Across
- 5. A small rock or piece of debris moving through space.
- 7. A small, round object that orbits the Sun but hasn’t cleared other objects out of its orbit (like Pluto).
- 8. A distant, round shell of icy objects that surrounds the solar system and is thought to be where many comets come from.
- 10. A ball of ice, rock, and dust that orbits the Sun. When it gets close, it forms a glowing tail.
- 12. A large round object that orbits the Sun and has cleared other stuff out of its path.
- 13. When a planet looks like it’s moving backward in the sky because of how Earth and that planet move around the Sun.
- 14. The Sun and everything that moves around it, including planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and dust.
Down
- 1. A rocky object that orbits the Sun, usually found between Mars and Jupiter.
- 2. A region beyond Neptune filled with icy objects, dwarf planets, and comets.
- 3. A meteoroid that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, what we call a “shooting star.”
- 4. When Earth passes through a trail of comet dust, and many meteors are seen in the sky.
- 6. The region between Mars and Jupiter where most asteroids orbit.
- 9. A stretched-out circle or oval shape. The planets move around the Sun in ellipses.
- 11. A meteor that survives the trip through the atmosphere and lands on Earth.