Study Guide unit 5

1. the curved path that an object takes as it moves around another, larger object in space.
4. a celestial body of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbits the Sun, often developing a long, fuzzy tail as it approaches.
9. a small, rocky or icy body that existed in the early solar system and served as a building block for planets.
11. a natural satellite that orbits a planet
12. the star at the center of our solar system, a massive ball of hot gas that provides Earth with light and heat
13. the widely accepted model for how the solar system formed from a giant, spinning cloud of gas and dust called a nebula
15. Planets defined as objects that orbit the Sun, and are nearly round, but have not been able to clear their orbit of debris.
16. a large, early-stage planetary body that forms from the collision and accretion of dust, gas, and smaller objects in a protoplanetary disk

1. the four giant planets in the Solar System, specifically Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
2. fine, dry particles of earth, organic matter, or other substances, found on surfaces or floating in the air.
3. the process of growth by gradual accumulation, where smaller particles or materials are added to a larger body, primarily due to gravity.
5. a celestial body that orbits a star, is large enough to be rounded by its own gravity, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
6. the Sun and everything that orbits it, including the eight planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets
7. a small, rocky body that orbits the sun, often found in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter
8. n the four rocky planets closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
10. a small piece of rock or debris in space, ranging from the size of a grain of sand to about a meter wide.
14. the force of attraction between any two objects with mass or energy.