Outer Space

1. A vast collection of stars, gas, and dust, typically 10,000 to 100,000 light-years in diameter and containing billions of stars
5. A solid body orbiting the Sun that consists of metal and rock. Most are only a few miles in diameter and are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
7. The fraction of the Moon or other body that we see illuminated by sunlight
9. Latin for “cloud",great clouds of glowing gas lit up by stars inside or nearby
10. A star ending its life in a huge explosion
11. An event that occurs when the shadow of a planet or moon falls upon a second body
12. An increase in meteor activity at certain times of the year due to Earth passing through a stream of particles along a comet’s orbit around the Sun

2. A slight tipping and tilting of the Moon from week to week that brings various features along the limb into better view
3. A distinctive pattern of stars used informally to organize a part of the sky
4. A “dirty snowball” of ice and rocky debris, typically a few miles across, that orbits the Sun in a long ellipse
6. Two stars that lie very close to, and are often orbiting, each other
8. The two times each year, near March 20th and September 22nd, when the Sun is directly overhead at noon as seen from Earth’s equator