Across
- 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
Down
- 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.