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As LS1&2 Vocab GT
Astronomy Learning Sets 1&2 Vocabulary- GT
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Crater | a rounded depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or solid body. |
Impact crater | a crater formed when an object strikes a planet, moon, or solid body. |
Hypothesis | a prediction of what will happen to a dependent variable when a change is made to the independent variable while other variables are held constant. |
Meteoroid | a small-solar system body that has the potential to become a meteor. |
Meteor | an object that enters Earth’s atmosphere with such speed that it glows. |
Dwarf planet | a rounded solar-system body that is smaller than a planet. |
Asteroid belt | a region of the solar system between Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are located. |
Asteroid | a rocky or metallic solar-system body that revolves around the Sun, between 10 m and around 500 km in diameter. |
Comet | a small, icy solar-system body that revolves around the Sun and forms a tail as it gets closer to the Sun. |
Axis | a line through the center of a body, around which the body rotates, or spins. |
Day | the amount of time it takes a body to spin once on its axis. |
Phases of the Moon | the illuminated part of the Moon visible from Earth at a given time. |
Orbit | the path that a solar-system object takes in revolving around another solar-system object. |
Eclipse | the blocking of light from one object in space by another object in space, as seen from a particular location. |
Solar eclipse | when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, so that light from the Sun is partially or totally blocked. |
Lunar eclipse | when the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow so that some or all of the Moon can only be seen by reflected light from Earth. |
Total eclipse | the complete blocking of light from one object in space by another object in space, as seen from a particular location. |
Partial eclipse | the blocking of a portion of light from one object in space by another object in space, as seen from a particular location. |
Umbra | the dark, inner shadow cast by an object. |
Penumbra | the lighter outer shadow cast by an object. |
Corona | outer portion of the Sun’s atmosphere, consisting of superheated gases, can only be seen during a solar eclipse. |