Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Earth Science Unit 5
Astronomy Vocabulary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Geocentric Universe | The idea that Earth was at the center of the solar system |
| Problems with the Geocentric Model: | Locations of the planets could not accurately be predicted |
| Problems with the Geocentric Model: | Changes in the apparent diameter of the Moon and Sun could not be explained |
| Celestial Object | any of the natural objects that can be seen in the sky |
| Apparent Motion | the way in which celestial objects appear to move across the sky |
| Celestial Sphere | the visible portion of the sky that celestial objects appear to travel on |
| Horizon | the edge of the visible portion of the celestial sphere |
| Zenith | highest point on the celestial sphere which is directly over the observer |
| Star Trails | long exposure photos of stars as they move across the sky |
| Circumpolar Stars | stars that move around a polar star |
| Polar Star | star directly above the North or South Pole |
| Altitude | angular distance above the horizon (0º to 90º) |
| Azimuth | angular distance along the horizon measured from due north (0º to 360º) |
| Heliocentric Model | current model of the solar system where the Sun is at the center |
| Rotation | the movement of an object in a circular motion around a line of axis |
| Period of Rotation | amount of time to make one complete rotation Example: Earth rotates 360º in 24 hours |
| Foucault Pendulum | large pendulum that when allowed to swing freely changes its path due to Earth’s rotation |
| Coriolis Effect | the tendency of all particles on Earth’s surface to be deflected from a straight line |
| Revolution | the motion of one body around another in an orbit |
| Period of Revolution | the amount of time required to orbit the Sun one time Example: Earth orbits the Sun in 365.25 days |
| Parallelism of Earth’s Axis | Earth’s tilted axis of 23.5º is always pointed to the same location in the sky giving us our different seasons |
| Winter Solstice | first day of winter (December 21) in the N. Hemisphere when the Earth leans away from the Sun |
| Summer Solstice | first day of summer (June 21) in the N. Hemisphere when the Earth leans towards the Sun |
| Vernal Equinox | first day of spring (March 21) in the N. Hemisphere when there are equal amounts of day and night |
| Autumnal Equinox | first day of fall (September 21) in the N. Hemisphere when there are equal amounts of day and night |
| Ellipse | the oval shape of a planet’s orbits |
| Eccentricity | the degree of flatness or “ovalness” of an ellipse |
| Foci | two fixed center points of an ellipse |
| Major Axis | longest straight lined distance across an ellipse |
| Minor Axis | shortest straight lined distance across an ellipse |
| Solar System | all the objects that orbit the Sun under its gravitational influence |
| Terrestrial Planets | solid surfaced planets with smaller diameters and higher densities that are close to the Sun. Mercury-Venus- Earth- Mars |
| Jovian Planets | gaseous planets with larger diameters and lower densities that are farther from the Sun. Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus-Neptune |
| Asteroids | solid rocky or metallic bodies that independently orbit the Sun |
| Moon | a body that orbits a planet or asteroid as they orbit the Sun |
| Crescent Moon | phase that is part way between a half moon and new moon or between new moon and half moon |
| Full Moon | phase that appears as an entire circle in the sky |
| Gibbous Moon | phase that is part way between a full moon and half moon or between a half moon and full moon |
| New Moon | phase where no part is visible from the Earth |
| Waxing Moon | to increase in size (lit portion) gradually |
| Waning Moon | to decrease in size (lit portion) gradually |
| Comet | “dirty snowball” mainly composed of solids that easily change to a gas when heated |
| Meteoroid | small fragment that orbits the Sun |
| Meteorites | a rock that leaves a visible streak as they pass through our atmosphere and strike Earth |
| Galaxy | a collection of billions of stars and various amounts of gas held together by gravity |
| Milky Way Galaxy | our solar system is part of a spiral shaped galaxy with 200 billion stars |
| Star | large ball of gas held together by gravity that produces tremendous amounts of energy and shines |
| Nuclear Fusion | the combining of smaller elements to form the nuclei of larger elements |
| Luminosity | a measure on how bright a star is compared to our Sun |
| Main Sequence Star | average size, temperature, and luminosity stars |
| Red Giant Stars | a luminous easily seen star that is in a late phase of stellar evolution |
| Super Giant Stars | star with an extremely high temperatures in the late stages of its stellar evolution |
| White Dwarf Stars | Earth sized star with a low luminosity and a hot surface |
| Universe | all the space, matter, and energy that exists in any place |
| Big Bang | states that all matter and energy started out concentrated in a small area and after a gigantic explosion, matter began to organize into subatomic particles and atoms |
| Electromagnetic Energy | energy that is radiated through space in the forms of transverse waves |
| Background Radiation | left over energy created by the explosion found in all parts of the universe |
| Doppler Effect | the apparent wave length shifting of electromagnetic energy caused by the relative motion between the energy source and the observer |
| Blue Shift | when Earth and the celestial object are coming close together the spectral lines move towards the blue wavelength |
| Red Shift | when Earth and the celestial object are moving apart the spectral lines move towards the red wavelength |
Created by:
user-1746037
Popular Earth Science sets