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25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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accretion
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The sticking together of solid particles to produce a larger particle. (p. 370)
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albedo
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The ratio of the light reflected from an object divided by the light that hits the object. Albedo equals 0 for perfectly black and 1 for perfectly white. (p. 353)
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asteroid
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Small, rocky world. Most asteroids lie between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. (p. 363)
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breccia
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Rock composed of fragments of earlier rocks bonded together. (p. 353)
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comet
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One of the small, icy bodies that orbit the sun and produce tails of gas and dust when they approach the sun. (p. 363)
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condensation
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The growth of a particle by addition of material from surrounding gas, atom by atom. (p. 369)
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condensation sequence
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The sequence in which different materials condense from the solar nebula as we move outward from the sun. (p. 369)
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differentiation
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The separation of planetary material according to density. (p. 371)
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extrasolar planet
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A planet orbiting a star other than the sun. (p. 359)
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Galilean satellites
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The four largest satellites of Jupiter, named after their discoverer Galileo. (p. 365)
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gravitational collapse
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The process by which a forming body such as a planet gravitationally captures gas from its surroundings. (p. 368)
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half-life
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The time required for half of the atoms in a radioactive sample to decay. (p. 366)
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heat of formation
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In planetology, the heat released by in-falling matter during the formation of a planetary body. (p. 372)
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heavy bombardment
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The intense cratering during the first 0.5 billion years in the history of the solar system. (p. 375)
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Jovian planet
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Jupiterlike planet with a large diameter and low density. (p. 364)
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meteor
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A small bit of matter heated by friction to incandescent vapor as it falls into Earth's atmosphere. (p. 366)
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meteorite
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A meteor that survives its passage through the atmosphere and strikes the ground. (p. 366)
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meteoroid
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A meteor in space before it enters Earth's atmosphere. (p. 366)
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outgassing
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The release of gases from a planet's interior. (p. 372)
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planetesimal
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One of the small bodies that formed from the solar nebula and eventually grew into protoplanets. (p. 369)
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protoplanet
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Massive object resulting from the coalescence of planetesimals in the solar nebula and destined to become a planet. (p. 370)
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radiation pressure
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The force exerted on the surface of a body by its absorption of light. Small particles floating in the solar system can be blown outward by the pressure of the sunlight. (p. 374)
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solar nebula theory
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The theory that the planets formed from the same cloud of gas and dust that formed the sun. (p. 356)
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terrestrial planet
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An Earthlike planet - small, dense, rocky. (p. 364)
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uncompressed density
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The density a planet would have if its gravity did not compress it. (p. 368)
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