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Astronomy Chapter 1 terms

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astronomy   The study of the moon, stars and other objects in space.  
axis   An imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and the North and South poles, about which Earth rotates.  
rotation   The spinning motion of a planet about its axis.  
revolution   The movement of a planet about its axis.  
orbit   The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space.  
latitude   A measurement of distance from the equator, expressed in degrees north or south.  
solstice   The two days of the year on which the noon sun is directly overhead at either 23.5 degrees South or 23.5 degrees North.  
equinox   The two days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun.  
vernal equinox   The day of the year that marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  
autumnal equinox   The day of the year that marks the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.  
phase   One of the different shapes of the moon as seen from Earth.  
eclipse   The partial or total blocking of one object by another.  
solar eclipse   The blocking of sunlight to Earth that occurs when the moon is between the sun and Earth.  
lunar eclipse   The blocking of sunlight to the moon that occurs when Earth is directly between the sun and moon.  
umbra   The darkest part of a shadow.  
penumbra   The part of the shadow surrounding the darkest part.  
tide   The rise and fall of the level of water in the ocean.  
gravity   The attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on their masses and the distance between them.  
spring tide   A tide with the greatest difference between low and high tides.  
neap tide   A tide with the least difference between low and high tides.  
satellite   Any object that revolves around another object in space.  
geosynchronous orbit   The orbit of a satellite that revolves around Earth at the same rate that Earth rotates.  
telescope   A device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer.  
crater   A round pit on moon's surface.  
maria   Dark, float regions on the moon's surface.  


   


 

 

 

 

 

 
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