ssss Flashcards
the study of the moon, stars and other objects in space
astronomy
all of space and everything in it
universe
a huge group of single stars, star systems, star clusters, dust and gas bound together by gravity
galaxy
the name of our galaxy. (The word galaxy comes from the Greek word meaning “milky”.)
Milky Way
the system containing the sun and all the bodies (planets, moons, comets, asteroids, etc) that orbit it
solar system
a nearly round object that orbits the Sun and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
planets
a grouping of stars which have been given names by ancient astronomers because of the way they look
constellation
the distance that light (moving at about 186,000 miles per second) travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles.
light year
a natural or artificial object that revolves around another object in space
satellite
the amount of matter in a object
mass
the attractive force between objects; its strength depends on the objects’ masses and the distance between them
gravity
the path of an object as it revolves around another object in space
orbit
ellipse: an oval shape, which may be elongated or nearly circular; the shape of a planet’s orbit
ellipse
an imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center and the North and South poles, which Earth rotates around
axis
the spin of a body about its axis
rotation
