Space Vocabulary Flashcards
Orbit
the curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon, especially a periodic elliptical revolution
The sun and its family of orbiting plants and moons and other objects
Solar system
Half of the moon is illuminated
Quarter moon
The entire surface of the moon is not illuminated
New moon
Average distance from the sun which is 93,000,000 miles
Astronomical unit
The motion of one body around another,such as the earth in its orbit around the sun.
Revolution
The illuminated surface is less than a quarter illuminated.
Crescent moon
a region of dark shadow that may surround a dark central region
Penumbra
A large dark plain solidified lava on the moon.
Mare
Millions and billions of stars hold together in a group by their own gravity.
Galaxy
The dark central region of a shadow such as a complete shadow cast by an object.
Umbra
A body that produces a coma of gas and dust ,a small icy body that orbits the sun.
Comet
An event during one object in space cast a shadow onto another
Eclipse
More then half but less than fully illuminated
Gibbous
The path of an object in space as it moves around another object due to gravity
Orbit
A sun centered theory of the universe
Heliocentric Theory
The rise and fall of the ocean caused by the gravitational pull the moon and sun
Tide
The gradual decrease in the illuminated surface of the moon
Waning
Earth centered theory of the solar systems
Geocentric Theory
An oval or flattened circle
Ellipsis
A pattern of temperature changes the other weather trends over the course of a year.
Season
The force that objects exert on one another because of their mass.
Gravity
A round pit lift on the surface of a planet after a smaller object strikes it.
Impact crater
a large planet that consists of mostly gases in a dense form.
Gas giants
The entire surface of the moon is illuminated
Full moon
In an orbit,a position and time during which one hemisphere receives the maximum sunlight.
Solstice
An object that rotates a more massive object
Satellite
The gradual increase of the illuminated surface of the moon.
Waxing
