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Chapter 14
Astronomy and the planets
31
Astronomy
8th Grade
02/22/2011

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Cards

Term
Geocentric
Definition
The system of thinking that Earth is at the center of the revolving planets and stars.
Term
Heliocentric
Definition
The system of thinking that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.
Term
Ellipse
Definition
An oval shape, which may be elongated or nearly circular.
Term
Moon
Definition
 A natural satellite that revolves around a planet.
Term
Astronomical Unit
Definition
A system of measures used to describe distances in the solar system.
Term
Nuclear Fusion
Definition
The process in which two nuclei combine forming one nuclei and then releasing energy which energizes the sun.
Term
Core
Definition
The suns central region.
Term
Radiation Zone
Definition
A region of very tightly packed gas where energy is transferred mainly in the form of electromagnetic radiation
Term
Convection Zone
Definition
The outermost layer of the suns interior.
Term
Photosphere
Definition
The inner layer of the suns atmosphere.
Term
Chromosphere
Definition
The middle layer of the suns atmosphere.
Term
Corona
Definition
The outer layer of the sun which looks like a white halo.
Term
Solar Wind
Definition
Electrically charged solar particles given off by the corona of the sun.
Term
Sunspots
Definition
Areas of gas on the suns surface that are cooler than the gases around them.
Term
Prominences
Definition
Huge reddish loops of gas that connect different sunspots on the sun.
Term
Solar flares
Definition
The eruption of gases into the sun.
Term
Terrestrial planets
Definition
The four inner planets.
Term
Greenhouse effect
Definition
The trapping of heat by the atmosphere.
Term
Gas giant
Definition
The four planets ( Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) that are made out of gas and do not have solid surfaces.
Term
Ring
Definition
A thin disk of small particles of ice and rock.
Term
Comet
Definition
Loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles whose orbits are usually very long, narrow ellipses.
Term
Coma
Definition
Clouds of gas and dust form a fuzzy outer layer.
Term
Nucleus
Definition
The solid inner core of a comet.
Term
Kuiper belt
Definition
A doughnut-shaped region that extends from beyond Neptune's orbit to about 100 times Earth's distance from the sun.
Term
Oort Cloud
Definition
A spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system from about 1,000 to 10,000 times the distance between the Sun and Pluto.
Term
Asteroids
Definition
Rocky, frozen and other material between planets.
Term
Asteroid Belt
Definition
A major region in the Solar System in which a lot of asteroids revolve around the sun.
Term
Meteoroid
Definition
A chunk of rock or dust in space.
Term
Meteor
Definition
The streaking light that passes through the sky when a meteoroid comes into Earths atmosphere.
Term
Meteorites
Definition
Meteorides that pass through the Earths atmosphere and hit the Earth's surface.
Term
Extraterrestrial life
Definition
Life other than that on Earth.
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