| Term | Definition |
|---|
| terrestrial planet | a small, dense rocky planet similar to earth. |
| prograde rotation | the counter-colockwise spin of a planet of moon as see from above the planet's north pole |
| retrograde rotation | the clockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet's north pole |
| gas giant | a large gas planet of the outer solar systej with no known solid surface |
| satellite | a natural or artifical body that revolves around more massive body like a planet |
| astronomical unit | the average distance between the Earth and the Sun |
| rotation | the spin of a planet in space |
| nuclear fusion | the process by which 2 or more low-mass atomic nuclei join togethor , or fuse, to form a larger, more massive nucleus, releasing energy in the process |
| sunspot | a cooler region in the sun's photosphere; a cooler, dark spot on the sun's surface |
| solar flare | a giant storm on the surface of the sun in which huge streams of electrically charged partciles are flung out into the solar system |
| revolution | the eliptical motion of abody as it travels around another, more massive body in sapce |
| comet | a small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust loosely packed togethor that gives off gas and dust in the form of a tail as it passes close to the sun |
| asteroid | a small, rocky body that revolves around the sun |
| asteroid belt | the region of the solar system that most asteroids occupy; roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter |
| meteor | a bright streak of ligt caused when a meteorid or comet dust burns up in the atmosphere; a shooting star |
| meteorite | a meteoroid that reaches the Earth's surface without burning up completly |
| meteoroid | a very small rocky body that revolves around the sun |
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