Science - Space

A galaxy is a large group of stars, dust, gas and dark matter held together by gravity

The Milky Way

This is any natural body outside of the Earth's atmosphere

Planets, stars, moons, comets and asteroids are examples of celestial bodies

1. Planets

2. Stars

3. Moons

4. Comets

5. Asteroids

A planet is an object that:

1. is in orbit around a star

2. has enough mass to have a nearly round shape

3. has enough gravity to clear the space waste in its orbit

This is a natural body which orbits a planet

A star is a luminous object made up of gas that can produce its own light and heat by nuclear reactions

The Sun

Blue

Red

This is the distance that light travels in one year

Turbulence in the Earth's armosphere

These are lumps of rock that orbit the Sun

They are too small to be classified as planets

They have no air and no atmosphere

It lies between Mars and Jupiter

Meteors are asteroids that are about 10 metres wide

These are rocks that burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, leaving shooting star trails behind them

These are asteroids that are about 100 kilometres wide

It is called a 'dwarf' planet because they are too large to be asteroids and too small to be called planets

This is a small lump of ice and dirt that orbits the Sun

They are found in the Kuiper Belt or the Ooort Cloud

It is found beyond Neptune

It is found at the edge of our solar system

This is the most well-known comet in the solar system

It orbits the Sun and can be seen with the naked eye from Earth approximately every 75 years

It is due to return again in 2061

8 planets - 4 inner planets and 4 outer planets

Terrestrial planets because they are made up of rock

1. Mercury

2. Venus

3. Earth

4. Mars

Gas giants because they are mainly made of gases hydrogen and helium

They are very large and have rings around them

1. Jupiter

2. Saturn

3. Uranus

4. Neptune