Planet Vocab

Question 1

Orbit.

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Solar system

Answer 2

a system of objects that revolve around a star

Question 3

Galaxy 🌌

Answer 3

a group of solar systems, dust, and gas held together by gravity; our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy

Question 4

Universe

Answer 4

everything that exists in, on and around the Earth

Question 5

Satellite

Answer 5

The Moon is a natural satellite that orbits Earth. The planet Jupiter has many moons, four of which are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Artificial satellites are made by man and launched to orbit Earth and other planets.

Question 6

Impact crater

Answer 6

An impact crater is an approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body.

Question 7

Rotation

Answer 7

the spinning of a celestial body, such as a planet, around an axis

Question 8

Revolution

Answer 8

the orbiting of an object around another object

Question 9

Season

Answer 9

a period of the year determined by the position of Earth as it revolves around the sun

Question 10

Equinox

Answer 10

the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length (about September 22 and March 20).

Question 11

Solstice

Answer 11

either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

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 whereby one astronomical body passes between two other astronomical bodies

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 region of a shadow cast by an opaque

Question 16

Astronomical unit

Answer 16

The distance from earth to the sun

Question 17

Ellipse

Answer 17

A novel shape traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distance from two other points are constant

Question 18

Terrestrial planets

Answer 18

A planet made of rock

Question 19

Gas planet

Answer 19

A large planet with low density and consists of hydrogen and helium

Question 20

Asteroid

Answer 20

A small object made of rock or metal that orbits the sun.

Question 21

Comet

Answer 21

A body of ice and dust that travels in a long narrow orbit

Question 22

Meteor

Answer 22

A streak of light in the sky that forms when a piece of rock from space burns up in earths atmosphere

Question 23

Meteorite

Answer 23

A piece of rock or metal from space that hits earths 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

Question 27

Tide

Answer 27

The rise and fall of the oceans surface levels due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon

Question 28

Waxing

Answer 28

(Of the moon new and full)have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated,so that it appears to decrease in size .

Question 29

Waning

Answer 29

(Of the moon) 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.

Question 31

Crescent moon

Answer 31

Thin curved shape that’s thicker in the middle and tapers to thin points at each end

Question 32

Full moon

Answer 32

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

Question 33

New moon

Answer 33

The phase of the moon in which it is in conjunction with the sun and invisible from earth

Question 34

Quarter moon

Answer 34

Occurs when the moons illuminations is increasing