Chapter 10, 11 & 12 Terms Flashcards
A natural object in space, such as the sun, moon, planet, or star.
Celestial Body
A distinctive pattern in the night sky formed by a group of stars.
Constellation
A constellation that never appears to set, or dip below the horizon. This classification depends on the postion of the viewer.
Circumpolar Consellation
A celestial body that orbits one or more stars, it is large enough that its own gravity holds it in a spherical shape.
Planet
A celestial body of hot gases with a nuclear furnace at it’s core that makes its own thermal energy.
Star
An ancient instrument used to locate and predict the positions of the sun, moon & planets.
Astrolabe
When the planets and the sun revolve around Earth
Geocentric
When the planets and earth revolve around the Sun
Heliocentric
The path of an object, such as a celestial body or an artificial satellite, around another body such as a star or a planet.
Orbit
Large loops of super-hot gas that extend from the suns surface.
Solar Prominence
Eruptions of gas on the suns surface, it can last a few hours, temps increase up to 11,000,000 *c and creates solar winds.
Solar Flare
Dark Patches on the sun’s surface that are slightly cooler, about 3500*c, than surrounding areas.
Sunspot
One of many small rocky bodies in our solar system, most of which orbit the sun between mars and Jupiter.
Asteroid
A small body made up of rocky material and ice that occurs in the Kuiper Belt and the Oort cloud.
Comet
A celestial body orbiting the sun that has enough mass to have a nearly round shape due to its own gravity, and does not orbit any other object than the sun.
Dwarf Planet
