Term | Definition |
Aristotle | an ancient astronomer that believed that all of the planets and the sun orbit around the Earth->Geocentric Theory |
Copernicus | an astronomer that believed that all of the planets orbit the Sun
->Heliocentric Theory |
Galileo | an astronomer that proved that all of the planets orbit around the Sun by using the first telescope |
Johannes Kepler | an astronomer that stated that all of the planets have an elliptical orbit around the sun |
Percival Lowell | an astronomer that built the famous observatory in Flagstaff, AZ |
Edwin Hubble | an astronomer that studied the big bang theory and had a telescope/satellite named after him |
Carolyn Shoemaker | a female astronomer who filmed a comet impacting Jupiter
*Arizona resident |
Neil Armstrong | first man to walk on the moon |
New Horizon | a space craft that is going to study Pluto |
Juno | a space probe that is going to study the atmosphere of Jupiter |
Orbiter | a space craft that orbits a planet and collects data |
Flyby | a space craft that flies by a planet and takes pictures |
Lander | a space craft that lands on a planet and collects data |
Probe | a space craft that drops into the atmosphere of a planet and records temperatures |
Mars Curiosity | a lander that is currently studying the surface of Mars |
Mercury Program | the first manned space program
1 astronaut in capsule |
Gemini Program | the second manned space program
2 astronauts in capsule |
Apollo Program | the third manned space program that sent astronauts to the Moon |
Skylab | first space station to orbit Earth |
Space Shuttle | manned space craft that looks like an airplane
*took people back and forth from the I.S.S |
I.S.S | international space station |
Rosetta Mission | a mission that sent a space probe to study a comet |
Universe | largest object in space
*full of galaxies and stars |
Galaxy | second largest object
*full of solar systems and stars |
Solar System | contains planets, a star, asteroids, comets, and moons |
Rotation | when an object spins on its axis
*causes day and night |
Revolution | when an object goes around another object
*causes the seasons |
Day and Night | caused by the Earth's rotation
*changes the most at the poles |
Axis | the imaginary line through the Earth
*tilted 23 degrees |
Seasons | patterns in temperature and weather changes throughout the year->Summer, Spring, Winter, and Fall |
Equinox | when the sun shines equally on both hemispheres
*Fall and Spring |
Solstice | when the sun shines more on one hemisphere than the other
*Winter and Summer |
Moon | the Earth's only natural satellite |
Mare | dark areas of the moon
*made of basalt |
Highlands | lighter areas of the moon
*made of anorthosite and regolith |
Craters | holes made in the Moon by meteorite impacts |
Moon Phases (8) | New Moon, Waxing Crescent, 1st Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter, Waning Crescent |
Waning | when the moon is "losing light"
*second half of the moon cycle |
Waxing | when the moon is "gaining light"
*first half of the moon cycle |
Lunar Eclipse | when the Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon
*the Moon is in the Earth's shadow and its Red |
Solar Eclipse | when the Moon blocks the Sun from the Earth
*the Earth is in the Moon's shadow |
Tides (High and Low) | the rising and falling of sea levels caused by the Moon's gravitational pull on the oceans |