Transcript Earth-Space Vocabulary

Absolute Magnitude
• The actual brightness of a star.
Apparent Magnitude
• How bright a star appears to be in the
night sky.
Asteroid
•A large space rock
that orbits the sun.
Axis
• The imaginary line that
passes through the
center of the North and
South poles.
• The Earth rotates on its
axis.
Black Hole
•An object in space
with gravity so strong
that it pulls everything
into it, even light.
Comet
•A mountain-size
chunk of ice and
dust that orbits the
sun
Constellation
•A group of stars that
ancient people
thought formed a
picture in the sky
Corona
•The Sun’s
atmosphere.
Earth
• The only planet in our Solar
System with the right
environment to exist.
• ¾ of the planet is covered in
water.
• The only planet with liquid
water.
Eclipse
• The passing of one
object between the Sun,
causing a shadow.
• Examples: solar and
lunar.
Elliptical
•Having the shape
of an oval. (egg)
Equinox
• Day of equal hours of
day and night
• March 21(first day of
spring)
• September 21(first day of
fall)
Galaxy
•A group of stars,
gas, and dust.
Geographic Pole
•An imaginary point
through which the
Earth’s axis of
rotation passes.
Heliocentric Model
• The model that the Sun is the center of the
Solar System.
Light Year
• The distance light travels in one Earth
year.
• 9.5 trillion km.
Lunar Eclipse
•The Earth blocks the
Sun’s light and casts
a shadow on the
moon.
Magnetic Pole
•An imaginary point
through which the
Earth’s magnetic
axis passes.
Magnitude
• Brightness of stars.
• Absolute and Apparent.
Moon Phases
• New moon, waxing crescent,
first quarter, waxing gibbous,
full moon, waning gibbous,
third quarter, waning crescent,
new moon.
• Lunar Cycle- 27.3 days.
Orbit
•The path of an
object in space as it
travels around
another object.
Order of the Planets
My - Mercury
Very - Venus
Eager - Earth
Mother - Mars
Just - Jupiter
Sent - Saturn
Us - Uranus
Nine - Neptune
Pizzas - Pluto
Photosphere
•The visible surface
of the Sun.
Revolve, Revolution
• The movement of an object
around another object.
• orbit
• It takes the Earth one year to
make one revolution around
the Sun.
Rotate, Rotation
• The spin of something on its
axis.
• It takes the Earth one day to
make one rotation. (23
hours, 56 minutes)
Satellite
•A natural body, like the
moon, or an artificial
object that orbits
another object.
Seasons
•The year long cycle of
temperature changes
caused by the Earth’s
tilt as it revolves
around the Sun.
Solar Eclipse
•Moon blocks the Sun’s
light and casts a
shadow on the Earth
Solar Flare
•A brief burst of
energy from the
Sun’s photosphere.
Solar System
•A set of planets,
moons, asteroids, and
comets that are held
together by the gravity
of a star.
Solar Wind
•A fast moving
stream of particles
thrown into space by
solar flares.
Solstice
• Longest and Shortest Day
• Dec 21 (first day of winter)
least amount of daylight
• June 21 (first day of summer)
most amount of daylight
Star
•A large, gaseous,
self-luminous body
held together by
gravity.
Sun
• The huge, fiery-hot star at the
center of our Solar System.
• The sun gives off light and heat
energy.
• Without the Sun, life on Earth
could not exist.
• Causes weather
Sunspot
•A dark spot on the
photosphere of the
Sun, cooler than the
area around it.
Telescope
• An instrument that
magnifies distant objects,
making them appear larger.
• Uses a refracted convex
lens.
Universe
•Everything that exists
– planets, stars, dust,
gases, and energy.