Vocab

Question 1

Orbit

Answer 1

The circular or elliptical path of an object as it revolves around another object.

Question 2

Solar System

Answer 2

A system of objects that revolve around a star.

Question 3

Galaxy

Answer 3

A group of solar systems, dust, and gas held together by gravity; our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy.

Question 4

Universe

Answer 4

Everything that exists in, on and around the Earth

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

A natural or artificial object that revolves around another object in space.

Question 6

Impact Crater

Answer 6

An approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body

Question 7

Rotation

Answer 7

The spinning of a celestial body, such as a planet, around an axis.

Question 8

Revolution

Answer 8

The orbiting of an object around another object.

Question 9

Season

Answer 9

a period of the year determined by the position of Earth as it revolves around the sun

Question 10

Equinox

Answer 10

the twice-a-year occurrence during which Earth’s axis is perpendicular (at a 90 angle) to a line joining the Sun and Earth’s center

Question 11

solstice

Answer 11

the twice-a-year occurrence during which the Sun appears at the highest point in the sky as seen from the North or South pole

Question 12

Lunar Mare

Answer 12

The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth’s Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for “seas”, by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas.

Question 13

Eclipse

Answer 13

an event whereby one astronomical body passes between two other astronomical bodies

Question 14

Umbra

Answer 14

the dark central part of a sunspot.

Question 15

Penumbra

Answer 15

the less dark outer part of a sunspot, surrounding the dark core.
Origin

Question 16

Astronomical Unit

Answer 16

a unit of distance equivalent to the average distance from Earth to the Sun: 149,598,000 kilometers; abbreviated “AU”

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 (the foci) is constant, or resulting when a cone is cut by an oblique plane which does not intersect the base.

Question 18

Terrestrial Planet

Answer 18

Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The terms “terrestrial planet” and “telluric planet” are derived from Latin words for Earth (Terra and Tellus), as these planets are, in terms of structure, Earth-like.

Question 19

Gas Giant

Answer 19

a large planet of relatively low density consisting predominantly of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.

Question 20

Asteroid

Answer 20

a small object made of rock or metal that orbits the sun

Question 21

Comet

Answer 21

a body of ice and dust that travels in a long narrow orbit around the sun

Question 22

Meteor

Answer 22

a streak of light in the sky that forms when a piece of rock from space burns up in Earth’s atmosphere

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

a piece of rock or metal from space that strikes Earth’s surface

Question 24

Geocentric

Answer 24

having the Earth as the center

Question 25

Heliocentric

Answer 25

having the sun as the center

Question 26

Gravity

Answer 26

a force that exists between any two objects that have mass

Question 27

Tide

Answer 27

the regular fluctuation of sea water driven by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s oceans and other large bodies of water

Question 28

Waxing

Answer 28

Waxing is “Maxing,” or growing with light until a full moon is reached. Waning is the opposite, or decreasing after a full moon, and is always illuminated on the left. Then, there is a waxing or waning Gibbous moon, which means more than half of the moon is illuminated.

Question 29

Waning

Answer 29

Waning is the opposite, or decreasing after a full moon, and is always illuminated on the left. Then, there is a waxing or waning Gibbous moon, which means more than half of the moon is illuminated. And then a waxing or waning Crescent Moon, when less than half is illuminated.

Question 30

Gibbous Moon

Answer 30

Just after the First Quarter Moon, when we can see exactly half of the face of the Moon illuminated, the intermediate phase called Waxing Gibbous Moon starts. … Gibbous refers to the shape, which is less than the full circle of a Full Moon, but larger than the semicircle shape of the Moon at Third Quarter.

Question 31

Crescent Moon

Answer 31

The Moon as it appears early in its first quarter or late in its last quarter, when only a small arc-shaped section of the visible portion is illuminated by the Sun.

Question 32

Full moon

Answer 32

The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth’s perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon. This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth – the near side – is completely sunlit and appears as a circular disk

Question 33

Quarter Moon

Answer 33

A quarter moon occurs when we see the Moon half illuminated by the Sun, and half enshrouded in darkness. Since the illuminated side points towards the Sun, it tells astronomers that the Moon and the Sun are separated by 90-degrees from our perspective here on Earth.

Question 34

Perihelion

Answer 34

DescriptionApsis denotes either of the two extreme points in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The plural term, “apsides,” usually implies both apsis points; apsides can also refer to the distance of the extreme range of an object orbiting a host body.

Question 35

Aphelion

Answer 35

Apsis denotes either of the two extreme points in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The plural term, “apsides,” usually implies both apsis points; apsides can also refer to the distance of the extreme range of an object orbiting a host body