Download Celestial Objects Definitions

CELESTIAL OBJECTS
DEFINITIONS
Asteroid
 Chunks of space rock
that orbit the Sun,
mostly between Mars
and Jupiter
Comet
 A small body of ice,
rock, and cosmic dust
 Example: Halley’s
Comet
 There are thousands of
these in the solar
system.
Galaxy
 A huge collection of
millions or billions of
stars.
 Example:
 The Milky Way Galaxy
& the Andromeda
Galaxy
Meteor
 Dust and rock
fragments from space
that enter the Earth’s
atmosphere and burn
up (shooting stars)
Star
 A large ball of gas and
plasma that produces
light
 Example: The Sun &
Polaris (the North Star)
Planet
 A large, spherical
object orbiting a star
that dominates its
orbit.
 Example: Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune
Satellite
 Anything that orbits a
planet, such as a moon
or a man-made object
(like the hubble
telescope)
Solar system
 The sun and all the
other objects that orbit
around it; planets,
asteroids, comets,
moons…
Star and the Sun
 A gigantic spinnin ball
of hot, glowing gas in
space
 Sun: the star at the
center of our solar
system!
Universe
 The vast space which
includes EVERYTHING
that exists!
Black Hole
 An object whose
surface gravity is so
great that waves
traveling at the speed
of light cannot escape
from it.
 http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=eI9CvipHl_
c
Nebula
 A huge cloud of gas
and dust in space
 Example: These are
either remnants or
dead stars or
birthplace of new stars
Dwarf Planet
 A Large, spherical
object orbiting a star
that does not
dominate its orbit.
 Example: Pluto, Eris,
Ceres, Make Make
Haumea
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU…