Chapter 3- Space Vocabulary

Question 1

Orbit

Answer 1

The circulatory movement of an object when it moves around another object

Question 2

Solar system

Answer 2

The sun and it’s family of orbiting planets and moons and other objects

Question 3

Galaxy

Answer 3

Millions and billions of stars held together in a group by their own gravity.

Question 4

Universe

Answer 4

Everything that exists in or out of the Earth

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

An object that orbits a more massive object

Question 6

Impact Crater

Answer 6

A circular pit in the surface of a planet or body of mass

Question 7

Rotation

Answer 7

The movement of a celestial body such as a planet around an Axis

Question 8

Revolution

Answer 8

The orbiting of an object around another object

Question 9

Season

Answer 9

A period of a year determined by the position of Earth as It revolves around the sun

Question 10

Equinox

Answer 10

A time or date which the sun crosses a celestial equator

Question 11

Solstice

Answer 11

Either 2 times in the year, the summer and winter solstice reaches its highest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days

Question 12

Mare

Answer 12

A large basalt level on the surface of the moon

Question 13

Eclipse

Answer 13

An event where by an astronomical body passes by two other astronomical bodies

Question 14

Umbra

Answer 14

The fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object

Question 15

Penumbra

Answer 15

The partially shaded region of a shadow cast by an opaque object

Question 16

Astronomical Unit (AU)

Answer 16

The distance from Earth to the sun

Question 17

Ellipse

Answer 17

An oval shape traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points are constant

Question 18

Terrestrial planet

Answer 18

Planets that are made of rock

Question 19

Gas giant

Answer 19

A large planet with low density and consists of hydrogen and helium

Question 20

Asteroid

Answer 20

A small object made of rock or metal that orbits the sun

Question 21

Comet

Answer 21

A body of ice and dust that travels in a long narrow orbit

Question 22

Meteor

Answer 22

A streak of light in the sky that forms when a piece of rock from space burns up in Earths atmosphere

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

A piece of rock or metal from space that hits Earth’s surface

Question 24

Geocentric

Answer 24

Having the Earth as the center

Question 25

Heliocentric

Answer 25

Having the sun as the center

Question 26

Gravity

Answer 26

A force that exists between any two objects that have mass

Question 27

Tide

Answer 27

The rise and fall of the ocean’s surface levels due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon

Question 28

Waxing

Answer 28

(of the moon between new and full) have a progressively larger part of its visible surface illuminated, increasing its apparent size.

Question 29

Waning

Answer 29

(of the moon) have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size

Question 30

Gibbous moon

Answer 30

Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full

Question 31

Crescent moon

Answer 31

thin and curved shape that’s thicker in the middle and tapers to thin points at each end

Question 32

Full moon

Answer 32

The phase of the moon in which its whole disk is illuminated

Question 33

New moon

Answer 33

The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and invisible from earth

Question 34

Quarter moon

Answer 34

Occurs when the moon’s illumination is increasing