Solar System Vocab Flashcard

Front

What does 'geocentric' mean?

Back

Earth-centered.

Front

What is the Oort Cloud?

Back

A distant region of icy bodies surrounding the solar system.

Front

What is an elliptical plane?

Back

The flat, disk-shaped space in which planets orbit.

Front

What are gas giants?

Back

Large planets made mostly of gas.

Front

What are terrestrial planets?

Back

Rocky planets like Earth.

Front

What is the solar system?

Back

A collection of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and the sun, bound by gravity.

Front

What is a planet?

Back

A celestial body that orbits a star, is spherical in shape, and has cleared its orbit of other debris.

Front

What is a dwarf planet?

Back

A celestial body that orbits the sun and is similar to a planet but has not cleared its orbit.

Front

What is an asteroid?

Back

A small rocky body that orbits the sun, primarily found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Front

What is a comet?

Back

A small icy body that, when passing close to the sun, heats up and releases gas and dust, forming a tail.