Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 Ch. 16 Vocabulary – Our Solar System (p. 509, 15 terms + 9)

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 1. Nebula A large cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space; a region in space where stars are born.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 2. Solar Nebula A rotating cloud of gas and dust from which the sun and planets formed.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 3. Astronomical Unit The average distance between the Earth and the sun; approximately 150 million kilometers (symbol, AU).

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 4. Terrestrial Planet One of the highly dense planets nearest to the sun; Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 5. Prograde Rotation The counterclockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet ’ s North Pole; rotation in the same direction as the sun ’ s rotation.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 6. Retrograde Rotation The clockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet ’ s North Pole.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 7. Gas Giant A planet that has a deep, massive atmosphere, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 8. Satellite A natural or artificial body that revolves around a planet.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 9. Phase The change in the sunlit area of one celestial body as seen from another celestial body.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Eclipse An event in which the shadow of one celestial body falls on another.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ 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.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Asteroid A small, rocky, object that orbits the sun; most asteroids are located in a band between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Meteoroid A relatively small, rocky body that travels through space.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Meteor A bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in Earth ’ s atmosphere.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Meteorite A meteoroid that reaches Earth ’ s surface without burning up completely.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Nuclear Fusion When hydrogen combines to form helium and energy is released.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Proton A subatomic particle that has a positive charge and that is located in the nucleus of an atom; the number of protons in the nucleus is the atomic number, which determines the identity of an element.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Inner Solar System Contains the four planets that are located closest to the sun.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Outer Solar System Contains the five planets that are located farthest from the sun.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Period of Rotation The amount of time that an object takes to rotate once.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Revolution The motion of a body orbiting another body in space.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Period of Revolution The time that an object takes to revolve around the sun once.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Solar Eclipse When the moon comes between Earth and the sun and the shadow of the moon falls on part of Earth.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/ Lunar Eclipse When Earth comes between the sun and the moon and the shadow of Earth falls on the moon.

Unit 7 (Ch. 16) – Earth in the Solar System Bach 04/08/10 Grading Scale (1 point per term) A = B = C = D = F = 13 or less *2 E.C. pt.s possible