Planets and the solar system

What are asteroids?

It is a small rocky object that orbits the sun, most are located between the orbit of mars and Jupiter.

What is the first planet that is made up of heavy metals in our solar system called?

Mercury is the 1st planet made of heavy metals.

What is the order of the eight planets?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and finally Neptune. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system with Neptune as the smallest.

Absolute Magnitude

the brightness that a star would have at a distance of 32.6 light-years from Earth

Universe

the sum of all space, matter, and energy that exist, that have existed in the past, and that will exist in the future

Solar System

the sun and all of the planets and other bodies that travel around it

What planet is extremely cold and the furthest from the sun?

Neptune

What former planet is no longer considered a planet?

Pluto

What planet has rings and at least 18 moons?

Saturn

Atom

The smallest unit of an element that maintains the chemical properties of that element

What planet is blue and has very thin newly discovered rings?

Uranus

What planet it the hottest in our solar system?

Venus

How many planets in our solar system do we have today?

We have 8 planets in our solar system.

Galaxy

a collection of stars, dust, and gas bound together by gravity

Spiral Galaxy

a galaxy that consists of a nucleus of older stars and a disk with spiral arms made mainly of dust, gas, and young stars

Star

a large celestial body that is composed of gas and that emits light; the sun is a typical star

Nebula

a large cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space; a region in space where stars are born

Satellites

a natural or artificial body that revolves around a planet

Planet

any of the primary bodies that orbit the sun; a similar body that orbits another star

What is a blue star?

it is a hot star

Apparent Magnitude

the brightness of a star as seen from Earth

Main-Sequence Star

the location on the H-R diagram where most stars lie; it has a diagonal pattern from the lower right (low temperature and luminosity) to the upper left (high temperature and luminosity)

If a rocket left Pluto traveling 1000 mph, how long would it take to reach the Sun?

450 years

How many days does it take Mercury to orbit around the Sun

88 days

Natural Satellites

A natural satellite is any celestial body in space that orbits around a larger body. Moons are called natural satellites because they orbit planets. Satellites that are made by people and launched into orbit using rockets are called artificial satellites.

Man-made Satellites

A satellite is an object that orbits another object. In space, satellites may be made by man, or they may be natural. The moon is a natural satellite that orbits the Earth. Most man-made satellites also orbit the Earth, but some orbit other planets, such as Saturn, Venus or Mars, or the moon.

What is the difference between a star and a planet?

A star is not big enough to cause a nuclear reaction.

What is the unit of measurement when you measure planets in our solar System?

Astronomical unit

What planet has water and an atmosphere?

Earth

What is considered the glue that holds our solar system together?

Gravity

H-R Diagram

Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a graph that shows the relationship between a star's surface temperature and absolute magnitude

What planet is the largest and mostly a big ball of gas?

Jupiter

What planet is big, red, and dead?

Mars

Planetoids

Planetoid is another term for asteroids, which are also called minor planets. Planetoids are small celestial bodies that orbit the Sun. Planets are simply defined as asteroids, but the term asteroid is not well defined either

Sun

The star in which the planets orbit

What are the inner planets composed of?

They are made of rock, minerals and metals and aluminum

What are the outer planets composed of?

They are mostly made of hydrogen and helium and a small rocky core.

What are stars?

They provide light and are made of gas and they soon one day explode and are gone.

Hydrogen

a colorless, odorless, highly flammable gas, the chemical element of atomic number 1.

Comet

a small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust that follows an elliptical orbit around the sun and that gives off gas and dust in the form of a tail as it passes close to the sun

Irregular Galaxy

a small galaxy that has no identifiable shape and that contains a great amount of dust and gas

Asteroid

a small, rocky object that orbits the sun; most asteroids are located in a band between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

Elliptical Galaxy

a type of galaxy that has an elliptical appearance

Temperature

describes a nonvirulent virus that rarely causes lysis in host cells; also moderate, not subject to prolonged extremes of hot or cold

Big Bang Theory

the theory that all matter and energy in the universe was compressed into an extremely small volume that 13 billion to 15 billion years ago exploded and began expanding in all directions