Lesson #1
This is the term for the regular path an object takes as it moves around another object.
What is an orbit?
This type of smaller celestial body was once considered a planet but is now classified differently.
What is a dwarf planet?
Earth’s moon is visible because it does this to sunlight.
What is reflecting sunlight?
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by this American astronomer.
Who is Clyde Tombaugh?
These unmanned spacecraft explore planets, asteroids, and comets up close.
What are probes?
Earth orbits around this star, which is at the center of our solar system.
What is the Sun?
This rocky region between Mars and Jupiter contains many asteroids.
What is the asteroid belt?
This planet appears reddish due to iron oxide (rust) on its surface.
What is Mars?
Pluto was reclassified as this type of celestial body in 2006.
What is a dwarf planet?
These robotic vehicles move across the surfaces of planets or moons to analyze soil and rocks.
What are rovers?
This force pulls objects toward each other, keeping planets in orbit around the Sun.
What is gravity?
This icy celestial body travels through space and creates a glowing coma and tail when near the Sun.
What is a comet?
This unit, abbreviated AU, measures distances in space and is the average distance from Earth to the Sun.
What is an astronomical unit?
This is the smallest planet and closest to the Sun.
What is Mercury?
These orbit Earth or other planets and carry instruments or cameras to collect data.
What are satellites?
The journey of Earth around the Sun causes these four.
What are the seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter)?
This celestial body has over 80 moons orbiting it.
What is Jupiter?
This is the coldest temperature ever recorded in the solar system, found on Uranus.
What is -224℃?
This planet is famous for its spectacular rings made of ice and rock particles.
What is Saturn?
Human-made objects launched into orbit to study Earth, space, or help with communication.
What are artificial satellites?
The largest planet in our solar system takes almost 12 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun.
What is Jupiter?
Small rocky or metallic fragments traveling through space are called this, and when they burn up in Earth's atmosphere, they create shooting stars.
What are meteoroids?
Many moons around giant planets have surfaces made of this substance.
What is ice?
The farthest planet from the Sun, known for strong winds and the Great Dark Spot.
What is Neptune?
This student-built satellite from the University of Alberta orbits Earth and studies space radiation and magnetic fields.
What is Ex-Alta 1?