Chapter 21

Question 1

What is one of the highly dense planets nearest to the sun; Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth.

Answer 1

Terrestrial Planet

Question 2

What is the counterclockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet’s North Pole; rotation in the same direction as the sun’s rotation?

Answer 2

Prograde Rotation

Question 3

What so the clockwise spin of a planet or moon as seen from above the planet’s North Pole?

Answer 3

Retrograde rotation

Question 4

What is a planet that has a deep, massive atmosphere, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune?

Answer 4

Gas Giant

Question 5

What is a natural or artificial body that revolves around a planet?

Answer 5

Satellite

Question 6

What is the change in the sunlit area of one celestial body as seen from another celestial body?

Answer 6

Phase

Question 7

What is an event in which the shadow of one celestial body falls on another?

Answer 7

Eclipse

Question 8

What is a small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust that follows an elliptical orbit around the sun and that gives off gas and dust in the form of a tail as it passes close to the sun?

Answer 8

Comet

Question 9

What is a small, rocky object that orbits the sun, usually in a band between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter?

Answer 9

Asteroid

Question 10

What is the region of the solar system that is between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and in which most asteroids orbit?

Answer 10

Asteroid Belt

Question 11

What is a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space?

Answer 11

Meteoroid

Question 12

What is a meteoroid that reaches the Earth’s surface without burning up completely?

Answer 12

Meteorite

Question 13

What is a bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 13

Meteor

Question 14

What is the average distance between the Earth and the sun; approximately 150 million kilometers? Symbol: AU?

Answer 14

Astronomical Unit