Space Vocab Flashcards
The circular path of an object as it revolves around another object.
Orbit.
The sun and its family of orbiting planets, and moons, and other objects.
Solar System.
Millions or billions of stars held together in a group by their own gravity.
Galaxy.
Space and all the matter and energy in it.
Universe.
An object that orbits a more massive object.
Satellite.
A round pit left behind on the surface of a planet, or other body in space after a smaller object hits the surface.
Impact crater.
An imaginary line about which a turning body, such as Earth, rotates.
Axis of Rotation.
The motion of one body around another, such as Earth and its motion around the sun.
Revolution.
One part of the pattern of temperature changes over a course of a year.
Season.
In an orbit, a position and time in which sunlight shines equally on the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
Equinox.
In an orbit, a position and time during which one hemisphere receives it maximum area of sunlight while the other hemisphere receives its minimum amount. The time of the year when the days are either longest or shortest.
Solstice.
A large dark plain of solidified lava on the moon.
Mare.
An event during which one object in space casts a shadow onto another.
Eclipse.
The dark central region of a shadow, such as the cone of complete shadow cast by an object.
Umbra.
A region of a lighter shadow that may surround a dark central region. The spreading cone of lighter shadow cast by an object.
Penumbra.
Average distance from the Sun which is approximately 93,000,000 miles or 150 million kilometers.
Astronomical Unit (AU).
An oval or flattened circle.
Ellipse.
A planet that has a rocky surface.
Terrestrial Planet.
A large plane that consists mostly of gases in a dense form.
Gas Giants.
A small, solid rocky body that orbits the sun.
Asteroid.
A body that produces a coma of gas and dust, a small icy body that orbits the sun.
Comet.
A brief streak of light produced by a particle entering Earths atmosphere at high speed.
Meteor.
A small object from outer space that passes through Earths atmosphere and reaches the surface.
Meteorite.
Earth centered theory of the solar system.
Geocentric.
A sun centered theory of the solar system.
Heliocentric.
The force that objects exert on one another because of their mass.
Gravity.
The rise and fall of the ocean levels caused by the gravitational pull of the moon.
Tide.
The gradual increase of the illuminated surface of the moon.
Waxing.
(of the moon) have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size.
Waning.
It’s easy to see a waxing moon in the daytime because, at this phase of the moon, 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 (blank) moon. The word (blank) comes from a root word that means hump-backed.
Gibbous moon.
A (blank) 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. (Blank) 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.
Crescent moon.
the phase of the moon in which its whole disk is illuminated.
Full 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.
New Moon.
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.
Quarter Moon.
