Beyond Our Solar System
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Complete list of Terms and Definitions for Beyond Our Solar System

Terms Definitions
Earth: Equatorial Radius 6378.14km
Terrestrial Planets? Inner 4 planets
Earth: Distance from the Sun 149,597,890km
Planets Rotate and Revolve around the sun
Mercury The planet closest to the Sun
Layer of atmosphere called the crown Corona
precession earth "wobbles" every 26 thousand years
chromosphere middle layer of the sun's atmosphere Greek word "chroma" means color-chromosphere is called the "color sphere"
Comets Objects contained in our Solar System along with asteroids, meteoroids and meteorites
Direct Rotation or orbital motion in a counterclockwise direction when viewed looking down from above the north pole of the primary (i.e. in the same sense to most satellites); the opposite of retrograde. The north pole is the one on the same side of the ecliptic as the Earth's north pole. (The word "prograde" is sometimes used to mean "direct" in this sense.)
Asteroid Rocky object, smaller than a planet, that orbits a star.
Uranus Facts *large gaseous with thin dark rings *axix of rotation is nearly parellel to the plane of orbit *has at least 7 moons
Revolution Movement of the Earth around the sun. -Takes 365.24 days. (1 year)
Supernova very bright explosion of the outer part of a star after its core collapses.
Where did the lost mass go? Turned into energy
lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes through Earth's shadow for almost two hours
Equinox period of equal days and nights; the beginning of spring and autumn; Ex. vernal/autumnal equinox; ADJ. equinoctial
Albedo The ratio of the amount of light reflected by an object and the amount of incident light; a measure of the reflectivity or intrinsic brightness of an object (a white, perfectly reflecting surface would have an albedo of 1.0; a black perfectly absorbing surface would have an albedo of 0.0).
Meteorites Any part of a meteoroid that survives passage through the atmosphere and lands on the surface of a planet or moon
Comet Dust, frozen water, and gas with a tail.
astronomical unit the average distance between the earth and the sun
meteorite stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteoroid that has reached the earth's surface
first quarter half the moon's lit side is visible.
Meteor A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning meteoroid in the sky
Earth: Sidereal Rotation Period (Day) .997 Earth Days (23.934 Hours)
Spring Equinox the time in Spring when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth
Dwarfs 90 % of all stars are main sequence start
third quarter half of the moon's lit side is visible-the half that was dark in the first quarter.
Solar Active Region Areas of the sun where the most violent solar activity occurs.
Mars (inner planet) The forth planet from the sun also know as the red planet has two small moons
Sun's Angular Diameter (from Earth) 32' (a little over 1/2 a degree)
when can a light telescope be used? when the skies are clear and only at night
Titan largest saturn moon
Saturn Known for its rings
Ptolemy (87-150) Astronomer, geographer and mathmetician from Alexandria, Egypt who based his astronomy on the belief that all heavenly bodies revolve around the earth. Contrast with Copernicus.
Who earned the Nobel Prize? Albert Einstein
Earth's Moon: Distance from the Earth 384,400km
Prime Meridian the meridian running through Greenwich, England, from which longitude east and west is reckoned
outer planets jupiter, saturn, uranus, && neptune
Galileo he used the newly invented telescope to make discoveries that supported the heliocentric model
Jupiter The largest planet, fifth from the Sun. The giant storm on Jupiter is called the Giant Red Spot ( as big as 50,000 km across)
Allocthonus 1) Material that is formed or introduced from somehwere other than the place it is currently found. 2) Fragmented rock thrown out of the crater during its formation that either falls back to partly fill the crater or blankets its outer flanks after the impact event.
Sun-Centered Model Nicholas Copernicus published a paper stated the planets revolved around the Sun
Earth Facts *surface tempatures allow water to exist as solid, liquid and gas *only plant where life is known to exist *has one moon
Ellipse Shape of the orbit of a planet.
