Science: Earth and Space Test 10

Ganymede

Largest moon in solar system

Deimos and Phobos

Mars' two moons

Summer Triangle

Formed by stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair

Full moon

Phase in which the entire sunlight side of the moon is visible

Hertzspring-Russell diagram

Two-dimensional graph that compares stars by temperature and brightness

Comets

Frozen chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun

Ellipses

Orbits of planets that are symmetrical ovals

Supernova

Explosion of a star

Granules

Convection cells that cover the sun's visible surface

Spicules

Flamelike columns of gas that continually erupt from the lowest layer of the sun's atmosphere

Barred spiral

The galaxy shape of the Milky way

Cassiopeia

Astronomical unit

Unit of measurement that is approximately equal to the distance between the sun and the earth

Photosphere

Visible portion of the sun

Taurus

Ursa Major

Retrograde

Describes Venus's backward rotation on its axis

Zodiac

Imaginary "band" in the sky in which the sun, moon, and planets travel

Satellite

An object that orbits another object

Orion

Circumpolar

Describes a star that is always above the horizon to an observer at a particular location

Asteroid belt's location

Between Mars and Jupiter

Cygnus

Celestial sphere

Imaginary sphere with Earth at the center and the heavenly bodies on its inner surface

Lunar month

Name for the period of time that the moon takes to orbit the earth

Saturn

Planet which contains a ring system

Kuiper belt

Group of small, icy objects that orbit the sun outside the orbit of the outermost planet

Absolute magnitude

Observed brightness that a star would have to an observer located 10 parsecs away

Coma

Cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the center of a comet

Isaac Newton

Person who developed the law of universal gravitation

Pulsar

A rapidly rotating star that emits directional beams of radio waves

Mare

Latin word that refers to the lunar "seas"

Third law of planetary motion

States the relationship between a planet's period and average distance from the sun

Mercury

Fastest moving planet

Parallax

Apparent change in the position of an object caused by an actual change in the position of the observer

Andromeda galaxy

The largest galaxy in the Local Group

Jupiter and Trojan asteroids

These asteroids and planet share an orbit

Main sequence

Category of stars that includes the sun

Black hole

Object so massive and dense that not even light can escape its gravity

Neptune

Outermost planet in our solar system

Jupiter

Largest planet in our solar system

Mars

Planet with the notable feature of Olympus Mons

Venus

Planet called "morning star" and "evening star"

Uranus

Planet that is a gas giant and seems to lie on its side

Perihelion

A planet's closest approach to the sun

Geocentric view

Idea that the earth is at the center of the universe and that the sun, planets, and stars all revolve around the earth

Sirius

Star in Canis Major constellation

Meteor

A small rock from space that is burning up as it passes through Earth's atmosphere

Asterism

A small group of stars that is used to form a picture or represent an object

Vega

Star in Lyra constellation

Nebula

A large cloud of gas and dust in space

Spica

Star in Virgo constellation

Astronomy

The study of God's creation beyond the atmosphere

Polaris

Star in Ursa Minor constellation

Solar eclipse

The phenomenon in which the moon passes between the sun and the earth

Aldebaran

Star in Taurus constellation

Castor

Star in Gemini constellation

Betelgeuse

Star in Orion constellation

Gobular clusters

Tightly clumped spherical groups of thousands or millions of stars that travel outside the boundaries of the Milky way in unusual orbits around the center of the galaxy

Regulus

Star in Leo constellation

Binary star

System in which two stars are bound together by gravity; these stars circle each other like the moon revolves around the earth

Open clusters

Loose, asymmetrical clumps containing tens to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of stars