Chapter 38 Flashcards
Moons phases
The phases of the moon
Meteorites
a meteor that survives its passage through the earth’s atmosphere such that part of it strikes the ground.
New Moon
the phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and invisible from earth, or shortly thereafter when it appears as a slender crescent.
Waxing crescent
The moons coming and going
First quarter
Moon phase between the New and Full Moon where exactly half of the side facing Earth is illuminated. This phase occurs approximately one week after New Moon.
Waxing gibbous
A waxing gibbous moon appears high in the east at sunset. It’s more than half-lighted, but less than full.
Full moon
the phase of the moon in which its whole disk is illuminated.
Waning crescent
The moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight.
Waning gibbous
A lunar phase or phase of the moon is the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun. ..
Last quarter
A last quarter moon looks half-illuminated. It rises around midnight, appears at its highest in the sky at dawn, and sets around noon.
Solar Eclipse
an eclipse in which the sun is obscured by the moon.
Lunar Eclipse
an eclipse in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the ea
Kuiper Belt
a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune, believed to contain many comets, asteroids, and other small bodies made largely of ice.
Oort Cloud
a hypothetical huge collection of comets orbiting the sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto; perturbations (as by other stars) can upset a comet’s orbit and may send it tumbling toward the sun
Plutoids
A plutoid is a trans-Neptunian dwarf planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) developed this category of astronomical objects as a consequence
Astronomical unit
a unit of measurement equal to 149.6 million kilometers, the mean distance from the center of the earth to the center of the sun.
Nebular Theory
the theory that the solar and stellar systems were developed from a primeval nebula.
Giant Impact Theory
The giant impact hypothesis proposes that the Moon was created out of the debris left over from a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. This is the favored scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon.
Solar core
The core of the Sun is considered to extend from the center to about 0.2 to 0.25 solar radius. It is the hottest part of the Sun and of the Solar System. …
Plasma
an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons in proportions resulting in more or less no overall electric charge, typically at low pressures (as in the upper atmosphere and in fluorescent lamps) or at very high temperatures (as in stars and nuclear fusion reactors).
Photosphere
the luminous envelope of a star from which its light and heat radiate.
Chromosphere
a reddish gaseous layer immediately above the photosphere of the sun or another star. Together with the corona, it constitutes the star’s outer atmosphere.
Corona
the rarefied gaseous envelope of the sun and other stars. The sun’s corona is normally visible only during a total solar eclipse when it is seen as an irregularly shaped pearly glow surrounding the darkened disk of the moon.
Planets
a celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star.
