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What causes the changes in day and night on the Earth?
The Earth rotates counter clockwise on its axis once a day.
What causes the change in seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?
The Earth is tilted, and because of that, certain parts of the Earth, like the equator, are closer to the sun. It is warmer there than in other places.
What are the planets?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (and Pluto's not a planet any more!)
rotation
The spinning motion of a planet on its axis
orbit
the path that a body follows as it travels around another body in space
revolution
the movement of one object around another
gravitational force
an attractive force that acts between any two masses
meteor
A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere.
meteorite
A meteoroid that passes through the atmosphere and hits Earth's surface.
meteoroid
a small body moving in the solar system that would become a meteor if it entered the earth's atmosphere.
comet
a celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a "tail" of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun
moon
a natural object that revolves around a planet
planet
A large body in space that orbits a star and does not produce light of its own
star
A ball of hot gas, primarily hydrogen and helium, that undergoes nuclear fusion.
Which inner planet has lots of clouds and is the hottest planet?
Mercury
What is the planet that is rotating on it's side (sideways)?
Uranus
What is the largest planet?
Jupiter
What is the collection of objects floating between the inner and outer planets
the asteroid belt
What is different about the orbit of a moon and the orbit of a planet?
A moon orbits a planet, but a planet orbits a star.
Which planets have moons?
Every planet except Mercury and Venus.
What causes the orbit of the planets around the Sun and the Moon around the Earth? Why are they important in maintaining the orbit of the planets and the Moon?
The Sun's gravity. If there wasn't any gravity, everything would float away...
What are the two things that contribute to increasing and decreasing force of gravity?
Mass and distance.
What is the object floating towards the edge of the solar system that may look like a planet, but couldn't possibly be one?
Dwarf Planets (Hint: Pluto became a dwarf planet because it became to similar to an asteroid b/c of its size)
galaxy,
Which galaxy are we located in?
A collection of stars, dust, and gas bound together by gravity
the milky way galaxy
Do all galaxies look the same?
no