Name 3 characteristics needed to be considered a planet.
1. object must be in orbit around the sun 2. object must be nearly spherical in shape 3. object has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit of smaller planets
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Why is Pluto not considered a planet?
Large # f frozen worlds that share its orbit. Pluto is so small, its gravity is not strong enough to clear smaller objects from its orbit. Dwarf planet
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Pluto is part of a vast grouping of frozen worlds beyond Neptune called
Kuiper Belt
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Meteoroids that burn in Earth's atmosphere are called
meteors
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Meteoroids that strike Earth's surface are called
Meteorites
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Which planet rotates backwards where the sun rises in the west and sets in the east? What is this called?
Venus / retrograde
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Planets are generally in the same plane and thus appear in the night sky along a path called the
ecliptic
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About how many moons orbit the planets of our solar system?
180
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Moons are smaller than planets and held in place by
the pull of gravity of the planet they orbit
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Name 3 possible physical properties of moon.
Large volcanoes, major areas of frozen water, layers similar to Earth's layers: an inner core, a thick mantle, and a thin crust
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Rocky objects that orbit the sun
Asteroids
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Why aren't asteroids planets, dwarf planets or even moon?
Too small
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Name the 2 places where asteroids are located in the solar system.
Wide area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter/ area past Pluto, know as the Kuiper Belt
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How does an asteroid become a meteoroid and a potential threat to planets, moons, spacecrafts, and satellites?
It gets knocked out of its orbit
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Rocky object in space that moves between planets, smaller than an asteroid.
meteoroid
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Meteoroids that we can see their heat in the sky as a glowing path, is called a
