6th grade Astronomy Chapter 1

Question 1

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Answer 1

An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with a constant speed and direction unless acted on by a force

Question 2

Inertia

Answer 2

The tendency of an object to resist a change in motion

Question 3

Force

Answer 3

A push or pull exerted on an object

Question 4

Law of Universal Gravitation

Answer 4

Every object in the universe attracts every other object

Question 5

Weight

Answer 5

The force of gravity on an object

Question 6

Mass

Answer 6

The amount of matter in an object

Question 7

Gravity

Answer 7

The attractive fore between objects;

it’s strength depends on their masses and the distance between them

Question 8

Rotation

Answer 8

The spinning motion of a planet on its axis

Question 9

Revolution

Answer 9

The movement of an object around another object

Question 10

Orbit

Answer 10

The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space

Question 11

Axis

Answer 11

An imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center and the North and South poles, about which the Earth rotates. 23.5 degrees

Question 12

Solstice

Answer 12

The 2 days of the year on which the sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator.

Question 13

Equinox

Answer 13

• The 2 days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun
• Means “equal night”- each are about 12 hrs. long
• Halfway between the solstices

Question 14

Calendar

Answer 14

A system of organizing time that defines the beginning, length, and division of a year

Question 15

Phases

Answer 15

One of the different shapes of the moon as seen from Earth

Question 16

Lunar Eclipse

Answer 16

The blocking of sunlight to the moon that occurs when Earth is directly between the sun and the moon.

Question 17

Solar Eclipse

Answer 17

The blocking of sunlight to Earth that occurs when the moon is directly between the sun and Earth.
(NEW MOON)

Question 18

Eclipse

Answer 18

The partial or total blocking of one object in space by another

Question 19

Umbra

Answer 19

The very darkest part of the moon’s shadow

From any part in the Umbra, light from the sun is completely blocked by the moon

Question 20

Penumbra

Answer 20

The part of a shadow surrounding the darkest part

The larger part of the shadow in which part of the sun is visible from Earth

Question 21

Tide

Answer 21

The periodic rise and fall of the level of water in the ocean about every 12.5 hours
Caused mainly by the differences in how much the moon’s gravity pulls on different parts of Earth

Question 22

Neap Tide

Answer 22

A tide with the least difference between consecutive low and high tides
When the sun is at right angles to the line between earth & moon

Question 23

Spring Tide

Answer 23

The tide with the greatest difference between consecutive low and high tides
When the sun, moon, and Earth line up.

Question 24

Astronomy

Answer 24

The study of the moon, stars, and other objects in space

Question 25

Earths Circumference a the equator

Answer 25

25,000 miles. It takes 24 hours to rotate, once

Question 26

Jean Leon Foucault

Answer 26

French physicist. Proved in the mid-1800’s that the Earth rotates

Question 27

How long for Earth to make 1 revolution around the sun?

The glaxy?

Answer 27

1 year around the sun.

200,000 years around the galaxy

Question 28

Light year

Answer 28

The distance light travels in 1 year

186,400 miles/sec.

Question 29

Our nearest neighboring solar system

Answer 29

4.3 light-years away

Question 30

The farthest object in the known universe

Answer 30

12 billion light years away

A flashing quasar

Question 31

Ellipse

Answer 31

a slightly elongated circle