Solar System

Question 1

Orbit

Answer 1

the circular path of an object as it revolves around another object

Question 2

Solar system

Answer 2

The sun and its family of orbiting planets and moons and other objects

Question 3

Galaxy

Answer 3

Millions and billions of stars held together in a group by their own gravity

Question 4

Universe

Answer 4

Space and all the matter and energy in it

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

An object that orbits a more massive object

Question 6

Impact crater

Answer 6

a large, circular pit in the surface of a planet or other body in space usually formed when two bodies in space collide

Question 7

Rotation

Answer 7

An imaginary line about which a turning body such as earth rotates

Question 8

Revolution

Answer 8

The motion of one body around another, such as earth in its orbit around the sun

Question 9

Season

Answer 9

One of a pattern of temperature changes and other weather trends over a course of a year

Question 10

Equinox

Answer 10

In an orbit, a position and time in which sun shines equally on both hemispheres

Question 11

Solstices

Answer 11

In an orbit, a position and time during which one hemisphere receives the maximum sun light

Question 12

Mare

Answer 12

The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth’s Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for “seas”, by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas.

Question 13

Eclipse

Answer 13

An event during which one object in space casts a shadow onto another

Question 14

Umbra

Answer 14

the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse.

Question 15

Penumbra

Answer 15

the partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object.

Question 16

Astronomical unit

Answer 16

the mean distance from the center of the Earth to the center of the sun (about 149.6 million kilometers); used to measure distances in the solar system

Question 17

Ellipse

Answer 17

An oval or flattened circle

Question 18

Terrestrial planet

Answer 18

A planet that has a rocky surface

Question 19

Gas giant

Answer 19

a large planet of relatively low density consisting predominantly of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.

Question 20

Asteroid

Answer 20

a small object made of rock or metal that orbits the sun

Question 21

Comet

Answer 21

a body that produces a coma of gas and dust, a small icy body that orbits the sun

Question 22

Meteor

Answer 22

a streak of light in the sky that forms when a piece of rock from space burns up in Earth’s atmosphere (related term: shooting star)

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

a piece of rock or metal from space that strikes Earth’s surface

Question 24

Geocentric

Answer 24

having the Earth as the center

Question 25

Heliocentric

Answer 25

having the sun as the center

Question 26

Gravity

Answer 26

a force that exists between any two objects that have mass (related word: gravitational)

Question 27

Tide

Answer 27

the rise and fall of the ocean’s surface levels due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon (related word: tidal)

Question 28

Waxing

Answer 28

Become larger or stronger

Question 29

Waning moon

Answer 29

have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size.

Question 30

Gibbous moon

Answer 30

Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon

Question 31

Crescent moon

Answer 31

A crescent shape is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter, or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. It is used as the astrological symbol for the Moon, and hence as the alchemical symbol for silver.

Question 32

Full moon

Answer 32

the phase of the moon in which its whole disk is illuminated

Question 33

New moon

Answer 33

the phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and invisible from earth, or shortly thereafter when it appears as a slender crescent.

Question 34

Quarter moon

Answer 34

Occurs when the moon’s illumination is increasing, First Quarter.