Science Vocab Flashcards
Solar system
The sun and its family of orbiting planets moons and other objects.
Galaxy
Millions and billions of stars held together in a group by there own gravity.
Universe
Space and all the matter and energy in it
Satellite
An object that orbits a more massive object.
Impact crater
A round pit left behind on the surface of a planet or other body in a smaller object strikes the surface.
Axis of rotation
An imaginary line about which a turning body such as earth rotates.
Revolution
The motion of one one body around another such as earth in its orbit around the sun
Season
One part of a pattern of tempature changes and weather trends over the course of a year
Equinox
In an orbit a position and time in wich the sunlight shines equally on the northern hemisphere and and the Southern Hemisphere.
Solstice
In an orbit a position and time during which one hemisphere gets its maximum area of sunlight.
Mare
A large dark plain solidified lava on the moon.
Eclipse
An event during which one object in space cast a shadow onto another
Umbra
The dark central region off a shadow
Penumbra
a region of lighter shadow that may surround and umbra
Astronomical unit UA
Earths average distance from the sun
Ellipse
An oval or flattened circle
Terrestrial planet
Earth or another planet smiler to earth that has a rocky surface.
Gas giant
A large planet that consist mostly of gases in a dense form
Asteroid
A small solid rocky body that orbits the sun
Comet
A body that produces a coma of gas and dust.
Meteor
A brief streak of light produced by a small particle entering earths atmosphere at a high rate of speed.
Meteorite
A small object from outer space that passes through earths atmosphere and reaches the surface
Orbit
The path of an object in space as it moves around another object due to gravity.
Geocentric
Having or representing the earth as the center as In former astronomical systems