The Sun/The Formation of The Solar System & Earth
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18 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 aurora | a bright display of ever changing light caused by solar radiation interacting with the upper atmosphere in the region of the poles |
| chromosphere | a thin region of the sun's atmosphere between the corona and the photosphere; too faint to see unless there is a total solar eclipse |
| convective zone | a region of the sun where gases circulate in convection currents, bringing the sun's energy to the surface |
| corona | outermost, largest layer of the sun's atmosphere; extends millions of kilometers into space and has temperatures up to 2 million K |
| moon | the natural satellite of the Earth |
| nebular theory | theory that the sun and the planets condensed out of a spinning cloud of gas and dust called a nebula |
| photosphere | lowest layer of the Sun's atmosphere and the layer that gives off light |
| planet | any of the celestial bodies (other than comets or satellites) that revolve around the sun in the solar system |
| planetesimal | small body of matter that formed in the outer regions of the solar nebula while the sun was forming in the center; , the tiny building blocks of the planets that formed as dust particles stuck together and grew in size |
| prominence | A loop of gas that protrudes from the sun's surface, linking parts of sunspot regions |
| protoplanet | large body of matter that formed from the coalescence of planetesimals in the solar nebula |
| radiative zone | region surrounding the core of the sun in which energy is transferred in the form of electromagnetic waves |
| solar flare | a sudden eruption of intense high-energy radiation from the sun's surface |
| solar nebula | a rotating cloud of gas and dust from which the sun and planets formed; also any nebula from which stars and planets may form |
| solar system | system of eight planets, including Earth, and other objects that revolve around the Sun |
| solar wind | continuous stream of high-energy particles released into space in all direction from the sun's corona |
| sunspot | a dark area of the photosphere of the sun that is cooler than the surrounding areas and that has a strong magnetic field |
| sunspot cycle | Also called the solar activity cycle. An 11-year cycle during which the number of sunspots rises to a maximum or falls to a minimum. |
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