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Space Vocab. Science
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Revolution | The movement of an object in a circular or elliptical course around another or about an axis or center |
Rotation | The spin of an object in space |
Orbit | The elliptical PATH an object takes in space while revolving around another object |
Gravity | An attracting force due to mass or rotation |
Atmosphere | A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet |
Sun | A medium sized star;the center of our solar system |
Planet | A body that orbits around the sun or a star and does not produce its own light |
Terrestrial Planet | A small,dense, rocky planet similar to Earth (Inner planets) |
Gas Giant | A large, gaseous planet of the outer solar system with no known solid surface (Outer planets) |
Natural Satellite | A smaller body that orbits around a larger body |
Moon | A natural satellite of a planet (Note: satellites are natural or artificial bodies that revolve around more massive bodies such as planets) |
Artificial Satellite | Any human made object placed in orbit around a body in space |
Comet | A small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust loosely packed together |
Asteroid | a small, rocky body that revolves around the sun |
Meteoroid | a very small, rocky body found in space HINT: mini asteroid |
Meteorite | a meteoroid that reaches Earth’s surface without burning up completely HINT: It takes the “right” path to Earth |
Meteor | a bright streak of light caused when a meteoroid or comet dust burns up in the atmosphere NOTE: Many people call this a “shooting star”, but it is not) |
Thrust | The force that accelerates a rocket |
Orbital Velocity | the speed and direction a rocket must have in order to orbit Earth |
Escape Velocity | the speed and direction a rocket must have in order to completely break away from a planet’s gravitational pull |
Centripetal Force | the force that causes an object to follow a curved path |