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17 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Terrestrial Planet
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, and mars, are relatively small and rocky. Pluto does not fit into this category.
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Jovian Planet
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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are huge gas giants. Pluto does not fit into this category.
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Nebula
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A cloud of dust and gas in space. It often consits of 92 percent hydrogen. 7 percent helium, and less than 1% of the remaining heavier elements.
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Planetesimal
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colliding matter that forms small, irregularly shaped bodies
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Asteroid
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small rocky bodies that have been linked to "flying mountains." The smallest ones are assumed to be no larger than grains of sand. Must lie between orbits of mars and Jupiter.
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Comet
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pieces of rocky and metallic materials held together by frozen gases, such as water, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.
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meteoroid
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A small solid particle that travels through space, most originate from inter planetary debris that was not gravitationally swept up by the planets during the formation of the solar system, or material from the asteroid belt.
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Meteor
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the luminous phenomenon observed when one enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up, popularly called a shooting star.
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Meteorite
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A meteoroid that actually reaches Earth's surface
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Mercury
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The innermost and second smallest planet, is hardly larger than Earth's moon and is smaller than three other moons in the solar system. Like our own moon, it absorbs most of the sunlight that strikes it and reflects only 6 percent of sunlight back into space. It has cratered highlands, much like the moon, and some smooth terrains that resemble maria.
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Venus
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Second only to the moon in brilliance in the night sky is named for the goddess of love and beauty. It orbits the sun in a nearly perfect circle one every 255 Earth-days. It is similar to Earth in size, density, mass, and location in the solar system. It has been referred to as "Earth's twin." 80 percent of Venus's surface consists of plains covered by volcanic flows.
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Mars
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It is known as the Red Planet because it appears as a reddish ball when viewed through a telescope. The atmosphere is very thin, and dust storms may occur and may cause the color changes objected from Earth. Some areas exhibit drainage patterns.
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Jupiter
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Has a mass that is 2.5 times greater than the mass of all the other planets and moons combined. It rotates more rapidly than any other planet. Its hydrogen-helium atmosphere also contains small amounts of methane, ammonia, water, and sulfur compounds.
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Saturn
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It's almost twice as far from the sun as Jupiter. The most prominent feature is its system of rings. Its atmosphere is very active, with winds roaring at up to 1500 kilometers per hour.
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Uranus
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It rotates "on its side." Instead of behind generally perpendicular to the plane of its orbit like the other planets. Its axis of rotation lies nearly parallel with the plane if its orbit. It has a ring system that was discovered in 1977.
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Neptune
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One of the windiest places in the solar system. It has 13 known moons. It also has an Earth- Size blemish called the Great Dark Spot.
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Pluto
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Lies on the fringe of the solar system. It is 10,000 times too dim to be visible to the unaided eye. It takes it 248 Earth-years to orbit the sun. It is the smallest planet in the solar system with a diameter of approximately 23,000 kilometers. THe average temperature is estimated -210C which is cold enough to solidify most gases that might be present.
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