Space Vocabulary 🌌

Question 1

the sun and its family of orbiting planets, moons, and other objects

Answer 1

solar system

Question 2

is a group of millions or billions of stars held together by their own gravity

Answer 2

galaxy

Question 3

space and all the matter and energy in it

Answer 3

universe

Question 4

is an object that orbits a more massive object

Answer 4

satellite

Question 5

when an object strikes the surface of a larger object in space, it explodes and leaves behind a round pit

Answer 5

impact crater

Question 6

earth rotates around an imaginary line running through its center

Answer 6

axis of rotation

Question 7

is the motion of one object around another

Answer 7

revolution

Question 8

patterns of temperature changes and other weather trends over the course of a year

Answer 8

seasons

Question 9

sunlight that shines equally on the northern and southern hemispheres

Answer 9

equinox

Question 10

a large, dark plain of solidified lava on the moon

Answer 10

mare

Question 11

occurs when a shadow makes the sun or the moon seem to grow darker

Answer 11

eclipse

Question 12

the darker shadow of the eclipse

Answer 12

umbra

Question 13

the lighter shadow of the eclipse

Answer 13

penumbra

Question 14

earth’s average distance from the sun, which is approximately 93 miles

Answer 14

astronomical unit (AU)

Question 15

the shape of each orbit

Answer 15

ellipse

Question 16

are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars - the four planets closest to the sun.

Answer 16

terrestrial planets

Question 17

is the path of an object in space as it moves around another object because of gravity

Answer 17

orbit

Question 18

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - are made mainly of hydrogen, helium, and other gases

Answer 18

gas giants

Question 19

small, solid, rocky bodies that orbit close to the Sun

Answer 19

asteroid

Question 20

an object that produces a coma

Answer 20

comet

Question 21

particles in space and air around them become hot enough to glow, making brief streaks of light

Answer 21

meteors

Question 22

a space object that reaches earth’s surface

Answer 22

meteorite

Question 23

having or representing the earth as the center, as in former astronomical systems

Answer 23

geocentric

Question 24

having or representing the sun as the center, as in the accepted astronomical model of the solar system.

Answer 24

heliocentric

Question 25

the force that objects exert on each other because of their mass

Answer 25

gravity

Question 26

the alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and the sun

Answer 26

tide

Question 27

the moon at any time after new moon and before full moon, so called because its illuminated area is increasing.

Answer 27

waxing

Question 28

have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size

Answer 28

waning

Question 29

having the observable illuminated part greater than a semicircle and less than a circle

Answer 29

gibbous moon

Question 30

the curved sickle shape of the waxing or waning moon

Answer 30

crescent moon

Question 31

the phase of the moon in which its whole disk is illuminated

Answer 31

full moon

Question 32

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

Answer 32

new moon

Question 33

the moon is one-half illuminated by the sun

Answer 33

quarter moon