Lesson 4: unit 5: outer solar system
What is a dwarf planet?
A dwarf planet is any object orbiting the Sun that is large enough to be round but not one of the 8 planets.
What are comets and meteoroids?
A mass of rock dust and ice that partially vaporizers when it passes near the sun
Kuiper belt
A region of the solar system that is just beyond the orbit of Neptune and that contains small bodies made mostly of ice
Oort Cloud
A spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system
Ring
A thin disk of small ice and rock particles surrounding a planet.
What are the characteristics of each of the outer planets?
Jupiter is the largest and most massive planet in our solar system. Saturns rings are the largest and most visible from earth. The axis of Uranus's rotation is tilted more than 90 degrees, Neptune's bluish color comes from the methane in its atmosphere.
What lies in the outer solar system beyond Neptune?
Most of the objects in the Cooper about lying in a donut shaped region closest to the elliptic beyond the Kuiper belt lies a great reservoir of comets called the Oort cloud
How are the gas giants similar?
The four cast Giants are thought to have a small dense cores and thick atmospheres that are mostly hydrogen and helium
gas giants
a large, massive planet (such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune) that is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium
