Space

Question 1

the curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.

Answer 1

Orbit

Question 2

the collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit around the sun, together with smaller bodies in the form of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.

Answer 2

Solar System

Question 3

a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction

Answer 3

Galaxy

Question 4

all existing matter and space considered as a whole; the cosmos. The universe is believed to be at least 10 billion light years in diameter and contains a vast number of galaxies; it has been expanding since its creation in the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago.

Answer 4

Universe

Question 5

an artificial body placed in orbit around the earth or moon or another planet in order to collect information or for communication.

Answer 5

Satellite

Question 6

a crater on a planet or moon caused by the impact of a meteorite or other object, typically circular with a raised rim.

Answer 6

Impact Crater

Question 7

the straight line through all fixed points of a rotating rigid body around which all other points of the body move in circles.

Answer 7

Axis of Rotation

Question 8

the movement of one object around a center or another object

Answer 8

Revolution

Question 9

As Earth revolves around the Sun, it’s tilted axis causes some parts to be pushed toward the Sun and others away from it. During June, the Northern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, and places like North America, Europe, and Asia experience summer. During this time, the Southern hemisphere experiences winter.

Answer 9

Season

Question 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).

Answer 10

Equinox

Question 11

when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

Answer 11

Solstice

Question 12

large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth’s Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions.

Answer 12

Mare

Question 13

an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination.

Answer 13

Eclipse

Question 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.

Answer 14

Umbra

Question 15

the shadow cast by the earth or moon over an area experiencing a partial eclipse.

Answer 15

Penumbra

Question 16

a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun.

Answer 16

Astronomical Unit (AU)

Question 17

a regular oval shape, traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points (the foci) is constant, or resulting when a cone is cut by an oblique plane that does not intersect the base.

Answer 17

Ellipse

Question 18

a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Answer 18

Terrestrial Planet

Question 19

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

Answer 19

Gas Giant

Question 20

a small rocky body orbiting the sun. Large numbers of these, ranging in size from nearly 600 miles (1,000 km) across (Ceres) to dust particles, are found (as the asteroid belt ) especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, though some have more eccentric orbits, and a few pass close to the earth or enter the atmosphere as meteors.

Answer 20

Asteroid

Question 21

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.

Answer 21

Comet

Question 22

a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth’s atmosphere, becoming incandescent as a result of friction and appearing as a streak of light.

Answer 22

Meteor

Question 23

having or representing the earth as the center, as in former astronomical systems.

Answer 23

Geocentric

Question 24

having or representing the sun as the center, as in the accepted astronomical model of the solar system.

Answer 24

Heliocentric

Question 25

the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass.

Answer 25

Gravity

Question 26

the alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and sun.

Answer 26

Tide

Question 27

the moon at any time after new moon and before full moon, so called because its illuminated area is increasing.

Answer 27

Waxing

Question 28

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

Answer 28

Waning

Question 29

It’s easy to see a waxing gibbous moon in the daytime because, at this phase of the moon, a large fraction of the moon’s day side is facing our way. … Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed.

Answer 29

Gibbous Moon

Question 30

A crescent is a thin, curved shape that’s thicker in the middle and tapers to thin points at each end, like the little sliver of moon you might notice in the sky. Crescent was first used to describe the shape of the waxing, or growing moon, and if you listen closely you can hear its similarity to increase.

Answer 30

Crescent Moon

Question 31

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

Answer 31

Full Moon

Question 32

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.

Answer 32

New Moon

Question 33

As the moon waxes (the amount of illuminated surface as seen from Earth is increasing), the lunar phases progress through new moon, crescent moon, first-quarter moon, gibbous moon, and full moon.

Answer 33

Quarter Moon