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Astronomy Unit
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Orbit | The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space. |
Asteroids | Objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too numerous to be considered planets |
Asteroid Belt | The region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where many asteroids are found. |
Atmosphere | The mixture of gases that surrounds Earth. The outermost of the four spheres into which scientists divide Earth. |
Axis | An imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center and the North and South poles, about which Earth rotates. |
Black Hole | The remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small volume by the force of gravity. |
Comet | A ball of ice and dust whose orbit is a long, narrow ellipse. |
Constellation | A pattern of stars in the sky. |
Galaxy | A giant structure that contains hundreds of billions of stars. |
Light-year | The distance that light travels in one year. |
Meteor | A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth atmosphere. |
Meteroid | A meteoroid that has hit Earth’s surface. |
Milky Way | A cluster of stars in which our solar system is found. |
Astronomy | The study of the moon, planets, stars and other objects in space |
Spiral Galaxy | A galaxy whose arms curve outward in a pinwheel pattern. |
Heliocentric | A description of the solar system in which all of the planets revolve around the sun. |
Inner Planets | The four planets closest to the sun that are small and have rocky surfaces. |
Outer Planets | The four planets that are further from the sun and do not have solid surfaces: known as the gas giants |
Geocentric | A description of the solar system in which all of the planets revolve around Earth. |
Gravity | The attractive force between two objects |
Rotation | The spinning motion of a planet about its axis. |
Revolution | The movement of an object around another object in space. |
Inertia | The tendency of a moving object to continue in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place. |
Telescope | a device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer. |
Gas Giants | The name given to the four outer planets |
Big Bang Theory | The theory that there was an initial explosion that resulted in the formation of the universe. |
Waxing Phase | The phases of the moon from a new moon to a full moon. |
Lunar Eclipse | The partial of total blocking of one object by another. |
Gravity | The attractive force between two objects |
Geocentric | A description of the solar system in which all of the planets revolve around Earth. |