Solar System Flashcards
(25 cards)
nebula
A nebula is a distinct body of interstellar clouds. Originally, the term was used to describe any diffused astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way
solar nebula
Solar nebula, gaseous cloud from which, in the so-called nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system, the Sun and planets are formed by condensation. Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg in 1734 proposed that the planets formed out of a nebular crust that had surrounded the Sun and then broken apart.
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or the absorption of energy
sunspot
Sunspots are dark, planet-sized regions that appear on the “surface” of the Sun. Sunspots are “dark” because they are cooler than their surroundings. … Sunspots are caused by disturbances in the Sun’s magnetic field welling up to the photosphere, the Sun’s visible “surface”.
terrestrial planets
The Terrestrial Planets. From top: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are called terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface like Earth’s terra firma. The terrestrial planets are the four innermost planets in the solar system.
prograde rotation
Retrograde motion in astronomy is, in general, the orbital or rotational motion of an object in the direction opposite the rotation of its primary, that is, the central object. It may also describe other motions such as precession or nutation of an object’s rotational axis.
retrograde rotation
Retrograde refers to an object that spins in the opposite direction of its orbit. Earth has a prograde rotation, and asteroid Bennu has a retrograde rotation, which means the two bodies rotate in opposite directions.
gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet mostly composed of helium and/or hydrogen. These planets, like Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system, don’t have hard surfaces and instead have swirling gases above a solid core
satellite
A satellite is a moon, planet or machine that orbits a planet or star. … Usually, the word “satellite” refers to a machine that is launched into space and moves around Earth or another body in space. Earth and the moon are examples of natural satellites. Thousands of artificial, or man-made, satellites orbit Earth
new moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the unaided eye, but its presence may be detected because it occults stars behind it
waxing crescent
The waxing crescent phase is the moon’s first step toward fullness. And it’s a very visible shift — the moon is completely invisible (while it’s new) until a tiny sliver is illuminated. The moon is considered a crescent only when less than one-half of it is visible.
1st quarter moon
First-quarter: The moon is 90 degrees away from the sun in the sky and is half-illuminated from our point of view. We call it the “first quarter” because the moon has traveled about a quarter of the way around Earth since the new moon. Waxing gibbous: The area of illumination continues to increase.
waxing gibbous
The Waxing Gibbous is an intermediate phase of the Moon that starts right after the First Quarter when the illumination is 50%. The name Gibbous comes from the Moon’s shape, which is less than a Full Moon but more extensive than the Third Quarter’s semicircle shape. Waxing means that the Moon is getting bigger
full moon
the phase of the moon in which its whole disk is illuminated.
waning gibbous
The Waning Gibbous is an intermediary Moon phase. It starts right after the Full Moon, and it lasts until the Third Quarter. When the Moon is in the Waning Gibbous phase, the sunlit part of the Moon is decreasing from 99.9% to 50.1%.
last quarter moon
The last quarter moon appears half-lit by sunshine and half-immersed in its own shadow. It rises in the middle of the night, appears at its highest in the sky around dawn, and sets around midday. The last quarter moon provides a great opportunity to think of yourself in a three-dimensional world in space
waning crescent
The Waning Crescent phase occurs when the illumination of the Moon decreases from 49.9% to 0.1%. It is an intermediary phase between the Third Quarter and the New Moon (when the Moon is almost invisible). The term Crescent refers to its shape. In this phase, the Moon looks like a boat or a banana.
solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which fully or partially blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned. Such alignment coincides with a new moon indicating the Moon is closest to the ecliptic plane
lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned with Earth between the other two, and only on the night of a full moon.
comet
a celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun.
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Historically, these terms have been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not resolve into a disc in a telescope and was not observed to have characteristics of an active comet such as a tail.
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes but much smaller than planets, called asteroids or minor planets.
meteoroid
a small body moving in the solar system that would become a meteor if it entered the earth’s atmosphere.
meteorite
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon
