Week 7- The Solar System

Milky Way- Our galaxy is called the Milky Way. It has this name because it appears in the sky like a long white strip, looking kind of like spilled milk. The Milky Way is a large spiral-shaped galaxy that contains hundreds of billions of stars.

Galaxy- a collection of billions of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity in space. Our solar system is a small piece of our galaxy. 

Comet: A frozen ball of gas, rock, and dust that orbit the Sun. When a comet gets close to the Sun, it heats up and the gas and dust form a tail.

Meteoroid: A small rock in space that orbits around the Sun. Most meteors have broken off larger objects such as asteroids or comets. They can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a pickup truck.

Meteor: The streak of light that is caused when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up due to friction. Also known as a shooting star.

Meteorite: A meteoroid that survives its trip through the atmosphere and lands somewhere on Earth. The impact of a meteorite can cause a crater on the surface of a planet.