Solar System Science Olympiad definitions list – Flashcards
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Solar System
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A set of planetary bodies orbiting a star
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Mars
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The fourth planet from the sun. It has ice caps on its North and South poles. There are also glaciers at the mid-latitudes and equator.
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Europa
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One of the four main Jovian moons. It has an icy crust and evidence of a subsurface ocean.
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Enceladus
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A moon of Saturn,it is covered with ice and shoots out plumes of ice particles from its surface.
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North polar ice cap
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Covers the North pole of Mars, made of water and dry ice.
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South polar ice cap
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Covers the south pole of Mars, it is less than half the diameter of the Northern ice cap. It is 93 miles from the actual South pole.
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Asteroid belt
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A region of the solar system located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, it is inhabited by asteroids and the dwarf planet Ceres.
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Kuiper belt
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Also called the trans- neptunian region. An area of the solar system extending from beyond the orbit of Neptune to about 50 AU from the Sun. Inhabited by many icy bodies and Dwarf Planets such as Pluto and Eris.
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Ceres
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Formerly the largest known asteroid, it is now classified as a Dwarf Planet.
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Titan
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Largest moon of the Saturn and the second-largest moon in the solar system.It is the only moon known to have an athmosphere.
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Iapetus
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Third largest moon of Saturn and the eleventh-largest moon in the solar system. One side of its surface is darker than the other. It has many craters and impact basins.
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Triton
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Largest moon in Neptune.It has the coldest temperature in the solar system
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Oort cloud
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(astronomy) a hypothetical huge collection of comets orbiting the sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto, A spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system out to more than 1,000 times the distance from the sun
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Comet
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(astronomy) a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit
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Cantoloupe Terrain
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A region of Triton with many bumps and ridges making it look like the surface of a cantaloupe, thought to be formed by volcanic activity or water ice
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Mars Glacial Region
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An area in the mid-latitudes of Mars that has glaciers and evidence of glaciers.
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Pluto
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The first dwarf planet that was discovered, it was considered a planet until 2006.It has three major moons (charon,Hydra,Nyx)and two smaller recently discovered ones(Styx and Kerberos)
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Makemake
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The third largest dwarf planet known, it has frozen nitrogen on its surface and is a reddish brown color.(pronounced"makeemakee")
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Haumea
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Discovered on the 28th of December 2004, has 2 moons, Hi 'iaka and Namaka, 283 Earth years to orbit the Sun and has strong crystalline water ice features on its surface.
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Eris
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A dwarf planet orbiting far beyond the Kuiper belt, it is named after the greek goddess of discord. It has a small moon named Dysnomia.
