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Solar System
The collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit around the Sun, together with smaller bodies like asteroids and comets.
Planet closest to the Sun
Mercury
Largest planet in the Solar System
Jupiter
What is an asteroid?
A small rocky body orbiting the Sun, mostly found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Define comet
A celestial body of ice, dust, and rock with a bright coma and tail when near the Sun.
What is a galaxy?
A massive, gravitationally bound system consisting of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter.
Milky Way
The galaxy that contains our Solar System.
What is a light-year?
The distance light travels in one year, approximately 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers).
What causes a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking the Sun's light.
Lunar Eclipse
Occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, casting a shadow on the Moon.
What is the significance of the Kuiper Belt?
A region of the Solar System beyond Neptune, filled with small icy bodies and dwarf planets like Pluto.
What is the main cause of tides on Earth?
The gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun on Earth's oceans.
What is the difference between a meteoroid and a meteorite?
A meteoroid is a small particle from a comet or asteroid in space, while a meteorite is a meteoroid that reaches Earth's surface.
What is the habitable zone?
The region around a star where conditions may be right for liquid water, and possibly life, to exist.
What are sunspots?
Temporary phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as spots darker than the surrounding areas, caused by magnetic activity.
Heliocentric Model
The model of the solar system that places the Sun at the center, with planets orbiting around it.
Geocentric Model
An outdated model of the universe with Earth at the center and all celestial bodies revolving around it.
What is a black hole?
A region in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it.
Define nebula
A cloud of gas and dust in space, often a region where new stars are being born.
What is the speed of light?
Approximately $299,792,458$ meters per second in a vacuum.
What are exoplanets?
Planets that orbit a star outside our Solar System.
What is the main component of the Sun?
Hydrogen, which makes up about 75% of the Sun's mass.
What is the Big Bang Theory?
The leading explanation about how the universe began, suggesting it started from a small singularity and expanded over billions of years.
What is the role of gravity in the Solar System?
Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun and governs the motion of all celestial bodies.
What is an astronomical unit (AU)?
The average distance from the Earth to the Sun, about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.
What is redshift?
The phenomenon where light from an object moving away from the observer is shifted to the red end of the spectrum.
What is a supernova?
A stellar explosion that occurs at the end of a star's lifecycle, often resulting in a neutron star or black hole.
What is the Oort Cloud?
A theoretical cloud of icy bodies that is believed to surround the Solar System at great distances.
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