Test Unit 1: Science Vocab

Vocabulary flashcards covering key French-English astronomical terms and definitions from Unit 1 notes.

Astéroïde

A big rock that floats in space, mostly between Mars and Jupiter, not a planet.

Aurore boréale

Northern lights; colourful lights in the night sky caused by solar wind hitting the Earth, seen in the north.

Astrolabe

An old tool sailors used to find where they were by looking at the stars.

Chromosphère

The middle layer of the Sun, located just above the photosphere, that is red and hot.

Comète

A dirty snowball in space made of ice and dust that grows a bright tail when it gets near the Sun.

Constellation

A group of stars that looks like a shape, such as Orion the hunter.

Corps céleste

Any natural thing in space, such as a planet, star, moon, comet, or asteroid.

Couronne

The outer layer of the Sun, visible as the white glow seen during an eclipse.

Cratère d'impact

A big round hole left when a rock from space crashes into a planet or moon.

Décalage vers le rouge

Redshift; occurs when light from a galaxy stretches and looks more red, meaning the galaxy is moving away from us.

Elliptique

Oval-shaped; describes orbits since planets do not travel in perfect circles, but in ellipses around the Sun.

Éruption solaire

An event occurring when the Sun suddenly bursts out energy and hot gas.

Etoile

A huge ball of hot gas that makes its own light, like our sun

Galaxie

A giant group of billions of stars, gas, and dust all held together by gravity

Geante Gazeuse

A huge planet of gas, not a rock. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Geocentrique

Old idea that Earth is the centre of the universe wrong but people believed it for a long time

( Ptolemy & Aristotle )

Heliocentrique

Correct idea that the sun is the centre of our solar system and Earth goes around the sun

( Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton )

Lune

A natural object that orbits a planet.Our moon orbits Earth

Meteore

A shooting star.A rock from space burning up in Earths sky.

Meteorite

The same rock AFTER it lands on Earth and you can touch it

Meteoroide

The same rock Before it enters Earths sky. Still floating in space

Orbite

The path a planet or moon takes around something else

Photosphere

The bright surface of the sun that we see. The part that gives us light.

Planete

A big round object that orbits a star and is not a star itself

Planete Naine

Like Pluto. Too small to be a full planet, but still round and orbits the sun.

Planete tellirique

Small, hard, rocket. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Protuberance

A hot giant loop of hot gas that shoots out from the sun

Quasars

A super bright, super far away object in space powered by a black hole. The brightest things in the universe

Supernova

When a huge star explodes at the end of its life. Super bright

Tache Solaire

A dark, cooler spot on the sun

Trou noir

A place where gravity is so strong nothing, not even light, can escape

Unite Astronomique

The distance from Earth to the sun. Used to measure distances in space

Vent solaire

Charged particles blowing out from the sun all the time. This creates/causes auroras

Etoile faible mass

Nebluese- protoetoile- naine rouge- naine Blanche

Eteoile Mass intermediate

Nebleuse- protoetoile- Geante rouge- naine Blanche- naine noir

Etoile mass tres fort

Nebleuse- protoetoile- supergeante- supernova- trou noir ou Etoile a neutron