Our Universe

5. the collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit round the sun, together with smaller bodies in the form of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets. The planets of the solar system are (in order of distance from the sun) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
7. a small rocky body orbiting the sun. Large numbers of these, ranging enormously in size, are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, though some have more eccentric orbits.
9. the natural satellite of the earth, visible (chiefly at night) by reflected light from the sun.
10. a spot or patch that appears from time to time on the sun's surface, appearing dark by contrast with its surroundings.
12. a unit of astronomical distance equivalent to the distance that light travels in one year, which is 9.4607 × 1012 km (nearly 6 million million miles).

1. a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.
2. 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.
3. the curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft round a star, planet, or moon, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
4. a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth's atmosphere, becoming incandescent as a result of friction and appearing as a streak of light.
6. an artificial body placed in orbit round the earth or moon or another planet in order to collect information or for communication.
8. the star round which the earth orbits.
10. a fixed luminous point in the night sky which is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun.
11. a celestial body distinguished from the fixed stars by having an apparent motion of its own (including the moon and sun), especially with reference to its supposed influence on people and events.