Earth Sun Solar System Moon – Astronomy
In this lesson we discuss Earth Sun Solar System Moon – Astronomy.
Sphere:
a planet or star; heavenly body; a solid geometric figure generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its diameter; a round body whose surface is at all points equidistant from the center.
Axis
an imaginary line about which a body rotates.
Rotation
the movement or path of the earth or a heavenly body turning on its axis.
Revolution
the movement of one object around a central or another object
Eclipse
an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination
Solstice
either of the two times a year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator: about June 21, when the sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, or about December 22, when it reaches its southernmost point.
Moon Phase
When the earth blocks the sun so the moon is a different shape
New Moon
The moon is between the Sun and Earth. You can’t see the lighted half of the Moon.
Waxing moon
the moon at any time after new moon and before full moon
Full Moon
When the whole moon is visible
Waning
the moon at any time after full moon and before new moon
Solar Eclipse
an eclipse in which the sun is obscured by the moon.
Lunar Eclipse
an eclipse in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the earth’s shadow
Solar Noon
when the sun crosses the meridian and is at its highest elevation in the sky, at 12 o’clock apparent solar time.
Maria
Dark, flat, low-lying regions on the Moon’s surface
Impact basin
an approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body with the surface.
Solar System
Solar System: the sun together with all the planets and other bodies that revolve around it.
Mecury
the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System
Venus
The second planet from the sun, Venus is terribly hot, even hotter than Mercury. The atmosphere is toxic
Earth
The third planet from the sun, Earth is a waterworld, with two-thirds of the planet covered by ocean. It’s the only world known to harbor life
Mars
The fourth planet from the sun, is a cold, dusty place
Jupiter
The fifth planet from the sun, Jupiter is huge and is the most massive planet in our solar system.
Great Red Spot
a giant storm which has raged for hundreds of years on Jupiter
Saturn
the second-largest major planet, sixth from the sun.
Uranus
The seventh planet from the sun, Uranus is an oddball. It’s the only giant planet whose equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit — it basically orbits on its side
Neptune
The eighth planet from the sun, Neptune is known for strong winds — sometimes faster than the speed of sound.
Pluto
Once the ninth planet from the sun. It is smaller than Earth’s moon.Now considered a dwarf planet.
Comet
a celestial body moving about the sun, usually in a highly eccentric orbit, consisting of a central mass surrounded by an envelope of dust and gas that may form a tail that streams away from the sun.
Meteor
a transient fiery streak in the sky produced by a meteoroid passing through the earth’s atmosphere
Meteorite
a mass of stone or metal that has reached the earth from outer space; a fallen meteoroid.
Asteroid
any of the thousands of smallbodies of from 480 miles (775 km) to less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter that revolve about the sun in orbits lying mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter.
Latitude
the angular distance north or south from the equator of a point on the earth’s surface.
Longitude
angular distance east or west on the earth’s surface
Orbit
the curved path, usually elliptical, described by a planet, satellite, spaceship, etc., around a celestial body, as the sun.