Asteroid Alert Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 2. A distinctive cone-shaped structure that only forms in rock as a result of high pressure, such as underneath a meteorite impact.
  2. 4. An adjective used to describe something related to the Moon.
  3. 5. How bright an object in space appears from the Earth.
  4. 12. The process by which the age of a fossil or rock is determined through measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes.
  5. 14. To decrease in size, also known as waning - normally applied to the time when the illuminated part of the Moon is getting steadily smaller progressively each night.
  6. 15. To increase in size, also known as waxing-normally applied to the time when the illuminated part of the moon is getting progressively larger each night.
  7. 16. The phenomenon that occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align on the night of a full Moon, causing the Earth to block light from the Sun and cast a shadow on the Moon.
  8. 18. Space debris, a comet, or an asteroid that passes through the Earth’s atmosphere.
  9. 21. A rocky object that orbits the Sun.
  10. 26. An object that exists in the Universe, such as a planet or star, also known as a celestial body.
  11. 28. The region in the Solar System that contains many asteroids.
  12. 29. The galaxy that the Solar System belongs to , containing several hundred billion stars and shaped like a spiral.
  13. 30. A meteor that occurs randomly and not as part of a meteor shower.
  14. 33. Microscopic lines that form in the rocks of meteorite impact craters.
  15. 34. A natural phenomenon by which all things with all things with mass are brought towards one another.
Down
  1. 1. A lump of frozen gasses, rock, and dust that orbits the Sun.
  2. 3. How bright an object in space appears at a standard distance of 32.6 light-years or 10 parsecs.
  3. 6. An adjective used to describe a substance that has the characteristics of a gas.
  4. 7. The phenomenon that occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align, causing the Moon to block light from the Sun and briefly leave the Earth in Darkness.
  5. 8. A part of the year that differs in terms of climate and daylight, caused by the Earth’s tilted axis as it orbits the Sun.
  6. 9. A small lump of ice or rock formed when an asteroid or comet breaks apart.
  7. 10. A line through the center of an object, such as the Earth, that the object rotates around.
  8. 11. An object in space, such as an asteroid, whose orbit will bring it close to the Earth.
  9. 13. The route an object will travel through space.
  10. 16. One of the distinct shapes of the moon as seen from the Earth, caused by the position of the Earth, Sun, and Moon.
  11. 17. The group of planets and moons that orbit the sun.
  12. 19. The property of reflecting light.
  13. 20. An increased amount of meteor sightings that appear to come from the same point in the sky over a short period of time.
  14. 22. A thumbprint-shaped depression on the surface of a meteorite.
  15. 23. A large, bowl-shaped hole in the ground normally caused by explosions or impacts.
  16. 24. The act of turning or Spinning in a circle-the Earth rotates around an axis, creating night and day.
  17. 25. A system of millions of stars, and huge clouds of dust and gas, held together by gravity and the force of attraction.
  18. 27. An adjective used to describe something that repeats itself in the same order over a period of time.
  19. 31. A meteoroid that has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and hit the ground.
  20. 32. The curved path a planet or object takes as it travels through space.
  21. 33. A large, spherical object in space that orbits a star and is large enough that its gravity clears other objects from its orbit.