The Solar System
The star at the centre of our solar system that provides light and heat.
What is the Sun?
The term that describes a planet spinning on its axis.
What is rotation?
The layer of the Sun where nuclear fusion occurs.
What is the core?
A natural object that orbits a planet, such as Earth’s Moon.
What is a satellite (or moon)?
A space laboratory that orbits Earth and is shared by many countries.
What is the International Space Station (ISS)?
The eight bodies that orbit the Sun, including Earth and Mars.
What are the planets?
The motion of a planet as it travels around the Sun.
What is revolution?
The zone of the Sun that transfers energy outward through radiation.
What is the radiative zone?
A rocky object that orbits the Sun and is often found between Mars and Jupiter.
What is an asteroid?
The Canadian astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space.
Who is Chris Hadfield?
The rocky inner planets such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are called this type of planet.
What are terrestrial planets?
The imaginary line running through Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.
What is the axis?
The outer layer of the Sun where energy moves by convection.
What is the convective zone?
A streak of light seen when a space object enters Earth’s atmosphere.
What is a meteor?
The first animal to orbit Earth.
What is Laika the dog?
The galaxy that contains our solar system.
What is the Milky Way galaxy?
The main reason Earth experiences seasons.
What is Earth’s tilt?
The approximate amount of time it takes sunlight to reach Earth.
What is about 8 minutes?
An icy object that forms a glowing tail when it approaches the Sun.
What is a comet?
One major benefit of space exploration for life on Earth.
What is technological advancement (or scientific knowledge)?
The largest planet in the solar system, made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with many moons.
What is Jupiter?
The amount of time it takes Earth to complete one full revolution around the Sun.
What is one year (about 365 days)?
The object that contains about 99.86% of the total mass of the solar system.
What is the Sun?
A space rock that survives its journey through the atmosphere and lands on Earth.
What is a meteorite?
The issue that compares the financial cost of space exploration with its benefits.
What are the costs versus benefits of space exploration?