AStronomy
Vocabularyangle of incidence: the angle that a line (as a ray of light) falling on a surface makes with the normal drawn at the point of incidence
asteroid belt: the region of interplanetary space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are found asteroid: any of the small rocky celestial bodies found especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter astronomical unit: a unit of length used in astronomy equal to the mean distance of the earth from the sun or about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) axis of rotation: the imaginary straight line that something (such as the Earth) turns around celestial: of or relating to the sky or visible heavens comets: a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun constellations: a group of stars that forms a particular shape in the sky and has been given a name crescent: the shape of the visible part of the moon when it is less than half full, a shape that is curved, wide at its center, and pointed at its two ends like a crescent moon earth's tilt: The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the plane of the ecliptic. It’s because of this tilt that the Earth experiences seasons as it orbits around the Sun. elliptical: shaped like a flattened circle equinox: either of the two times each year (as about March 21 and September 23) when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are everywhere on earth of approximately equal length force: physical strength, power, or effect galaxy: any one of the very large groups of stars that make up the universe gibbous: seen with more than half but not all of the apparent disk illuminated, marked by convexity or swelling gravitational pull: The attraction that one object has for another object due to the invisible force of gravity. gravity: the natural force that tends to cause physical things to move towards each other : the force that causes things to fall towards the Earth hemisphere: half of a sphere : half of a round object horizon: the line where the earth or sea seems to meet the sky hubble telescope: a telescope launched into orbit around the earth in 1990 to provide information about the universe in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet ranges inertia: a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force international space station: The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 kuiper belt: a band of small celestial bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune from which many short-period comets are believed to originate light year: a unit of distance equal to the distance that light travels in one year (about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers) lunar eclipse: an eclipse in which the full moon passes partially or wholly through the umbra of the earth's shadow mass: the amount of material an item contains which causes it to have weight in a gravitational field meteor: a piece of rock or metal that burns and glows brightly in the sky as it falls from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere meteorite: a piece of rock or metal that has fallen to the ground from outer space : a meteor that reaches the surface of the Earth without burning up entirely meteoroid: a meteor in orbit around the sun milky way galaxy: the galaxy of which the sun and the solar system are a part and which contains the myriads of stars that create the light of the Milky Way moon phases: A lunar phase or phase of the moon is the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun natural satellites: A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body north star (Polaris): the star toward which the northern end of the earth's axis very nearly points. oort cloud: a spherical shell of cometary bodies believed to surround the sun far beyond the orbits of the outermost planets and from which some are dislodged when perturbed to fall toward the sun orbits: a path described by one body in its revolution about another, one complete revolution of a body describing such a path planets: a large, round object in space (such as the Earth) that travels around a star (such as the sun) quasar: a very bright object in space that is similar to a star and that is very far away from the Earth and gives off powerful radio waves reflection: the return of light or sound waves from a surface revolution: the action of moving around something in a path that is similar to a circle
satellites: an object (such as a moon) that moves around a much larger planet: a machine that is sent into space and that moves around the earth, moon, sun, or a planet seasons: one of the four quarters into which the year is commonly divided solar eclipse: an eclipse of the sun by the moon solar system: our sun and the planets that move around it solstice: one of the two times during the year when the sun is farthest north or south of the equator speed of light: the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy and universality of the speed of light is recognized by defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second star: any one of the objects in space that are made of burning gas and that look like points of light in the night sky sun: the star that the Earth moves around and that gives the Earth heat and light, any star that has planets which move around it telescope: a device shaped like a long tube that you look through in order to see things that are far away tides: the regular upward and downward movement of the level of the ocean that is caused by the pull of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth universe: all of space and everything in it including stars, planets, galaxies, etc. velocity: the speed of something in a given direction. voyager 1: The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram (1,592 lb) robotic space probe of the outer Solar System and beyond, launched by NASA on September 5, 1977 waxing: to increase in size, numbers, strength, prosperity, or intensity waning: to decrease in size, numbers, strength, prosperity, or intensity |
We Choose the MoonWe Choose the Moon
Visit the site We Choose the Moon while you are watching the Apollo 11 mission you will be creating a new entry in your science notebooks. Title this entry "We Choose the Moon." In your science notebook you will be writing a 1-2 paragraph summary of the Apollo 11 mission. Once you have written the summary answer the following questions in your science notebook. Please write the questions, and remember to answer both questions using complete sentences. 1) In your own words why was the Apollo 11 mission so important? 2) Do you think the United States should go back to the moon, and why? When you are done quietly walk back and show Mr. Black your entry in your science notebook. This project is worth 50 points, 30 points for the summary, and 10 points for each of the two questions. Good luck, have fun, and may the odds ever be in your favor! Important LinksSpace.Com
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