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Astronomy Vocab 2

Across
Earth’s rotation period as defined by the position of the Sun in the sky; the time between successive passages of the Sun through the meridian
a body of significant size that orbits a star and does not produce its own light. Terrestrial planets are made primarily of tock and tend to be smaller. Gas planets are made up of a variety of gases and tend to be much larger
an eclipse of the Moon, in which the Moon moves into the shadow of Earth; lunar eclipses can occur only at the time of full moon
a small body of icy and dusty matter that revolves about the Sun; when a comet comes near the Sun, some of its material vaporizes, forming a large head of tenuous gas and often a tail
the large spherical region around the Sun from which most “new” comets come; a reservoir of objects with aphelia at about 50,000 AU
the time it takes an object to travel once around the Sun, aka a year. A year is not the same on every planet.
the unit of length defined as the average distance between Earth and the Sun; this distance is about 1.5 × 108 kilometers
an object that revolves around a planet
either of the two moments in the year when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length. Vernal (Spring) equinox is around March 21, Autumnal (Fall) equinox is around September 23.
a body of gas of significant size that produces its own light through nuclear fusion of hydrogen
the different appearance of light and dark on the Moon as seen from Earth during its monthly cycle, from new moon to full moon and back to new moon
Down
a small piece of solid matter that enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up, popularly called a shooting star because it is seen as a small flash of light
an apparent displacement of a nearby star that results from the motion of Earth around the Sun
the largest unit of distance in astronomy, equal to 3.26 light-years; at a distance of 1 parsec, a star has a parallax of 1 arc second
(of a comet) a tail consisting of two parts: the dust tail is made of dust loosened by the sublimation of ice in a comet that is then pushed by photons from the Sun into a curved stream; the ion tail is a stream of ionized particles evaporated from a comet and then swept away from the Sun by the solar wind
either of the two moments in the year when the Sun’s apparent path is farthest north (summer solstice) or south (winter solstice) from Earth’s Equator. Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and occurs on June 20 or 21, Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year and occurs on December 21 or 22
a portion of a meteor that survives passage through the atmosphere and strikes the ground
a region of space beyond Neptune that is dynamically stable (like the asteroid belt); the source region for most short-period comets
the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are located; the main belt, where the orbits are generally the most stable, extends from 2.2 to 3.3 AU from the Sun
is the revolving of one object around another in an oval-shaped path called an ellipse
an eclipse of the Sun by the Moon, caused by the passage of the Moon in front of the Sun; solar eclipses can occur only at the time of the new moon
alternate rising and falling of sea level caused by the difference in the strength of the Moon’s gravitational pull on different parts of Earth
the distance light travels in 1 year, equal to 5,865,696,000,000‬ miles
the path of an object that is in revolution about another object or point
a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a major planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets
a natural satellite that revolves around a planet and does not generate its own light