Space Rocks
What is a meteoroid?
A relatively small natural rocky or metallic object traveling through space.
What process powers stars like the Sun?
Nuclear fusion
What is a solar nebula?
The cloud of gas and dust from which our solar system formed.
What shape does Kepler's First Law say planetary orbits have?
Ellipses
What is a meteor?
The streak of light/phenomenon produced when a meteoroid enters an atmosphere and heats up.
What happens during nuclear fusion in a star?
Lighter atomic nuclei combine into heavier nuclei, releasing energy.
What force caused material in the solar nebula to collapse inward?
Gravity
According to Kepler's First Law, where is the Sun located in a planet's elliptical orbit?
At one focus of the ellipse
What is a meteorite?
Material from a meteoroid that survives passage through the atmosphere and reaches the ground.
What is a supernova?
A powerful stellar explosion associated with the death of certain stars.
What is accretion?
The process by which smaller particles/material collide and accumulate into increasingly larger bodies.
According to Kepler's Second Law, does a planet move faster when it is closer to or farther from the Sun?
Faster when closer to the sun
A rock is moving through space, enters Earth's atmosphere, and part lands on Earth. What three terms describe it during those stages?
Meteoroid → meteor → meteorite.
Why are stars important to the story of the elements found on Earth?
Stellar processes produce elements, and stellar deaths can disperse enriched material into space.
Put these in logical order: planets, solar nebula collapses, planetesimals, flattened spinning disk, accretion begins.
Solar nebula collapses → flattened spinning disk → accretion begins → planetesimals → planets.
According to Kepler's Third Law, how does distance from the Sun relate to orbital period?
Planets farther from the Sun have longer orbital periods.
Why can meteorites provide scientists with evidence about the early solar system?
Many contain ancient material left from early solar-system formation that preserves information about its composition and history.
Explain how material from earlier generations of stars could eventually become part of planets and eventually us.
Elements produced in stars were dispersed into space, became incorporated into later clouds of gas and dust, and eventually became part of new stars and planets.
Why did the inner and outer solar system produce different kinds of planets?
Temperatures varied with distance from the young Sun, affecting which materials could condense and accumulate; rocky materials dominated closer in while more volatile materials were available farther out.
State all THREE of Kepler's Laws
1) Planets travel in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus. 2) Planets move faster when closer to the Sun and slower when farther away, sweeping equal areas in equal times. 3) More distant planets have longer orbital periods.