Unit G - Exploring Space (Vocab) Flashcards
Satellite
Any object, natural or manufactured, that orbits another object
Spacecraft
Any vehicle, piloted or unpiloted, designed to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere
Teloscope
A device used to view or otherwise obtain information about distant objects
Astronomer
A scientist who studies objects and events beyond Earth’s atmosphere, such as the composition and movement of stars and planets
Comet
A “dirty snowball” of ice and dust that orbits the Sun; appear to have a fuzzy head and a long tail that streams away from the sun
Planet
An object that orbits a start and is larger than an asteroid and smaller than a star
Star
A body of gas sufficiently compressed by its own gravity for nuclear fusion to take place. The nuclear fusion creates the light, heat and other radiation associated with stars
Galaxy
A group of billions of stars, planets, etc.
Solar system
The Sun and all the objects, including Earth, that orbit the Sun
Asteroid
An irregularly shaped rocky object that orbits the Sun
Meteor
A piece of rock from space that burns upon entering Earth’s atmosphere
Astronomical unit
A unit of measurement equal to the distance between Earth and the Sun, approximately 150,000,000 km
Nuclear fusion
A nuclear reaction in which the nuclei of two smaller atoms combine to form a larger nucleus
Nuclear reaction
A process in which the nuclei of atoms either split or combine, releasing a large amount of energy
Remote sensing
The collection of information gathered at a distance
