Celestial Objects Definitions
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Transcript of Celestial Objects Definitions
CELESTIAL OBJECTS DEFINITIONS
Asteroid
Chunks of space rock that orbit the Sun, mostly between Mars and Jupiter
Comet
A small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust
Example: Halley’s Comet
There are thousands of these in the solar system.
Galaxy
A huge collection of millions or billions of stars.
Example: The Milky Way
Galaxy & the Andromeda Galaxy
Meteor
Dust and rock fragments from space that enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up (shooting stars)
Star
A large ball of gas and plasma that produces light
Example: The Sun & Polaris (the North Star)
Planet
A large, spherical object orbiting a star that dominates its orbit.
Example: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Satellite
Anything that orbits a planet, such as a moon or a man-made object (like the hubble telescope)
Solar system
The sun and all the other objects that orbit around it; planets, asteroids, comets, moons…
Star and the Sun
A gigantic spinnin ball of hot, glowing gas in space
Sun: the star at the center of our solar system!
Universe
The vast space which includes EVERYTHING that exists!
Black Hole
An object whose surface gravity is so great that waves traveling at the speed of light cannot escape from it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9CvipHl_c
Nebula
A huge cloud of gas and dust in space
Example: These are either remnants or dead stars or birthplace of new stars
Dwarf Planet
A Large, spherical object orbiting a star that does not dominate its orbit.
Example: Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Make Make Haumea
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU…