Orbits & Eccentricity
A planet’s orbit is shaped like this, not a perfect circle.
(What is an ellipse?)
This belt of icy objects lies beyond Neptune.
(What is the Kuiper Belt?)
The region around a star where conditions allow liquid water to exist is called this.
(What is the habitable zone?)
The force that attracts objects toward one another.
(What is gravity?)
A streak of light in the sky often confused for a shooting star
(What is a meteor?)
The term for how stretched out an orbit is.
(What is eccentricity?)
This region, even farther than the Kuiper Belt, is where long-period comets come from.
(What is the Oort Cloud?)
This planet is often called Earth’s "twin" due to its similar size but has a thick, toxic atmosphere.
(What is Venus?)
Why two things affect gravitational force between two objects?
What is mass and distance?
The origin of comets
What is the Kuiper Belt?
This planet has the most eccentric orbit of all the planets in our solar system.
(What is Mercury?)
Most asteroids in our solar system are found in this region.
(What is the asteroid belt?)
What three factors make Earth habitable?
What is water, location, and atmosphere?
The more mass an object has, the (stronger/weaker) its gravitational pull.
(What is stronger?)
the Sun together with the group of celestial bodies that are held by its attraction and revolve around it.
What is the solar system?
An object that orbits a star and is nearly spherical in shape but shares its orbital path with other objects
what is a dwarf planet?
Location of the Kuiper Belt
What is behind Neptune?
Mars is being explored as a potential future home for humans because it has this resource underground.
What is water?
The Moon’s gravity affects Earth by creating these in the ocean
(What are tides?)
Type of eccentricity a comet’s orbit has
What is high eccentricity?
The time it takes an object to travel once around the Sun
What is period of revolution ?
The dwarf planet found in the Kuiper Belt that was once considered the ninth planet.
(What is Pluto?)
Scientists search for these, planets outside our solar system, to look for signs of life.
(What are exoplanets?)
Planets that have a higher gravitational pulls
Units used to measure the average distance from Earth to the Sun
What is an astronomical unit?