Lesson 1
A force of attraction that pulls objects without them touching. This force pull objects near Earth's surface toward Earth's center.
Gravity
How bright a star looks from Earth. One factor that affects this is a star's distance from Earth.
Apparent brightness
A complete spin. Earth makes one complete spin of these in 24 hours.
rotation
True or false: The Earth's shadows are the same every day.
False. They change because of the rotation of earth and its revolution around the sun.
The north!
A curved path that an object follow around another object. The sun's gravity causes Earth to do this around the sun.
orbit
A unit of measure used to describe distances between stars in space. It is equal to the distance light travels in one year.
light-year
To spin. Earth does this around its axis.
Rotate
What is an area of darkness that forms when light from any source is blocked? When caused by the sun, it changes in regular patterns.
shadow
We see different constellations at different times of the year. Why?
It is because of Earth's orbit around the sun and its placement in space.
The streak of light that a chunk of rock falling from space toward Earth produces.
meteor
How many minutes does it take from light to travel from the sun to Earth.
8 minutes
A part of the world where the same standard time is used. There are 24 of these in the world, one for each hour in the day.
time zone
A tool that uses the shadow cast by an object in sunlight to keep track of time during the day.
sundial
Daily double winner! Free 800 points
Add 800 points to the score!
A chunk of rock floating around in space.
meteoroid
What size is the sun's radius?
700,000 km
The imaginary line that Earth rotates around. It goes through the middle of Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.
axis
What direction should the shadow be in at 7:30 AM.
West
What do stars appear to move in an arc throughout the night?
Earth's rotation causes this to happen.
A piece of space rock that is left over when meteoroids hit the earth.
meteorite
Bonus question? Which is a constellation?
Ursa Major, Betelgeuse, Polaris, Sirius
Bonus question: The moon changes shape in the night sky because of ....
Moon phases
When is a shadow the longest? Winter or summer?
An astronomer is a __________________ who studies things in space.
scientist