Week 20 & 21 Vocabulary: Objects in the Solar System

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A yellow dwarf star at the center of our solar system, made up of hot, ionized gas called plasma, and the primary source of energy for life on Earth.

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Sun

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A naturally-formed body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or other non-star object. Moons are also known as natural satellites.

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Moon

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A small particle from space that burns up as it enters Earth's atmosphere, often seen as a shooting star.

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Meteor

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An icy, rocky body that sometimes orbits the sun, often with a gas halo and tail. As a comet moves towards the sun, the heat melts the ice and dust, creating a bright tail. Small but usually larger than a meteor.

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Comet

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A large rocky object that orbits the sun, usually found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Larger than a meteor or comet but smaller than a planet. Asteroids are among the most ancient objects in the solar system.

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Asteroid

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A doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond Neptune to nearly 1,000 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. Made up of small, icy bodies including the dwarf planet Pluto.

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Kuiper Belt

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A spherical shell of icy objects that surrounds our solar system, extending from 5,000 to 100,000 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.

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Oort Cloud

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An OUTER gas giant planet like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune, which are large and mostly made of gas. Outside of the asteroid belt.

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Jovian Planet

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An INNER rocky planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These planet orbits are inside the asteroid belt.

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Terrestrial Planet

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The average distance from the Earth to the Sun, about 93 million miles or about 149,600,000 kilometers. Used to measure distances within our solar system.

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Astronomical Unit (AU)