Across
- 5. a small, generally rocky, solid body orbiting the Sun and ranging in diameter from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers.
- 8. a meteorite lacking chondrules, associated with larger bodies whose gravity and internal heating has caused them to differentiate.
- 9. cliffs formed where the crust has shifted that run for hundreds of kilometers across a planet’s or moon’s surface.
- 11. the passage of a celestial body such as a planet across the face of a larger body such as a star. For example, Mercury and Venus can pass directly between Earth and the Sun, and we see the planet as a dark spot against the Sun’s bright disk.
- 14. a planet not orbiting our Sun.
- 15. a small body in orbit around the Sun, consisting of a tiny, icy core and a tail of gas and dust. The tail forms only when the comet is near the Sun.
- 16. the solid remains of a meteor that falls to Earth.
- 18. a small spherical grain embedded in a meteorite
- 19. a small, generally rocky, solid body orbiting the Sun and ranging in diameter from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers.
- 22. a meteorite containing small spherical grains called chondrules.
- 24. conversion of free gas atoms or molecules into a liquid or solid. A snowflake forms in our atmosphere when water vapor condenses into ice.
Down
- 1. one of the numerous small, solid bodies that, when accreted together, form a planet.
- 2. the technical name for the small, solid bodies moving within the Solar System. When a meteoroid enters our atmosphere and heats up, the trail of luminous gas it leaves is called a meteor. When the body lands on the ground, it is called a meteorite. (“A meteoroid is in the void. A meteor above you soars. A meteorite is in your sight.”)
- 3. the conversion of ultraviolet light (or other short-wavelength radiation) into visible light
- 4. the core of an atom around which the electrons orbit. The nucleus has a positive electric charge and constitutes most of an atom’s mass.
- 6. a dark band in a Jovian planet’s atmosphere, encircling the planet. Gas in the belts appears to be descending and warming.
- 7. the gaseous atmosphere surrounding the head of a comet.
- 10. a category of exoplanet with a radius about 1.25 to 2 times Earth’s radius.
- 12. a condition in which the repetitive motion of one body interacts with the repetitive motion of another so as to reinforce the motion. Sliding back and forth in a bathtub to make a big splash is an example.
- 13. a condition in which the repetitive motion of one body interacts with the repetitive motion of another so as to reinforce the motion. Sliding back and forth in a bathtub to make a big splash is an example.
- 16. the bright trail of light created by small solid particles entering Earth’s atmosphere and burning up. A “shooting star.”
- 17. the point in the sky from which meteors in showers appear to come.
- 20. the addition of matter to a body. Examples are gas falling onto a star and asteroids colliding and sticking together.
- 21. a white band in a Jovian planet’s atmosphere, encircling the planet. It appears that in these zones gas is rising and cooling, forming cloud particles.
- 23. the plume of gas and dust from a comet. The plume is produced by the solar wind and radiation pressure acting on the comet. The tail points away from the Sun and gets longer as the comet approaches perihelion.