What is matter made up of? Hyrogen and Helium
Nicolaus Copernicus determined that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun in the same direction; each planet takes a different amount of time to revolve around the sun
inner planets Any of the four planets, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, that revolve closest to the sun
Earth's Moon: Sidereal Rotation Period (Day) 27.32 Earth Days
Gravity The force that governs the motion of our solar system
Summer Solstice Longest day of sunlight for the nothern hemisphere.
Geocentric model earth is the center of the universe
Blue Moon two full moons in the same month.
Where did the solar system come from? Solar Nebula Theory
solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks the light of the Sun
Prominence A strand of relatively cool gas in the solar corona which appears bright when seen at the edge of the Sun against the blackness of space.
Autumn Equinox the time in Autumn when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth
Parts of a Comet Nucleus, Coma, Ion tail, Dust tail
Apparent magnitude used for classifying how bright a star is.
season a period of the year with a certain level of temperature and type of weather.
Roche Limit the closest a fluid body can orbit to its primary without being pulled apart by tidal forces. A solid body may survive within the Roche limit if the tidal forces do not exceed its structural strength.
black holes a mass that has collapsed to so great a density that its enormous local gravitational field prevents light from escaping
Dwarf Planet A body that a) is in orbit around the Sun, b) has enough mass to have assumed a (roughly) spherical shape, and c) has NOT cleared its immediate neighborhood of other objects.
earth 3rd
Neptune 13 sattelites
mars lacks internal heat
core center of the sun
the sun is a gas
perihelion orbital point nearest the sun
maria dark-colored, relatively flat regions of the Moon formed when ancient lava reached the surface and filled craters on the moon's surface
SEASONS When light rays strike Earth's northern half at their greatest slant, we have winter. At the same time, light rays strike part of Earth's southern half directly. Summer starts in December there! When light rays strike part of Earth's northern hal
solar flare violent eruptions near a sunspot
moon A natural satellite that revolves around a planet
Venus 3 -shield volcanoes [highest Maxwell Mnts on Ishtar Terra] -Aphodite Terra continental area -coronae: circular bulges from volcanic activity -pancake domes (aa) -lava flow (pahoehoe) -few craters -chasms -Magellan orbiting it
star a hot ball of glowing gases
galaxy location where an entire universe is found
Deimos Mars' smaller and further moon. Its systematic designation is Mars II.
satellite a natural or artificial body that revolves around a celestial body that is greater in mass (656)
What planet is farthest from the Sun? Pluto
meteoroid a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space
universe all of space and everything in it
Venus the second nearest planet to the sun
meteoroids A small rocky,objects that orbits the Sun in both the inner and outer regions of the solar system
This tool made possible the discovery of additional planets. telescope
Perturb To cause a planet or satellite to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion.
meteor showers debris fields from comets which come too close to the Sun
Gas giants other than pluto, the outer planets are called this
Uranus Has an axis that is horizontal rather than up and down.
radiative zone very dense region about 300,000 km thick
light year distance of measure used to measure distance in space
Earth's rotation The spinning of Earth around its axis
Solar Wind What are stream of particles produced by the sun's corona called?
constellations groups of stars that appear to form shapes in the sky
asteroid belt separates the inner planets from the outer planets
Atmosphere the layer of gases that surrounds a star or planet
coronal mass ejections large amounts of electrically charged gasses that are ejected suddenly from the sun's corona
This is the next planet moving outward from the sun after Saturn. Uranus
Eccentricity The closer this is to one, the more oval-like an ellipse will appear.
greenhouse effect trapping of heat by atmosphere seen on Venus
full moon the time when the moon is fully illuminated
Which planet has the same length of day as Earth? Mars (651)
Elliptical Galaxy a galaxy shaped like a round or flattened ball, generally containing only old stars
kupier belt most of the excess debris resides in an area known as the Kuiper belt
orbit the path of an object as it revolves around another object in space
Absorption Spectrum Produced when light from a hot solid or dense gas passes through a less dense, cooler gas
the solar wind A comet develops a tail because of
An Inventory of the Solar System -Orbital period can be observed -Distance from Sun known by Kepler's laws -Radius known from angular size -Masses from Newton's laws -Rotation period from observations -Density can be calculated knowing radius and mass
Solar System The sun and all of the planets and other bodies that travel around it
full mon when we can see the whole moon. (It's lit up)
New Moon Rises at 6:00 am and sets at 6:00 pm.
