6th grade - Science - Solar system

inner planets

- first four planets closest to the sun - inside the asteroid belt - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. made of mostly rock & metal

eclipse

- total or partial hiding of one heavenly body (like the moon) by another (like the sun) movement of one solar system object into the shadow of another object.

High tides are lowest when the moon is in its

1st and last quarter phases

Earth

3rd farthest from the sun, 1 au in distance, largest and densest of the inner planets, only planet where life is known to exist.

Uranus

7th planet, blue, methane atmosphere, tilted

objects in the solar system

8 PLANETS AND THEIR MOONS,SUN, ASTEROIDS,COMETS,STARS,meteors, meteorites, dwarf planets and etc...

Neptune

8th from the sun(30 au from the sun), no atmosphere, furthest out, high methane content, has the great dark spot: bluish color

galaxy

A collection of billions of stars held together by gravity. Our home galaxy is known as the Milky Way. There are billions of galaxies in the universe coming in many shapes and sizes.

Star

A huge, bright ball of burning gas that is held together by gravity. Stars contain mostly hydrogen as well as helium and smaller amounts of other elements. The Sun is the closest star to Earth.

gas giant

A large planet of relatively low density consisting predominantly of hydrogen and helium. Outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune)

planet

A massive, usually spherical space object that orbits a star and shines by reflecting the star's light. A Huge Celestial Body. Has no other objects in its orbital path. All 8 planets revolve in the same direction around the sun.

sun

A typical star that is source of light and heat for plants in the solar system; largest object in the solar system

light-year

Bout 9,5 million km; the distance light travels in 1 year; used to measure large distances between stars or galaxies

tide

Driven by the gravitational influence of the moon and sun

What happens during a lunar eclipse?

Earth casts a shadow on the moon.

equinox

Either of the two times a year when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are of equal length. Happens in the spring and in autumn.

Earths orbit

Elliptical- oval shape, inertia makes the earth go around, gravity has a centripetal force making it turn and go around in an elliptical shape around the sun

rotation

Is Earth spinning around once every 24 hours, resulting in day and night.

Outer planets

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Much larger than the inner planets and have thick gaseous atmospheres. Called Gas Giants. almost entirely made of gas and ice.

Jupiter

Largest planet, the fifth planet from the sun; it has a large red spot called "the great red spot"

lava

Liquid magma that reaches the surface; also the rock formed when liquid lava hardens. The surface of the moon is covered in this, craters and mountains from ancient volcanoes.

solstice

Longest or Shortest day of the year

Is Earth is the only planet that has a moon?

No, Many plants have moons especially gas giants

dwarf planet

Orbits the Sun; nearly sphere shape; shares orbital path with other objects of smaller size; not a moon; recent classification of Pluto

moon

Planets may have one or more moons - or no moon at all. Moons are natural satellites that orbit an object other than a star

Asteroid

Small rock-like bodies orbiting in a belt between Mars and Jupiter. A class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones.

Comet

Small, icy objects that orbit the sun and develop tails near the sun. A ball of frozen dust and rock that orbits the sun and has a tail that glows, a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit

meteor

Streaks of light that result from a meteoroid passing through Earth's atmosphere; meteoroid that strikes Earth's atmosphere, altitude of about 80 kilometers, heated white- hot by friction with the atmosphere and seen from Earth as a flash of light—a "falling star."

waxing phase

When the visible part of the Moon is increasing, it is in its __________

meteoroite

a meteoroid that reaches Earth.

Planet movement

all of the planets in our solar system travel in the same direction around the sun.

Solar System

contains 8 planets and a star and has objects that orbit around it. formed from a cloud of gas and dust thats pulled together due to the force of gravity.

Earth's moon

created when object collided with Earth 4 billion yrs ago, no weather, no atmosphere, 1/6 gravity of Earth, 1/4 diameter. revolves around the earth in 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes and that reflects the sun's light

other objects in the Solar System

formed from left over gas and dust pulled by gravity into a disc shape

The moon is waning when it changes from

full moon to last quarter

How does gravity influence the shape and motion of objects in the solar system?

it can change the velocity (speed) of objects. Gravity can change the motion of an object by changing the object's velocity. the force of gravity has an important role in maintaining the shape of the solar system.

Pluto

not a planet since 2006

Saturn

only planet that has rings that are easy to see.

What to effects does the moon have on Earth?

solar eclipses and tides

Meteroid

solid bits of debris that travel through the solar system. Any of the small bodies, often remnants of comets, traveling through space: when such a body enters the earth's atmosphere it is heated and becomes a meteor. Small, rocky object that orbits the Sun in both the inner and outer regions of the solar system

Planet speed

the closer to the sun, the faster the revolusions

Waning phase

the period when the visible Moon is getting smaller

astroid belt

the sepration line between the inner and outer planets; between Mars and Jupiter

big bang

the theory that the universe originated 13.7 billion years ago from the explosion of a small mass of matter at extremely high density and temperature. Universe began from one point that has been expanding and cooling ever since.

revolution

The movement of Earth around the sun once a year is called Earth's