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terrestrial planets a planet having a compact rocky surface like the Earth's and four inner planets in the solar system gas giants any of the four outermost planets in the solar system kuiper belt a region of the solar system that is just beyond the orbit of neptune and that contains small bodies made mostly of ice oort cloud a spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system comet A ball of frozen dust and rock that orbits the sun and has a tail that glows astronomical unit A unit of length used for distances within the solar system meteor a streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and causes it to explode meteorite stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteoroid that has reached the earth's surface meteroid chunk of rock or dust in space geocentric having the earth as the center heliocentric Theory that sun is center of the universe solstice twice-yearly point at which the Sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator equinox either of two times of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator and day and night are of equal length eclipse an event in which the shadow of one celestial body falls on another spring tide the tide with the greatest difference between consecutive low and high tides neap tide the tide with the least difference between consecutive low and high tides