Earth centered model of solar system Developed by early Greeks - Aristotle
Helium is also a common gas in the outer planets. What column in the periodic table does it belong to? The Noble Gases
planets orbit the sun in elliptical paths What did Kepler's 1st law state?
describe the midel listed in number 1 in its sysetem Earth and the other planets revolve around the sun
What do the size of crystals in meteorites primarily tell us about the conditions where the meteoroid material formed? The cooling rate or how long it took the material to cool and solidify into crystals.
Sun SOL
suns lifespan 10 billion years
Achrondites Differentiated meteorites; inlcudes HEDs (howardites, eucrites, and diogenites)
terrestrial planet Rocky-surfaced, relatively small, dense inner planets closest to the Sun.
Describe the moon. The moon has:mountainsvalleyscraterslarge, flat pl
Pluto AU=39.5 dwarf planet. 1 big moon. rocky. smaller than mercury.
earth characteristics size~12,756 kilometers winter & summer solstice geologically active
Sun's gravity Holds the planets in orbit.
corona outer layer of the sun (crown)
Jovian adjective describing things related to JUPITER. example: There are sixteen jovian moons.
Plate Tectonics The process of crustal movement relating to convection inside the planet
phases the changing shapes in the appearance of the moon
phases of the moon waxing/wanning crescent/gibbous, new moon, full moon, half moon
Dwarf Pluto discovered in 1930, was once considered a planet, dwarf planet, icy
Nucleous Positively charged center of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons and surrounded by electrons in energy levels; (p. 797) small, solid core of a comet.
A ______________is the movement of an object in an revolution
Neptune's Core Ices and rock, gaseous hydrogen and helium
nebula a cloud of gas and/or dust in space
Day the period of time taken by a particular planet to make a complete rotation on its axis
A day on Venus is longer than it's Year
comet tail Produced when a comet's orbit brings it close to the sun and the dust and ice heat up.
Heliopause The point at which the solar wind meets the interstellar medium or solar wind from other stars.
When will the first satellite get to Pluto? 2016
Which planet has 2 moons with liquid water and the Great Red Spot? Juipter
telescope a device people use to observe distant objects with their eyes
space probe a vehicle that carries cameras and other tools for studying distant objects in space
100 billion There may be as many as __________billion galaxies in the universe.
constellation A group of stars that form a picture
a small reddish planet that is fourth from the Sun Mars
Keplars #2 He figured the focus between the sun and earth
gas giant planet Large, gaseous planets that are very cold at their surfaces, have ring systems, many moons, and lack solid surfaces—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Olympus Mons What is the largest volcano in the solr system?
length of time for moon to revolve around earth 27.3 days
gas giant the name often given to the first outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Gas Giant Planets Large gaseous planets that is very cold at its serface. Has ring system, many moods, and lacks solid surfaces Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
outer planets are.... gas giants because they have no solid surface
milky way The galaxy that our solar system is a part of
heat from the Sun A comet develops a coma because of
photosphere The part of the sun we see and it is where the sun's energy escapes into space.
a planisphere a map of the sky that can show the positions of the stars at different times.
What of the following features are evidence for collisions among planetary embryos? Retrograde spin of the planet Venus.Densities of Mercury, Venus and Earth exceed 4 g/cm3.Uranus’s spin axis tilts 98 degrees, so that the axis lies almost in the orbital plane.The very existence of the Earth’s moon.The density of the moon and depletion of volatiles.
what happens to a planets temperate when it has a thin atmosphere it will release heat quickly and have a very cold night