| A | B |
|---|
| astro | stars |
| cosmos | universe (this is the meaning, not the term) |
| "ology" | the study of |
| "onomy" | the order of |
| astronomy | the scientific study of stars/outer space |
| astrology | a system that seeks to link what happens in outer space to human life (e.g. horoscopes) |
| cosmology | the scientific study of the universe and its orgin |
| rotation | spinning |
| revolution | orbiting |
| satellite | any object that revolves around another object |
| moon | a natural (and usually large) satellite of a planet |
| planet | a satellite of the sun that is round and that has cleared its path |
| comet | an icy and gaseous body that orbits the sun on a highly elliptical orbit |
| meteor | a rock that survives crashing through Earth's atmospher |
| solar system | a star and all the objects that oribit it and/or are influenced by it |
| nebula | a cloud where stars are born |
| galaxy | stars that move together around a central point (due to gravity) |
| galaxy group/family | galaxies that move around a central point (due to gravity) |
| supercluster | galaxy groups that move around a central point (due to gravity) |
| The universe (note: this is the term, not the definition) | EVERYTHING (the "one form") |
| astronomical unit (a.u.) | used to measure distances in our solar system (equal to average distance b/w Earth and Sun) |
| light year (l.y.) | the distance light travels in one year (used to measure distances to objects outside our solar system) |
| Kuiper Belt | a ring/belt of objects that orbit the Sun -- begins with Pluto and extends outward |
| Oort Cloud | a sphere of rock and gas that may surround our solar system (source of long-term comets) |
| Proxima/Alpha Centauri | nearest stars to us after the Sun |
| Andromeda | nearest galaxy to us (not including our MWG) that is similar in size |
| Black Hole | a tear in "Space-Time" |
| Dark Matter & Energy | hypothesized to make up 96% of the universe -- even though we can't interact with it |
