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Solar System
Astronomy Unit: Solar System
Definition | Term |
---|---|
representing the Earth as the center; once believed that the Sun and planets revolved around Earth | geocentric |
representing the Sun as the center; accepted astronomical model of the solar system where Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun | heliocentric |
an optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer | telescope |
rocky | terrestrial |
planets made up of mostly gas; Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus | outer planets |
planets made of rocky surfaces; Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars | inner planets |
a natural force that pulls two objects toward one another; keeps planets in orbit around the Sun | gravity |
a rocky object that orbits the Sun and has an average size between a meteoroid and a planet | asteroid |
"dirty snowball"- a ball of frozen ice, dust, and rock best known for its long, streaming tail | comet |
“space rock”—a relatively small object traveling through space, between the size of a grain of dust and a small asteroid | meteoroid |
a natural object that revolves around a planet | moon |
decreasing in size; the amount of the bright side of the Moon visible to Earth is shrinking | waning |
increasing in size; the amount of the bright side of the Moon visible to Earth is growing | waxing |
the changing appearance of the Moon as seen from Earth | moon phases |
1-49% of the bright side of Moon is visible to Earth; any stage between new moon and first quarter or between last quarter and new moon | crescent moon |
51-99% of the bright side of Moon is visible to Earth; any stage between first quarter and full moon or between the full moon and the third/last quarter | gibbous moon |
the alternating advance and retreat of ocean water at the coastline influenced by the Moon's gravitational pull on Earth | tides |
when the Sun, Moon, and Earth form a right angle causing the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon to work against each other (during first & third quarter moon phases); smallest difference in water levels between low and high tide | neap tide |
occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are all in a straight line and the gravitational force is strongest (during full & new moon phases); greatest difference in water levels between high and low tide | spring tide |