The moon and us
Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors oh my!
Astronomical instruments

Planets
Formation of our solar system
100

This moon phase occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align, with the Moon between the Earth and Sun

What is a new moon?

100

A ball of frozen gases, dust and rock that orbits the sun and has a bluish tail that glows

What is a comet?

100

Launched in 1990, this large space telescope and camera is still in earth's orbit today

What is the Hubble Telescope?

100

Similar in size to Earth, hottest planet, with a toxic atmosphere

What is Venus

100

Approximately 98% of the atomic matter in the Universe consists of these two elements

What is Hydrogen and Helium

200

This is the central, darker part of the shadow where light is totally blocked

What is the umbra?

200

The inner terrestrial planets and the outer gas giants are separated by this

What is the asteroid belt?

200

A vehicle that carries scientific instruments to planets or other bodies in space

What is a space probe?

200

The four planets that are considered the “gassy giants”

What are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune?

200

When our Earth formed, approximately

What is 4.5 billion years ago?

300

The phase where the illuminated portion begins to decrease after the Full Moon

What is waning gibbous?
300

A bright streak of light caused when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up

What is a meteor?

300

Isaac Newton added these to telescopes

What are mirrors?

300

This planet has a thin atmosphere and two moons

What is Mars?

300

The theory that a cosmic explosion sent matter floating in all directions

What is the Big Bang?

400

The Moon's orbit is slightly this compared to Earth's orbit

What is tilted?

400

Short-period comet visible from Earth every 74-79 years

What is Halley's comet?

400

The term for the bending and distorting of light

What is refraction?

400

Unique for its sideways rotation and smaller rings

What is Uranus?

400

The process where gravity pulls together gases and matter to form stars and planets such as Earth.

What is accretion?

500

The phase where more than half of the Moon is illuminated, leading up to the Full Moon

What is waxing gibbous?

500

A spherical region that surrounds the solar system, that extends from the Kuiper Belt to almost halfway to the nearest star, and that contains billions of comets

What is Oort Cloud?

500

This tool allows scientists to analyze the chemical makeup of distant materials

What are Spectroscopes?

500

Planets that are small, dense, and rocky: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars

What are terrestial planets?

500

The solar system formed from this, a large cloud of gas and dust in space

What is a nebula?