Our Solar System and Beyond
Across
- 1. really large; enormous in number, size, or distance
- 4. Minor, the constellation made of seven stars named by Ptolemy that is also called the Little Bear; it is the Little Dipper
- 6. Major, the constellation named by Ptolemy that is also called Big Bear; it includes the Big Dipper
- 8. a very large cluster of billions of stars, dust, and gas held together by gravity and separated from other star systems by a large amount of space (galaxies)
- 11. to send a rocket into outer space (launched)
- 12. uneven; not regular in shape, size, or other characteristics
- 14. distance traveled by light over a period of years; a measure of length used in astronomy (light-year)
- 16. a force that pulls things toward one another
- 19. curved in shape; gradually winding around a center point
- 20. a very large number (billions)
Down
- 2. a scientist who studies stars, planets, and outer space (astronomers)
- 3. a place used to observe the sun, moon, stars, and outer space (observatories)
- 5. a number of things of the same kind that are together in a group
- 7. Galaxy, the spiral galaxy that is closest to the Milky Way Galaxy
- 9. join together (fusion)
- 10. the North Star; the brightest star at the end of the handle of Ursa Minor/Little Dipper that stays in the same place in the night sky all year long
- 13. the tiny particles from which all substances are made
- 15. Way Galaxy, the galaxy that contains Earth and the solar system in which it lies
- 17. a person who travels into outer space
- 18. stars that form a pattern or shape that looks like things, such as a person, an object, or an animal, as seen from Earth (constellations)