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Big Idea 5
Earth in Space and Time
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Universe | Everything that exists, including all matter, energy, space, and time. |
| Galaxy | A huge group of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. |
| Solar System | The Sun and all objects that orbit it (planets, moons, etc.). |
| Nebula | A large cloud of gas and dust in space where stars can form. |
| Astronomical Unit (AU) | The average distance from Earth to the Sun (~93 million miles). |
| Light-year | The distance light travels in one year (used to measure space distances). |
| Planet | A large object that orbits a star, is round, and has cleared its orbit. |
| Dwarf planet | A round object that orbits the Sun but has not cleared its orbit. |
| Terrestrial planet | A small, rocky planet (like Earth or Mars). |
| Moon | A natural object that orbits a planet. |
| Asteroid | A small rocky object orbiting the Sun, mostly found in the asteroid belt. |
| Comet | An icy object that forms a glowing tail when near the Sun. |
| Meteoroid | A small piece of rock in space. |
| Meteor | A meteoroid burning in Earth’s atmosphere (“shooting star”). |
| Meteorite | A meteoroid that reaches Earth’s surface. |
| Gravity | A force of attraction between things that have mas |
| Mass | The amount of matter in an object. |
| Matter | Anything with mass that takes up space. |
| Volume | The amount of space occupied by a substance/object. |
| Orbit | The path an object follows around another object. |
| Rotation | Spinning of an object on its axis (causes day/night). |
| Revolution | Movement of an object around another (causes a year). |
| Axis | An imaginary line an object spins around. |
| Tilt | The angle of a planet’s axis. |
| Composition | What something is made of. |
| Sun | The star at the center of our solar system. |
| Asteroid Belt | A region between Mars and Jupiter with many asteroids. |
| Kuiper Belt | A region beyond Neptune with icy objects and dwarf planets. |
| Inner planets | The four rocky planets closest to the Sun. |
| Outer planets | The four large planets farthest from the Sun. |
| Gas giants | A large planet made mostly of gases (Jupiter & Saturn). |
| Ice giants | A large planet made of gases and icy materials (Neptune & Uranus). |
| Habitable zone (“Goldilocks Zone”) | The area around a star where conditions may support liquid water. "Not too hot, not too cold, but JUST RIGHT!" |
| Seasons | Changes in weather caused by Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun. |
| Star | A ball of hot gas that produces energy through nuclear fusion. (Ex. the Sun) |
| Nuclear fusion | The process where atoms combine to release energy (powers stars). |
| Apparent magnitude | How bright a star APPEARS from Earth. |
| Absolute brightness (magnitude) | The TRUE brightness of a star. |
| Luminosity | The total amount of energy a star gives off. |
| Temperature (of a star) | How hot a star is, shown by its color (blue = hottest, red = coolest). |
| Radius (of a star) | The distance from the center of a star to its outer edge. It describes how large the star is. |
| Red giant | A large, cooler star near the end of its life. |
| White dwarf | A small, dense, leftover core of a star. |
| Supernova | A powerful explosion of a dying star. |
| Black hole | A region in space with gravity so strong that nothing can escape, not even light. |
| Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) Diagram | A graph that shows stars by brightness and temperature. |
| Main sequence | The stage where a star spends most of its life. |
| Spectroscope | A tool that splits light to study a star’s composition. |
| Telescope | A tool that uses lenses or mirrors to collect and magnify light from distant objects in space so we can see them more clearly. |
| Geocentric model | An early model of the solar system that says Earth is at the center, and everything (Sun, Moon, planets, stars) revolves around Earth. |
| Heliocentric model | The modern model of the solar system that says the Sun is at the center, and Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun. |
| Constellation | A group of stars that form a pattern in the night sky as seen from Earth. The stars are not actually close together, but they look connected from our view. Constellations help people locate and study objects in space. (Ex. Orion and Big Dipper) |
| Moon phases | The changing appearance of the Moon as seen from Earth. |
| New moon | The Moon is not visible from Earth |
| Full moon | The entire Moon is visible. |
| Waxing | The Moon appears to grow larger. |
| Waning | The Moon appears to get smaller. |
| Tides | The rise and fall of ocean water caused by gravity (mainly from the Moon). |
| High tide | When ocean water is at its highest level. |
| Low tide | When ocean water is at its lowest level |
| Eclipse | When one object in space blocks another. |
| Solar eclipse | The Moon blocks the Sun from Earth’s view. |
| Lunar eclipse | Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon. |
Created by:
Ms. Wilhjelm
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