#9 The Solar System
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Created by:
emeryadulted2 on February 3, 2010
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25 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 a solar system | This is composed of a sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other bodies that circle it. |
| the Milky Way | This is the galaxy in which our solar system is located. |
| nebulae | These are the clouds of dust and gas that are composed of various chemical elements. |
| the sun | This is located at the center of our solar system. |
| false | (true or false) The sun is just another planet. |
| planet | This word originates from a Greek word for "wanderer." |
| the inner planets | These include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. |
| the outer planets | These include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. |
| Mercury | This planet has the distinction of being the closest planet to the sun. Its temperatures can be very extreme. It does not have any moons. |
| Venus | This planet has a thick atmosphere that serves as a blanket, insulating and holding in the heat, thus causing a greenhouse effect. So, this planet has very high temperatures. |
| sulfuric acid | This chemical is what the atmosphere of Venus is composed of. |
| retrograde motion | This is what causes the sun to rise in the west and set in the east because of its backward rotation. This is the situation on the planet Venus. |
| earth | This is the third planet from the sun and is primarily covered with water. |
| iron oxide | This compound is a principal part of the soil on Mars and it is this compound that gives it its red color. |
| Mars | This planet is known as the big red planet due to its red color. It is the fourth planet from the sun. |
| Phobos and Deimos | These are the moons that orbit the planet Mars. |
| Ganymede | This is Jupiter's largest moon and is the largest moon in the entire solar system. |
| magnetosphere | This is a magnetic field that stretches millions of miles beyond Jupiter's surface. |
| Saturn | This is another gaseous planet composed of hydrogen and helium. It has a ring around it and has 17 moons. |
| Titan | This is one of Saturn's moons and is the only moon in the solar system that has an atmosphere. |
| Uranus | This planet has a blue-green color due to the presence of the gas methane. This planet is tipped on its side, with its poles in the same relative position as the earth's equator. It has 15 moons. |
| Neptune | This planet is the eighth planet from the sun. It is so far from the sun that it takes the planet 165 years just to complete a single orbit around the sun. |
| Pluto | This planet is the smallest planet and is the ninth from the sun in our solar system. |
| asteroid belt | This consists of chunks of rock and debris and it rings the solar system as it orbits the sun. |
| comets | These objects orbit through the solar system in long elliptical-shaped orbits. They are composed of ice, frozen gases, and rock, and have been described as dirty snowballs. Their tails are always seen pointing away from the sun. |
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