🌌💫Space Vocab💫🌌 Flashcards
Solar system
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
Galaxy
a group of solar systems, dust, and gas held together by gravity; our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy
Universe
Everything that exists on and around the earth
Satellite
a natural or artificial object that revolves around another object in space
Impact crater
a crater on a planet or moon caused by the impact of a meteorite or other object, typically circular with a raised rim.
Axis of rotation
the straight line through all fixed points of a rotating rigid body around which all other points of the body move in circles.
Revolution
The orbiting of an object around another object
Season
a period of the year determined by the position of Earth as it revolves around the sun
Equinox
In an orbit a position and time in which the sun light shines equally on the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. A time of the year when daylight and darkness are nearly equal for most parts of the earth
Solstice
In an orbit a position and time during which one hemisphere receives it maximum area of sunlight while the other hemisphere receives it minimum amount The time of the year when the days are either longest or shortest.
Mare
A large dark plain of solicited lava on the moon
Eclipse
An event during which one object in space casts a shadow onto another
Umbra
The dark central region of a shadow such as the cone of complete shadow cast by an object
Penumbra
A region of lighter shadow that may surround a dark central region the spreading cone of lighter shadow cast by an object
Astronomical unit
Average distant from the sun which is approximately 93,000,00 or 150 million kilometers
