asteroid: A rocky object in orbit around the sun. Most asteroids orbit in a region that falls between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers refer to this region as the asteroid belt.
astronomer: A scientist who works in the field of research that deals with celestial objects, space and the physical universe.
astronomy: The area of science that deals with celestial objects, space and the physical universe. People who work in this field are called astronomers.
atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon.
celestial: (in astronomy) Of or relating to the sky, or outer space.
celestial object: Any naturally formed objects of substantial size in space. Examples include comets, asteroids, planets, moons, stars and galaxies.
eclipse: This occurs when two celestial bodies line up in space so that one totally or partially obscures the other. In a solar eclipse, the sun, moon and Earth line up in that order. The moon casts its shadow on the Earth. From Earth, it looks like the moon is blocking out the sun. In a lunar eclipse, the three bodies line up in a different order — sun, Earth, moon — and the Earth casts its shadow on the moon, turning the moon a deep red.
exoplanet: Short for extrasolar planet, it’s a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system.
lunar: Of or relating to Earth’s moon.
moon: The natural satellite of any planet.
occultation: A celestial eclipse-like event in which an object that appears large from Earth, such as the moon, obscures a smaller-seeming object, such as a distant star.
planet: A large celestial object that orbits a star but unlike a star does not generate any visible light.
Saturn: The sixth planet out from the sun in our solar system. One of the two gas giants, this planet takes 10.6 hours to rotate (completing a day) and 29.5 Earth years to complete one orbit of the sun. It has at least 145 named moons. But what most distinguishes this planet is the broad and flat plane of bright rings that orbit it.
solar: Having to do with the sun or the radiation it emits. It comes from solLatin for sun.
solar eclipse: An event in which the moon passes between the Earth and sun and obscures the sun, at least partially. In a total solar eclipse, the moon appears to cover the entire sun, revealing on the outer layer, the corona. If you were to view an eclipse from space, you would see the moon’s shadow traveling in a line across the surface of the Earth.
star: The basic building block from which galaxies are made. Stars develop when gravity compacts clouds of gas. When they become hot enough, stars will emit light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The sun is our closest star.
sun: The star at the center of Earth’s solar system. It is about 27,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Also a term for any sunlike star.
transit: (in astronomy) The passing of a planet, asteroid or comet across the face of a star, or of a moon across the face of a planet.
Source: www.snexplores.org
