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ASTRONOMY | The study of the moon, stars, and the objects in space. |
AXIS | An imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and the North and South poles, about which Earth rotates. |
ROTATION | The spinning motion of a planet about its axis. |
REVOLUTION | The movement of an object around another object. |
ORBIT | The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space. |
LATITUDE | The distance north or south from the equator, measured in degrees. |
SOLSTICE | The two days of the year on which the noon sun is directly overhead at either 23.5° South or 23.5° North. |
EQUINOX | The two days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun. |
VERNAL EQUINOX | The day of the year that marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. |
AUTUMNAL EQUINOX | The day of the year that marks the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. |
PHASE | One of the different shapes of the moon as seen from Earth. |
ECLIPSE | The partial or total blocking of one object by another. |
SOLAR ECLIPSE | The blocking of sunlight to Earth that occurs when the moon is between the sun and Earth. |
UMBRA | The darkest part of a shadow. |
PENUMBRA | The part of a shadow surrounding the darkest part. |
LUNAR ECLIPSE | The blocking of sunlight to the moon that occurs when Earth is directly between the sun and moon. |
TIDE | The daily rise and fall of Earth's waters on shores. |
GRAVITY | The attractive force between two objects; its magnitude depends on their masses and the distance between them. |
SATELLITE | Any object that revolves around another object in space. |
GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT | The orbit of a satellite that revolves around Earth at the same rate that Earth rotates. |
TELESCOPE | A device built to study distant objects by making them appear closer. |
CRATER | A round pit on the moon's or other surface, created by a force of impact. |
MARIA | Dark, flat regions on the moon's surface. |