Planetary Science

System

A collection of interacting parts

interacting

to act upon one another

subsystems

a system that also makes up part of a larger system

planet

an object that orbits a star and i’d massive enough for its own gravity to force it into a spherical shape

core

the center of earth made of iron and nickel

mantle

the layer of earth below the crust,upper part is solid and the lower part is semi-solid

crust

the rigid outer layer of earth

geosphere

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Earth’s core,mantle,and crust

hydrosphere

the interacting water on, under, and above Earth’s surface

atmosphere

a layer of gases that surround an object, held in place by gravity

biosphere

a system of interacting living organisms

solar system

a region of space occupied by a system objects orbiting a star, such as the sun and all things orbiting it

galaxy

an enormous collection of tens of millions of hundreds of billions of stars, interstellar gas and gas

universe

the sum total of all things that can be observed or detected

latitude

the angular distance north or south from earth’s equator

seasons

a period of the year identified by changes in hours of daylight and weather

axis

an imaginary axle that a planet spins around

rotation

spinning on an axis

revolution

the path one object takes to travel around another object

north star

the reference star pointed to by earth’s north pole

solstice

a day of the year when earth’s north pole is leaning ether towards or away from the sun

solar energy

energy from the sun

solar angle

the angle that sunlight strikes a suface

location

the position of an object relative to other objects

equator

the imaginary line that runs around the middle of the planet, halfway between the north and south poles

equinoxes

a day of the year when the sun’s rays shine straight down on the equator

moon

earth’s natural satellite

phases

each different shape of the moon

full moon

the phase of the moon that occurs when the moon is opposite of the sun as seen from earth

lunar

pertaining to the moon

solar

pertaining to the sun

crescent moon

the shape of the moon just after and before the new moon phase

new moon

the phase of the moon that occurs when the moon is in the direction of the sun as seen from earth

first-quarter moon

the phase that occurs halfway between the full and new moon

waning

getting smaller

waxing

getting bigger

lunar eclipse

when earth is exactly between the moon, and the sun, and the moon phases through the earth’s shadow

solar eclipse

when the moon passes exactly between the earth and the sun

what causes day and night?

the earth’s rotation of the earth on it’s axis

what causes seasons on earth?

the revolution of the earth around the sun and the tilt of the earth on its axis

what causes moon phases?

the changing of the of the position of the moon, sun, and earth

gravity

a force of attraction between masses