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Astronomy Vocab
Vocabulary for Astronomy
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Astronomy | The scientific study of the universe; It celestial bodies and phenomena |
Geocentric | Describes the concept of an Earth's central universe. |
Heliocentric | Describes the view that the sun is the center of the solar system |
Retrograde Motion | The apparent westward motion of the planet with respect to the stars |
Ellipse | An oval |
Astronomical Unit | Average distance from Earth to Sun, 150 million kilometers |
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. |
Procession | A change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body |
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 fat the rest from the sun |
Perigee | The point at which the moon closest to Earth. |
Apogee | The point where the moon is farthest from Earth. |
Phases of the Moon | The progression of changes in the moon's appearance during the month |
Solar Eclipse | An eclipse of the sun, a solar eclipse occurs when the 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 volcano or that which is produced by a meteorite impact |
Ray | Any of a system of bright elongated streaks sometimes associated with a crater on the moon, |
Mare | The latin name for the smooth areas of the moon formerly thought to be seas. |
Rille | Long channel associated with Lunar maria: A rille looks similar to a valley or a trench. |
Lunar Regolith | A thin, gray layer on the surface of the moon, consisting of loosely compacted fragment material believed to have been formed by repeated of meterites. |