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Earth Science Semester 1 (5th set)
Earth Science Apex Semester 1 Unit 2 Section 2
18
Science
12th Grade
03/02/2011

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Cards

Term
Accretion Disk
Definition
A spinning disk of material that forms from a solar nebula, which may form a solar system.
Term
Asteriod
Definition
A rock that orbits the sun and contains little to no ice.
Term

Astronomical Unit

(AU)

Definition
1 AU is the average distance between the Earth and the sun.
Term
Comet
Definition
A large block of ice and rock that orbits the sun.
Term
Ellipse
Definition
An oblong circle that has two foci to define its shape.
Term
Elliptical Orbits
Definition
All orbits have elliptical shapes, with the object being orbited at one focus of the ellipse.
Term
Extrasolar Planet
Definition
A planet that is outside of our solar system.
Term
Foci
Definition
Plural of focus; each ellipse has two foci that define the shape of the ellipse.
Term
Focus
Definition
A focus is one of the parameters of an ellipse that defines the shape; each ellipse has two foci.
Term
Gas Giants
Definition
Planets much larger than Earth that are composed primarily of gas.
Term
Kuiper Belt
Definition
A belt of comets that lies on the outer boundary of our solar system.
Term
Main Asteroid Belt
Definition
A doughnut-shaped ring of asteriods that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Term
Meteor
Definition
A meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere.
Term
Meteorite
Definition
A meteor that falls all the way to Earth's surface.
Term
Meteoroids
Definition
Chunks of comets or asteroids that fly through outer space.
Term
Near-Earth Asteriod
Definition
An asteriod that comes closer than 1.3 AU to Earth.
Term
Oort Cloud
Definition
A hypothetical sphere of comets that envelopes our entire solar system.
Term
Solar Nebula
Definition
A large cloud of gas and dust that can collapse to form an accretion disk.
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