Space

Question 1

Orbit

Answer 1

the circular path of an object as it revolves around another object
because of gravity.

Question 2

Solar System

Answer 2

a system of objects that revolve around a star

Question 3

Galaxy

Answer 3

a group of solar systems, dust, and gas held together by gravity

Question 4

Universe

Answer 4

Space and all the matter and energy in it.

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

a natural or artificial object that revolves around another bigger object in space

Question 6

Impact Crater

Answer 6

A round pit left behind on the surface of a planet after a smaller object strikes the surface.

Question 7

Axis of Rotation

Answer 7

An imaginary line about which a turning body such as Earth rotates.

Question 8

Revolution

Answer 8

the orbiting of an object around another object, such as the Earth in its orbit around the sun.

Question 9

Season

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Equinox

Answer 10

In an orbit, a position and time in which sun shines equally on both hemispheres.

Question 11

Solstice

Answer 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.

Question 12

Mare

Answer 12

A large dark plain of solidified lava on the moon.

Question 13

Eclipse

Answer 13

an event durning which one object in space casts a shadow onto another.

Question 14

Umbra

Answer 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.

Question 15

Penumbra

Answer 15

the partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object

Question 16

Astronomical Units (AU)

Answer 16

the mean distance from the center of the Earth to the center of the sun (about 149.6 million kilometers); used to measure distances in the solar system

Question 17

Ellipse

Answer 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.

Question 18

Terrestrial Planet

Answer 18

A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals.

Question 19

Gas giant

Answer 19

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

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 around the sun

Question 22

Meteor

Answer 22

a streak of light in the sky that forms when a piece of rock from space burns up in Earth’s atmosphere (related term: shooting star)

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

a piece of rock or metal from space that strikes 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 is called a gibbous moon.

Question 31

Crescent moon

Answer 31

A crescent shape is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter, or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself.

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, or shortly thereafter when it appears as a slender crescent.

Question 34

Quarter moon

Answer 34

Occurs when the moon’s illumination is increasing