unit verse vocab

Scientific models

is a scientific activity the aim of which is to make a particular part or feature of the world easier to understand, define, quantify, visualize, or simulate

Geocentric

having or relating to the earth as center

Heliocentric

having or relating to the sun as center

Creationism

the belief that the universe and the various forms of life were created by God out of nothing. Genesis 1-11

Big Bang Theory 

the Big Bang is a THEORY about the creation of the UNIVERSE

Big Crunch Theory

a theory that says that the universe will stop expanding outward, reverse direction, and pull back on itself to the single point

Nebular Hypothesis

the theory that the solar system evolved from a mass of nebular matter

Milky Way

the galaxy to which Earth and other components of our Solar System belong

Gravity 

the force that pulls an apple to the ground, pulls the moon toward Earth, keeps the planets in orbit and attract objects towards each other

Law of Universal Gravitation 

states that every object in the universe attracts every other object

Mass

he amount of matter in an object

Weight

the measure of the force of gravity on an object

Comet

a ball of ice and dust who orbits around the sun in a long, narrow ellipse

Asteroids

objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too numerous to be considered planets

Meteors 

the streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere

Meteorite

when a meteoroid burns in the atmosphere and hits the ground

Meteoroid 

a chunk of rock or dust in space that comes from comets or asteroids

Planet

any consolidated, large object which orbits a star

Revolution

the movement of one object around another, Earth around the sun, year; 365 1/4 days

Rotation

the spinning of the Earth on its axis, day and night (24 hours)

Celestial Sphere

giant spinning dome that the Greeks thought surrounded the Earth

Core

also called the Solar Core, is considered to extend from the center to about 0.2 to 0.25 solar radius. It is the hottest part of the Sun and of the Solar System. It is approx. 15,000,000°C if we convert that to Fahrenheit that would be 27,000,000°F

Photosphere

the visible surface of the Sun; the upper surface of a connecting layer of gases in the outer portion of the sun whose temperature causes it to radiate light at visible wavelengths; sunspots and faculae are observed in the photosphere

Corona

the outer atmosphere of the Sun made up of thin gases and can only be seen during a solar eclipse without telescopes its temperature is 1 - 2,000,000°C

Chromosphere

the lower level of the solar atmosphere between the photosphere and the corona

Solar Wind

streams of charged particles constantly given off by the Sun