Solar System Vocabulary

Composed of dust, rock and frozen gases; has a coma, nucleus, and tail comet comet

Large ball of burning gas; fueled by nuclear fusion star star

Red planet; would take astronauts 3 years to get here and back. Mars Mars

The sun and all the objects orbiting it. Solar system Solar system

Orbits another celestial body in space satellite satellite

Why do stars that are larger and brighter than the sun not appear this way from Earth? They are farther away They are farther away

Orbits a planet moon moon

Sentenced to house arrest for his beliefs about the solar system Galileo Galileo

Gas giant; large, blue-green; similar to Uranus Neptune Neptune

Greenhouse effect; hottest planet Venus Venus

Large group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity galaxy galaxy

The distance light travels in one year Light year Light year

Closest planet to the sun; heavily cratered Mercury Mercury

Every object exerts gravity on every other object in the universe. Universal Law of Gravitation Universal Law of Gravitation

Pluto; does not meet all criteria to be a planet Dwarf planet Dwarf planet

A meteoroid that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere meteor meteor

A meteoroid that strikes Earth’s surface Meteorite Meteorite

Small pieces of rock moving in space Meteoroid Meteoroid

Developed the sun centered model of the solar system Copernicus Copernicus

The distance from the Sun to Earth Astronomical unit Astronomical unit

Planet known for many rings Saturn Saturn

Force that attracts all objects toward each other gravity gravity

Between Mars and Jupiter Asteroid belt Asteroid belt

Water exists in all three states on the surface; suitable for life Earth Earth

Planets beyond the asteroid belt; large and gaseous Outer planets Outer planets

Rocky/terrestrial planets with thin atmospheres Inner planets Inner planets

Largest planet Jupiter Jupiter