THE S.S. FILES

GLOSSARY

CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

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comet -- a piece of ice wandering through space commonly called a "dirty snowball"

 

density -- under standard or given conditions of temperature and pressure, the mass per unit of volume of a substance

 

diameter -- the distance between the farthest points on an object

 

elliptical -- oval-like, refering to the orbit of celestial objects

 

gas giants -- the name given to planets composed mainly of gas, that are huge compared to other planets. In our solar system, gas giants refer to the four large outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

 

gravity -- the force that a celestial body exerts on any small mass close to its surface

 

hypothesis -- an educated guess or estimate

 

magnetic field -- the region of space around an electric current or magnet, where a dectectable force is exerted on a magnetic body at any point

 

mass -- a measure of the amuont of matter contained in a physical body

 

meteoroid -- a piece of rock that ranges in size from the size of a pea to miles across that wanders through space

 

moon -- a celestial object that orbits a planet

 

moonlets -- a celestial object that orbits a planet but is usually rather small and has an irregular shape

 

orbit -- the path taken by a celestial object around a larger celestial object

planet -- a celestial object that orbits a star

 

radiation -- the movement and emission of waves, atomic particles, etc., through space

 

star -- a huge, immense, ball of gas, that produces energy by nuclear fusion

 

terrestrial -- refering to a planet that is rocky, or made of rock. In our solar system, the four inner planets are refered to as terrestrial planets.

 

thermal inertia -- the time taken to absorb and conduct heat recieved from the Sun by a celestial object

 

 

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