Outer Space Reading Vocabulary Study

Space Vocabulary List & Definitions

eclipse	at a particular observation point, the blocking of light from one celestial body by another, such as the eclipse of the sun by the interposition of the moon, or the eclipse of the moon by the earth's coming between the sun and moon.
galaxy	a system of billions of stars and other matter held relatively close to each other by gravity and separated from other such systems by vast distances.
gravity	the force by which a planet or other such body tends to draw objects toward its center.
asteroid	any of thousands of celestial bodies with diameters between one and five hundred miles that revolve around the sun in orbits located mostly between those of Jupiter and Mars; planetoid.
meteor	a small mass, speck, or remnant of matter traveling through space or falling to earth, or the fiery streak in the sky made by the friction of its passage through the earth's atmosphere; meteorite or meteoroid.
meteorite	a mass of stone or metal falling to earth from outer space; meteoroid.
moon	any planet's natural satellite.
orbit	the curved path in which a planet, satellite, or spacecraft revolves about another body.
planet	a large, nonluminous celestial body, esp. one of the nine in the solar system, that revolves around a star and often has one or more satellites.
satellite	a heavenly body that revolves around a planet or other larger body; moon.
black hole	a hypothetical region or body in space, possibly the remnants of a collapsed star, with such a strong gravitational pull that neither light nor matter can escape.
zenith	the point in the sky that is directly over the head of the observer.
comet	a heavenly body orbiting the sun, and having a nucleus surrounded by a nebulous sheath that may form an elongated tail when the body comes close to the sun.
constellation	any of eighty-eight groupings or patterns of stars named after the animals, objects, or mythological characters they are thought to resemble.