Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
core
|
The central region where most of the sun's energy is produced.
|
|
|
nuclear fusion
|
The process of hydrogen atoms joining to form helium.
|
|
|
radiation zone
|
is a region of tightly packed gas where energy is transferred mainly in the form of electromagnetic radiation.
|
|
|
convection zone
|
The outermost layer of the sun's interior.
|
|
|
photosphere
|
The innermost layer of the sun's exterior which gives off visible light. Photo means light in Greek.
|
|
|
chromosphere
|
The middle layer of the sun's exterior. Comes from the Greek word chromo meaning color.
|
|
|
corona
|
The outermost layer that looks like a halo, comes from the Latin word for crown.
|
|
|
solar wind
|
streams of electrically charged particles.
|
|
|
sunspot
|
Areas of gas that are cooler then the gas around them. They are therefore darker.
|
|
|
prominence
|
Huge reddish loops of gas
|
|
|
solar flare
|
When the loops in sunspot regions connect, it releases large amounts of magnetic energy which heat gas and causes an eruption.
|
|
|
terrestrial planets
|
The four inner planets that have solid surfaces.
|
|
|
greenhouse effect
|
The trapping of heat by atmosphere.
|
|
|
gas giant
|
The four outer planets that are much larger and more massive than Earth. They do not have solid surfaces.
|
|
|
ring
|
A thin disk of small particles of rock and ice.
|
|
|
comet
|
A loose collection of ice dust and small rocky particles whose orbits are usually long narrow ellipses. You can think of it as a dirty snowball the size of a mountain.
|
|
|
coma
|
A fuzzy outer layer made of gas and dust.
|
|
|
nucleus
|
The solid inner core of a comet.
|
|
|
Kuiper belt
|
Is a doughnut shaped region that extends beyond Neptune's orbit to nearly 100 times Earth's distance from the sun.
|
|
|
Oort cloud
|
A spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system out to more than one thousand times the distance of Pluto from the sun.
|
|
|
asteroid
|
Rocky objects.
|
|
|
asteroid belt
|
Region where most asteroids revolve.
|
|
|
meteoroid
|
A chunk of rock and dust from space that comes from asteroids or comets.
|
|
|
meteor
|
A meteoroid that passes through Earth's atmosphere.
|
|
|
meteorite
|
A meteoroid that passes through Earth's atmosphere and hits the ground.
|
