Term
| 4 clues to how our solar system was formed |
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Definition
1. the sun, planets, and large moons rotate and orbit in a very organized way
2. the 8 official planets divide clearly into 2 groups: terrestrial and jovian
3. the solar system contains huge numbers of asteroids and comets
4. all general patterns have notable exceptions |
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Term
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Definition
Mercury, Earth, Venus, and Mars
-small in size and mass
-close to the sun
-made of metal and rock |
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Definition
Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune
-large
-made of helium and hydrogen
-have rings |
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Definition
water, ammonia, and methane
found in the jovian planets |
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Definition
| rocky bodies orbiting the Sun |
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Definition
| made of ice, farther away from the Sun |
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Definition
| a donut-shaped region beyond the orbit of Neptune containing thousands of icy objects |
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Definition
| spherical, further from the Sun |
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Definition
Uranus rotates on its side
Venus rotates backwards |
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Term
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Definition
flies past a planet and doesn't stop
advantage: cheaper, especially since it's light weight allows it to maintain its orbital trajectory without fuel |
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Term
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Definition
orbits the planet it is studying
advantages: long term study
disadvantages: expensive |
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Term
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Definition
enters the planet's atmosphere and sometimes explores the planet's surface
advantages: up close and personal
disadvantages: expensive, risk of failure |
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