Across
- 5. the study of all physical objects beyond Earth
- 7. the spinning motion of a body on its axis
- 8. the time required for the Earth to rotate once on its axis
- 11. when one solar system object passes between the Sun and another object casting a shadow
- 13. Belt the region of the solar system most asteroids occupy, roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
- 14. Planet the small, dense, rocky planets of the inner solar system
- 16. a small body of ice, rock, and cosmic dust loosely packed together that gives off gas and dust in the form of a tail as it passes close to the Sun
- 18. the elliptical motion of a body as it orbits another body in space
- 20. the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or approximately 150,000,000 km
Down
- 1. roughly, the amount of time required for the Moon to orbit the Earth once
- 2. one of the large planets made mostly of gases
- 3. an apparent pattern of stars in the sky, such as the Little Dipper
- 4. a unit of length equal to the distance that light travels through space in one year
- 6. System the Sun, its planets, and all other objects in orbit around the Sun or planets
- 9. the time required for the Earth to orbit the Sun once
- 10. a closed curve in which the sum of the distances from the edge of the curve to the two points inside the ellipse is always the same
- 12. any of a vast number of celestial objects that are visible in the clear night sky as points of light
- 15. a small, rocky body that revolves around the Sun
- 17. a large grouping of stars in space
- 19. path an object in space follows as it revolves around another object, such as the Earth around the Sun or a satellite around Earth