Space Vocab

Question 1

Orbit

Answer 1

The curved path of an object around a star

Question 2

Solar system

Answer 2

The collection of eight planets and their moons orbit around the sun

Question 3

Galaxy

Answer 3

A system of billions of stars together with gas and dust

Question 4

Universe

Answer 4

All existing matter and space considered as a whole

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

An artificial body placed in orbit around the earth or moon or another planet in order to collect information

Question 6

Impact crater

Answer 6

A crater on a planet or moon caused by the impact of a meteorite or other object

Question 7

Rotation

Answer 7

The action of rotating around an axis or center

Question 8

Revolution

Answer 8

A forcible overthrow of a government or social order

Question 9

Season

Answer 9

Each four divisions of the year

Question 10

Equinox

Answer 10

The time twice a year the sun crosses the celestial equator

Question 11

Solstice

Answer 11

When the sun reaches its highest or lowest point

Question 12

Mare

Answer 12

A large dark basaltic plain on earths moon

Question 13

Eclipse

Answer 13

The sun blocking something

Question 14

Umbra

Answer 14

When the light source is completely blocked by occluding body

Question 15

Penumbra

Answer 15

The partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast

Question 16

Astronomical unit

Answer 16

The mean distance from the center of the earth to the center of the sun

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 is constant

Question 18

Terrestrial planet

Answer 18

A rocky planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals

Question 19

Gas giant

Answer 19

A large planet relatively low density mostly hydrogen and helium

Question 20

Asteroid

Answer 20

A large, irregularly shaped object in space that orbits our sun

Question 21

Comet

Answer 21

A celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust

Question 22

Meteor

Answer 22

A small body of matter from outer space that enters earths atmosphere

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

A meteor that survives its passage through earths atmosphere such that it strikes the ground

Question 24

Geocentric

Answer 24

Having the earth as a center

Question 25

Heliocentric

Answer 25

Having the sun as the center

Question 26

Gravity

Answer 26

The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth

Question 27

Tide

Answer 27

The alternate rising and falling of the sea

Question 28

Waxing

Answer 28

When the moon appears smaller than a quarter

Question 29

Waning

Answer 29

It rises later at night and appears in the morning sky

Question 30

Gibbous moon

Answer 30

Less than the full circle of a full moon

Question 31

Crescent moon

Answer 31

The moon appears early in its first quarter or late in its last quarter

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

Question 34

Quarter moon

Answer 34

When we see the sun half illuminated by the sun the rest covered in darkness

Question 35

Perihelion

Answer 35

When the planet is closest to the sun

Question 36

Apphelion

Answer 36

When a planet is its farthest from the sun