Earth and the Solar System
Meteors
-"shooting stars" -is the LIGHT when a meteoroid passes through the Earth's atmosphere
Outer Planets
-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune -gas giants -lots of moons each -long orbits (revolutions) -short rotations -larger
Inner Planets (compared to gas giants)
-Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars -rocky/terrestrial planets -no moons to a couple of moons -shorter orbits (revolutions) -rotation length varies -smaller sizes
Comet Location
-located outside of Neptune's orbit -orbit at different angles (example: Halley's Comet)
Kuiper Belt
-outside of Neptune's orbit -comprised of small icy objects -Pluto thought to be of this -comets may have originated from this
Objects in the Solar System
-planets -asteroids -meteoroids -natural satellites (moons) -comets
Comet Composition
-rock -ice -carbon dioxide -methane -ammonia (have a nucleus and tail trailing behind them)
Oort Cloud
-surrounds the solar system like a cloud -comets may have originated from this
Asteroids location
Asteroid Belt (which is located between Mars and Jupiter)
Why do we see only one side of the moon?
It takes 27 days for the moon to orbit the Earth. It also takes 27 days for it to rotate. As a result, we only see one side of the moon.
Galaxy we live in
Milky Way Galaxy
Meteoroids
asteroids that are smaller in size
Eclipse
blocking of light from or to a celestial body
Lunar Eclipse
blocking of the sun by the Earth (Earth blocks sun)
Solar Eclipse
blocking of the sun by the moon (moon blocks the sun)
Waxing Moon
moon appears to be growing
Waning Moon
moon appears to be shrinking
Moon phases occur because
of the sun shining its light on it's surface
Asteroids Orbit
orbit sun in the same direction as the planets
Meteorites
strike Earth surface
Moon Influence on Earth
(Controls the...) -tide -moon phases -eclipses