Lesson 1
the study of outer space
What is astronomy?
someone who studies stars, planets, and everything else in outer space.
What is an astronomer?
when one object travels in a circle around another.
What is a revolution?
92,956,050 miles
What is the distance of the Earth from the sun?
Space rocks crashed into Mercury to make craters.
What are asteroids?
an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other
What is gravity?
man named patterns of stars in the night sky.
What are constellations?
a layer of mist and gases that cover Earth.
What is atmosphere?
dark spots on the sun that may cause changes in the weather.
What are sunspots?
Word that means Earth like or solid.
What is terrestrial?
pull that planets have on each other
What is gravitational pull?
Birds use these to know when to migrate and which direction to fly.
What are constellations?
Giant tower of fire darting out from the sun
What is a solar flare?
NASA spacecraft to study the sun.
What is SOHO?
NASA Spacecraft to study Mercury
What is Mariner 10 or Messenger?
has the most gravitational pull.
What is the sun?
Name 4 things that are included in our solar system.
What are any four of the following:
sun, 8 planets and their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids?
an eclipse where a ring of sunlight can be seen around the Moon.
What is an annular eclipse?
Name 4 features of Mercury.
What are:
extreme temps, small, terrestrial-rocky, dusty, craters, iron and nickel core, no moons, no atmosphere, sky is always dark, elliptical orbit, fast trip around the sun, slowly rotates
Mercury rotates more slowly or more quickly than Earth.
What is more slowly?
Name the 8 planets in order from the closest to the sun to the farthest away from the sun.
What are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune?
you can tell the difference between stars and planets in the sky by this.
What is do they twinkle? Stars twinkle and planets do not.
power from little explosions happening over and over in the Sun.
What is thermonuclear fusion?
A gaseous planet.
What is Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune?
Explain why the sky always looks dark on Mercury.
What is because there are no air particles to scatter the light?