Download Name: Period:______ Date:______ Astronomy Vocabulary DUE

Name:__________________________________ Period:_________ Date:_________ Astronomy Vocabulary
DUE DATE__________________
To help you learn the up and coming vocabulary for the unit, students are to APPLY the vocabulary terms in
different ways to assist in long term memory to be applied in labs in the future. In the box provided, provide eth
application strategy that is necessary for each term. MUST be neat and COLORED.
1.
solar eclipse- The blocking of sunlight to Earth that occurs when the moon is directly between the sun
and Earth. Provide a diagram:
2.
lunar eclipse- The blocking of sunlight that occurs when the Earth is directly between the sun and the
moon. Provide a diagram:
3.
umbra- The darkest part of the shadow during an eclipse.
Provide a diagram:
4.
penumbra- The lighter part of the shadow during an eclipse.
Provide a diagram:
5.
spring tide- The tide with the greatest difference between high and low tide that occurs when the sun
and moon are in a straight line. Occurs during new and full moon phases.
Provide a diagram:
6.
neap tide- A tide with the lease distance between the low and high tides when the sun and moon pull
at right angles to each other.
Provide a diagram:
7.
gravity-The force that pulls objects toward each other.
Draw a cartoon:
8. Retrograde motion- The apparent backward movement of a planet in the sky.
Draw an image:
9. Apogee – The farthest point in the moon’s orbit around Earth.
10. Perigee – The closes point in the moon’s orbit around Earth.
Draw an image that labels both apogee and perigee:
11.
Spiral Galaxy- A galaxy with a bulge in the middle and arms that spiral outward in a pinwheel pattern.
Draw an example:
12.
Elliptical galaxy- A galaxy shaped like a round flattened ball or oval.
Draw an example:
13.
Irregular galaxy- a cluster of stars with no specific shape or form.
Draw an example:
14.
constellation- a cluster of stars that make a pattern.
Draw an example:
15.
Hubble’s Law- The observation that the farther away the galaxy is, the faster it is moving away.
Draw a cartoon:
16.
nebula- A large cloud of dust and gas in space.
Draw a REAL example and provide the name:
Name of famous nebula:_______________
17.
supernova- a massive explosion of a dying star.
Draw the steps and phases(before and after):
18.
nuclear fusion- The combing of two atomic nuclei to produce a single larger nucleus and much more
energy. (ex: hydrogen in the core of the sun join together to create helium and massive amounts of energy.)
Draw a diagram (what comes together and what is released):
19.
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram- a graph that demonstrates the positive relationship between
temperature and color/brightness. As temperature increases, brightness increases.
Draw and label the chart:
20.
Giant Star- an enormous red star that is ten times larger than our sun but much cooler with
temperature of only 3000°.
Draw an example, show color, size and temperature:
21.
Protostar- a baby star that is just beginning to form in a nebula.
Draw a cartoon:
22.
Neutron Star- a extremely high-mass, dense blue star with a size smaller than our moon and a
temperature of 35,000°C.
Draw an example, show color, size and temperature:
23.
Blackhole- an object with gravity that is so enormous the nothing can exist, not even light can escape.
Draw a cartoon:
24.
White Dwarf- a white star with size about the size of Earth and a temperature around 10,000 to
15,000°C.
Draw an example, show color, size and temperature:
25.
Medium Star- a yellow star in the middle of its life (our Sun is a medium star)
Draw an example, show color, size and temperature:
26.
Big Bang theory- The initial explosion that resulted in the formation and expansion of the universe.
This explosion release hydrogen and helium which make-up 99% of our know universe.
Draw and label the events of what happened and a timeline of what was created.
27.
Asteroids- very large (size of a country or continent) chunks of rock that are large enough to feel the
gravitational pull of the Sun but not large enough to be a planet. (usually found in the Asteroid Belt between
Mars and Jupiter)
28.
Comet- a loose collection of ice, dust, with a small rock core and a tail of debris that orbits the Sun.
29.
Meteor- A streak of light in the sky produced by a meteoroid burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
(referred to as a “shooting star”)
30.
Meteoroid- a meteoroid that withstands the burning through the Earth’s atmosphere and lands on the
Earth’s surface.
Draw, LABEL and color each below- be sure to demonstrate the difference between the four object
(#27-30)
31.
Redshift- A shift of light towards the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum of light to show that an
object is moving AWAY from Earth. (blueshift would show the object is moving towards Earth).
Draw a diagram:
32. Synchronous Rotation – The state in which a planet or moon’s rotation and revolution are equal.
Draw a diagram:
33. Solstice – A point in the year when the north or south poles is pointed directly at the sun at noon.
Draw a diagram:
34. Equinox – Point in the year when Earth’s axis is perpendicular to the suns rays at noon. (neither pole points
to the sun)
Draw a diagram:
35. Regolith – Layer of loose, ground up rock on the surface of the moon.
Draw an image:
36. Rilles – Valley-like structures on the moon’s surface formed by old collapsed lava tubes.
Draw an image:
37. Ejecta – Material blasted out from the moon’s surface after a collision that falls back to its surface.
Draw an image:
38. Rays – Long trails of ejecta (see #40), that radiate outward from the center of a crater.
Draw an image:
39. Highland – Mountainous areas on the moon that surround crater impact areas.
Draw an image:
40. Maria – Dark, smooth plains on the moon’s surface formed by old dried up lava lakes.
Draw a diagram:
41. Albedo – Percentage of incoming light that is reflected off the surface of a moon or planet.
Draw 2 examples:
42. Dark Matter – An unknown substance, thought to be made of some new sub-atomic particle, which is
believed to make up the majority of the mass in every galaxy.
Draw an image:
43. Dark Energy – A hypothetical force/energy that is causing the known universe to expand at an accelerating
rate.
Draw a diagram:
44. Background Radiation – The leftover debris, dust, and radiation (energy) from the initial big bang
explosion that is found in every area of our universe.
Draw a diagram:
45. Eccentricity – ratio of the distance between the foci to the length of the major axis; defines the shape of a
planet’s orbit (more elliptical or circular).
Draw a diagram:
46. Satellite- an object, otherwise known as a moon, that revolves around a planet.
Draw an example:
47. Orbit- the PATH that an object takes around another object.
Draw a diagram:
48. Revolution- the TIME it takes for an object to go around another object.
Draw a diagram:
49. Rotation- the spinning of an object on its axis.
Draw a diagram:
50. dwarf planet- a small object that has little mass and gravitational pull that revolves around the Sun but
stays within its “neighborhood”.
Draw an example, in its neighborhood: