Space Vocab Flashcards
What is orbit?
The circular path of an object as it revolves around another object.
What is a solar system?
A system of objects that revolves around a star.
What is a galaxy?
A group of solar systems, gas, stars, and dust held together by gravity
This is everything that exists around, on, or in the earth.
A universe
What is a satellite?
A natural or artificial object that revolves around another object in space.
What is an impact crater?
A large, circular pit in a planet of object caused by the impact if something hitting it.
What is an axis of rotation?
An imaginary line that something, such as a planet, spins or revolves around.
This the orbiting of an object around another object.
A revolution.
What is a season?
A period of the year determined by the position of the earth on it’s axis.
The time or date in which the sun passes the celestial equator.
An equinox .
What is a solstice?
When the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky, marked by the longest or shortest days.
What does Mare mean?
The mare is a large, dark, ballistic planes on the moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions
What is an eclipse?
An eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon caused by the revaluation of the moon around the earth. When the moon mover into the earth’s shadow, we see a lunar eclipse. When the moon is directly in between the earth and the sun, we see the moo’s shadow, causing a solar eclipse.
This is the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object experiencing the total effect of an eclipse.
Umbra.
The partially shaded outer region of the shadow caused by an opaque object.
penumbra
What is an Astronomical unit?
This is a unit of measurement in our solar system.
What is an ellipse?
A regular oval shape, traced by a moving point in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points is consistent.
What is a terrestrial planet?
This is a planet that is composed of primary silicate rocks or metals.
This is a planet of a relatively low density consisting of gas
Gas giants
What are asteroids?
Asteroids are I regularly shaped rocks that revolve around the sun.
What is a comet?
A comet is a ball of ice and rock that is seen in the sky.
What is a meteor?
A meteor is a quick flash of light seen in the sky, also known as a shooting star.
What is a meteorite?
A meteorite is an asteroid that breaks away from the asteroid belt and lands on earth.
What does geocentric mean?
When the earth is at the center if the solar system, it is said to be geocentric.
