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Earth, Moon, and Sun
Unit 6 Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
star at the center of our solar system; sphere of glowing gases; greatest mass and greatest gravity in the solar system | Sun |
third planet from the Sun; has liquid water and an atmosphere that allow life to exist | Earth |
Earth’s only natural satellite; diameter is about 1/4 the diameter of Earth; gravity is 1/6 the gravity of Earth | Moon |
layer of air that surrounds the Earth and is made of a mixture of gases | atmosphere |
imaginary line about which an object rotates | axis |
combination of substances that make up the whole object; what an object is made of | composition |
the path that one object in space follows as it revolves around another object in space | orbit |
one orbit of an object in space around another object in space, such as a planet around the Sun or a moon around a planet | revolution |
the spinning of a planet, Moon or other object on its axis | rotation |
the path that the Sun appears to take across the sky each day from east to west | apparent movement |
movement opposite of the hands of a clock | counter clockwise |
landform caused by the impact of a meteorite that leaves a circular depression in the surface | craters |
a series of events that are repeated in the same order | cycle |
cycle caused by the rotation of Earth on its axis; 24 hours | day/night cycle |
a straight line passing through the center of a circle or sphere | diameter |
force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center | gravity |
a natural characteristic of the surface, such as landforms, liquid water or ice | physical features |
a celestial body orbiting another body in space | satellite |
a dark area or shape produced when a body comes between light rays and a surface | shadow |