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Astronomy Vocabulary
Unit 2 Vocabulary for Astronomy; Part 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomy | The scientific study of the universe; It includes the observation and interpretation of celestial bodies and phenomena |
| Geocentric | Describes the concept of an Earth-centered universe |
| Heliocentric | Describes the view that the sun is at the center of the solar system |
| Retrograde motion | The apparent westward motion of the planets with respect to the stars |
| Ellipse | An oval |
| Astronomical Unit (AU) | Average distance from Earth to the sun |
| Rotation | The spinning of a body, such as Earth, about its axis |
| Revolution | The motion of one body about another, as Earth about the sun |
| Precession | A slow motion of Earth's axis that traces out a cone over a period of 26,000 years |
| Perihelion | The point in the orbit of a planet where it is closest to the sun |
| Aphelion | The place in the orbit of a planet where the planet is farthest from the sun |
| Perigree | The point at which the moon is closest to Earth |
| Apogee | The point where the moon is farthest from Earth |
| Phases of the moon | The progession of changes in the moon's appearance during the month |
| Solar eclipse | An eclipse of the sun; A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves in a line directly between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on Earth |
| Lunar eclipse | An eclipse of the moon; A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through Earth's shadow |
| Crater | The depression at the summit of a volcano or that which is produced by a meteorite impact |
| Terrestrial planet | Any of the Earth-like planets, including Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth |
| Jovian planet | The Jupiter-like planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; These planets have relatively low densities and are huge gas giants |
| Nebula | A cloud of gas and/or dust in space |
| Planetesimal | Small, irregularly shaped body formed by colliding matter |
| Asteroid | A small, rocky body, which can range in size from a few hundred kilometers to less than a kilometer; The asteroids' orbits lie mainly between those of Mars and Jupiter |
| Comet | A small body made of rocky and metallic pieces held together by frozen gases; Comets generally revolve about the sun in an elongated orbit |
| Coma | The fuzzy, gaseous component of a comet's head |
| Meteoroid | A small, solid particle that travels through space |
| Meteor | The luminous phenomenon observed when a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up, popularly called a shooting star |
| Meteorite | Any portion of a meteoroid that reaches Earth's surface |
| Electromagnetic spectrum | The arrangement of electromagnetic radiation according to wavelength |
| Photon | A small packet of light energy |
| Spectroscopy | The study of the properties of light that depend on wavelength |
| Doppler Effect | The apparent change in frequency of electromagnetic or sound waves caused by the relative motions of the source and the observer |
| Refracting Telescope | A telescope that uses a lens to bend and concentrate the light from distant objects |
| Reflecting Telescope | A telescope that concentrates light from distant objects by using a concave mirror |
| Radio Telescope | A telescope designed to make observations in radio wavelengths |
| Hubble Telescope | The Hubble Telescope was placed in space in 1990 to gather more information and take pictures |
| Space Shuttle | A spacecraft placed into space that can land and is used for repeated journey's around Earth and Earth's orbit |
Created by:
gracebrown
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