{"id":485,"date":"2022-03-01T21:31:40","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T21:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/astronomy\/?post_type=chapter&p=485"},"modified":"2022-03-01T21:31:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T21:31:41","slug":"key-terms-11","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/astronomy\/chapter\/key-terms-11\/","title":{"raw":"Key Terms","rendered":"Key Terms"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n \t
asteroid<\/dt>\r\n \t
a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
asteroid belt<\/dt>\r\n \t
the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are located; the main belt, where the orbits are generally the most stable, extends from 2.2 to 3.3 AU from the Sun<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
comet<\/dt>\r\n \t
a small body of icy and dusty matter that revolves about the Sun; when a comet comes near the Sun, some of its material vaporizes, forming a large head of tenuous gas and often a tail<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
Kuiper belt<\/dt>\r\n \t
a region of space beyond Neptune that is dynamically stable (like the asteroid belt); the source region for most short-period comets<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
near-Earth asteroid (NEA)<\/dt>\r\n \t
an Earth-approaching asteroid, one whose orbit could bring it on a collision course with our planet<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
near-Earth object (NEO)<\/dt>\r\n \t
a comet or asteroid whose path intersects the orbit of Earth<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
nucleus (of a comet)<\/dt>\r\n \t
the solid chunk of ice and dust in the head of a comet<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
Oort cloud<\/dt>\r\n \t
the large spherical region around the Sun from which most \u201cnew\u201d comets come; a reservoir of objects with aphelia at about 50,000 AU<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
\r\n \t
tail<\/dt>\r\n \t
(of a comet) a tail consisting of two parts: the dust tail is made of dust loosened by the sublimation of ice in a comet that is then pushed by photons from the Sun into a curved stream; the ion tail is a stream of ionized particles evaporated from a comet and then swept away from the Sun by the solar wind<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n
This book was adapted from the following: Fraknoi, A., Morrison, D., & Wolff, S. C. (2016). Key Terms In Astronomy<\/i>. OpenStax. https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/astronomy\/pages\/13-key-terms under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0<\/a><\/div>\r\n
Access the entire book for free at\u00a0https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/astronomy\/pages\/1-introduction<\/a><\/div>","rendered":"
\n
asteroid<\/dt>\n
a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
asteroid belt<\/dt>\n
the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are located; the main belt, where the orbits are generally the most stable, extends from 2.2 to 3.3 AU from the Sun<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
comet<\/dt>\n
a small body of icy and dusty matter that revolves about the Sun; when a comet comes near the Sun, some of its material vaporizes, forming a large head of tenuous gas and often a tail<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
Kuiper belt<\/dt>\n
a region of space beyond Neptune that is dynamically stable (like the asteroid belt); the source region for most short-period comets<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
near-Earth asteroid (NEA)<\/dt>\n
an Earth-approaching asteroid, one whose orbit could bring it on a collision course with our planet<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
near-Earth object (NEO)<\/dt>\n
a comet or asteroid whose path intersects the orbit of Earth<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
nucleus (of a comet)<\/dt>\n
the solid chunk of ice and dust in the head of a comet<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
Oort cloud<\/dt>\n
the large spherical region around the Sun from which most \u201cnew\u201d comets come; a reservoir of objects with aphelia at about 50,000 AU<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
tail<\/dt>\n
(of a comet) a tail consisting of two parts: the dust tail is made of dust loosened by the sublimation of ice in a comet that is then pushed by photons from the Sun into a curved stream; the ion tail is a stream of ionized particles evaporated from a comet and then swept away from the Sun by the solar wind<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
This book was adapted from the following: Fraknoi, A., Morrison, D., & Wolff, S. C. (2016). Key Terms In Astronomy<\/i>. OpenStax. https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/astronomy\/pages\/13-key-terms under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0<\/a><\/div>\n
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