Solar System

Question 1

Nebula

Answer 1

a cloud of gas and dust in outer space, visible in the night sky either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.

Question 2

Solar Nebula

Answer 2

made from a collection of dust and gas. It is believed that the sun, planets, moons, and asteroids were formed around the same time around 4.5 billion years ago from a

Question 3

Nuclear Fusion

Answer 3

a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy.

Question 4

Sunspot

Answer 4

a spot or patch appearing from time to time on the sun’s surface, appearing dark by contrast with its surroundings.

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

a natural or artificial body that revolves around a planet

Question 6

New Moon

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Waxing Crescent

Answer 7

The moon is less than one-half illuminated by the sun but less than one quarter illuminated.

Question 8

Gas Giant

Answer 8

a planet that has a deep, massive atmosphere, such as Jupiter, Saturn, or Neptune

Question 9

Waxing Gibbous

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Full Moon

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Waning Gibbous

Answer 11

means that the moon is getting smaller

Question 12

Last Quarter Moon

Answer 12

is less than one-half illuminated by the sun but less than one quarter illuminated.

Question 13

Waning Crescent

Answer 13

The moon is one-half illuminated by the sun. Occurs when the moon’s illumination is decreasing,

Question 14

Solar Eclipse

Answer 14

an eclipse in which the sun is obscured by the moon.

Question 15

Lunar Eclipse

Answer 15

an eclipse in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the earth’s shadow.

Question 16

Comet

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Asteroid

Answer 17

a small rocky body orbiting the sun.

Question 18

Asteroid Belt

Answer 18

circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Question 19

Meteorite

Answer 19

meteor that survives its passage through the earth’s atmosphere such that part of it strikes the ground.

Question 20

Asteroid

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Asteroid Belt

Answer 21

the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and which most asteroids orbit

Question 22

Meteoroid

Answer 22

a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

a meteoroid that reaches the earths surface without burning up completely

Question 24

Meteor

Answer 24

a bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in the earths atmosphere