun.
Orbital Patterns
The specific path that celestial bodies follow as they move through space.
Composition
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.
