Phases Of The Moon

Question 1

the curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.

Answer 1

Orbit

Question 2

the collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit around the sun, together with smaller bodies in the form of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.

Answer 2

Solar system

Question 3

a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.

Answer 3

Galaxy

Question 4

all existing matter and space considered as a whole; the cosmos. The universe is believed to be at least 10 billion light years in diameter and contains a vast number of galaxies; it has been expanding since its creation in the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago.

Answer 4

Universe

Question 5

a celestial body orbiting the earth or another planet.

Answer 5

Satellite

Question 6

a crater on a planet or moon caused by the impact of a meteorite or other object, typically circular with a raised rim.

Answer 6

Impact crater

Question 7

the straight line through all fixed points of a rotating rigid body around which all other points of the body move in circles.

Answer 7

Axis of rotation

Question 8

an instance of revolving.

Answer 8

Revolution

Question 9

each of the four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours, resulting from the earth’s changing position with regard to the sun.

Answer 9

Season

Question 10

the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length (about September 22 and March 20).

Answer 10

Equinox

Question 11

either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

Answer 11

Solstice

Question 12

large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth’s Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for “seas”, by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas.

Answer 12

Mare

Question 13

an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination.

Answer 13

Eclipse

Question 14

the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse.

Answer 14

Umbra

Question 15

the shadow cast by the earth or moon over an area experiencing a partial eclipse.

Answer 15

Penumbra

Question 16

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.

Answer 16

Astronomical unit

Question 17

a regular oval shape, traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points (the foci) is constant, or resulting when a cone is cut by an oblique plane that does not intersect the base.

Answer 17

Ellipse

Question 18

is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Answer 18

Terrestrial planet

Question 19

a large planet of relatively low density consisting predominantly of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.

Answer 19

Gas giant

Question 20

a small rocky body orbiting the sun. Large numbers of these, ranging in size from nearly 600 miles (1,000 km) across (Ceres) to dust particles, are found (as the asteroid belt ) especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, though some have more eccentric orbits, and a few pass close to the earth or enter the atmosphere as meteors.

Answer 20

Asteroid

Question 21

a celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun.

Answer 21

Comet

Question 22

a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth’s atmosphere, becoming incandescent as a result of friction and appearing as a streak of light.

Answer 22

Meteor

Question 23

a meteor that survives its passage through the earth’s atmosphere such that part of it strikes the ground. More than 90 percent of meteorites are of rock, while the remainder consist wholly or partly of iron and nickel.

Answer 23

Meteorite

Question 24

having or representing the earth as the center, as in former astronomical systems.

Answer 24

Geoneric

Question 25

having or representing the sun as the center, as in the accepted astronomical model of the solar system.

Answer 25

Heliocentric

Question 26

the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass. For most purposes Newton’s laws of gravity apply, with minor modifications to take the general theory of relativity into account.

Answer 26

Gravity

Question 27

the alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and sun.

Answer 27

Tide

Question 28

the manufacturing of a phonograph record.

Answer 28

Waxing

Question 29

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

Answer 29

Waning

Question 30

a large fraction of the moon’s day side is facing our way. … Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed

Answer 30

Gibbous moon

Question 31

A crescent is a thin, curved shape that’s thicker in the middle and tapers to thin points at each end, like the little sliver of moon you might notice in the sky. Crescent was first used to describe the shape of the waxing, or growing moon, and if you listen closely you can hear its similarity to increase

Answer 31

Crescent moon

Question 32

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

Answer 32

Full moon

Question 33

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.

Answer 33

New moon

Question 34

Third Quarter. The moon is one-half illuminated by the sun. Occurs when the moon’s illumination is decreasing, Waning Crescent. The moon is less than one-half illuminated by the sun but less than one quarter illuminated.

Answer 34

Quarter moon