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Unit 2 Vocabulary
Unit 2 Vocabulary Words
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Astronomy | the scientific study of the universe |
| 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 the earth to the sun |
| Roatation | the spinning of a book, 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 the earth |
| Phases of the Moon | the progression of changes in the moon's apperance 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 | a lunar 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 |
| Terrestial planet | any of the Earth-like planets, including Mercurys, Venus, Mars, and Earth |
| Jovian planet | the Jupiter-like planets; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune |
| Nebula | a cloud of gas and/or dust in space |
| Planetesimal | small, irregularly shaped body formed by colliding matter |
| Asteroid | a small, rocky body that can range in size from a few hundred kilometers to less than a kilometer |
| Comet | a small body made of rocky and metallic pieces held together by frozen gases |
| 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 meteroid enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up, popularly called a shooting star |
| Meteorite | any portion of a meteroid that reaches earths 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 | telescope named after the scientist Hubble |
| Space Shuttle | spacecraft that allows US astronauts to travel to space |
Created by:
DylanMcCarty22
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