Across
- 2. An invisible line around the Earth, 23° south (below) the equator.
- 6. planetary-mass objects that wander through the cosmos without orbiting a parent star. Instead of being bound to a solar system, they drift independently through interstellar space, isolated in the dark
- 12. an unimaginably massive, low-density region of the universe that contains far fewer galaxies and matter than the surrounding space
- 13. In the deep vacuum of space, two pieces of clean, unoxidized metal that touch each other will instantly fuse into a single piece. If moving parts on a spacecraft touch, they can permanently lock up
- 14. If you were to fall into a black hole, the gravitational pull at your feet would be so much stronger than at your head that you would be stretched out like a noodle.
- 15. Stars that siphon the life and matter out of their smaller neighbor stars to stay young and bright.
- 16. a period of exceptionally high and low ocean tides. It occurs twice a month during the new moon and full moon phases when the Earth, Moon, and Sun align in a straight line
- 19. The brightest objects in the universe, powered by supermassive black holes consuming matter, emitting lethal amounts of radiation.
- 22. that have the most bizarre, extreme, or deadly environments in the universe. These worlds push the boundaries of physics, featuring conditions like molten iron rain or temperatures hotter than stars
- 23. The time in the year when-: Summer solstice – longest day of sunlight. Marks the beginning of Summer. Winter solstice – shortest day of sunlight. Marks the beginning of Winter.
- 27. Humanity has left a massive cloud of millions of pieces of floating debris in orbit. Traveling at up to 17,500 mph, a fleck of chipped paint can shatter a spacecraft window
- 28. The part of the moon we can see from Earth. The phase changes as different amounts of sunlight are reflected off the moon’s surface.
- 29. The only times when both the northern and southern hemispheres have the same amounts of daytime and nighttime.
- 30. Dividing the Earth into two equal halves. Northern hemisphere Southern hemisphere
- 31. A type of neutron star with a magnetic field so deadly it could strip the data from your credit cards from halfway across the moon.
- 32. A season is a period of time in a year that has different weather conditions: Winter – cold, least daylight,least plant growth Spring – Increased daylight, increased temperature, increased plant growth. Summer – hot, most daylight, plants grow quickly Autumn – decreasing temperature, trees may lose leaves, decreased plant grown.
- 34. how strong something is.
- 37. A body in space that:(a) Orbits the suns (b) Has enough mass to be almost round in shape
- 38. Exoplanets like WASP-76b that are so hot they vaporize iron on the day side, which then condenses and rains down as liquid metal on the night side.
- 39. the loss of air pressure in a pressurized environment—like an aircraft or spacecraft—when exposed to a lower-pressure environment or the vacuum of space. It is also used to describe safety procedures designed to prevent astronauts from getting decompression sickness ("the bends")
- 43. Outside of Earth's protective magnetic shield, astronauts are bombarded by heavy, high-energy atomic nuclei. These particles rip through DNA, significantly increasing long-term cancer risks.
- 44. a period of moderate tides that occurs twice a month. It happens when the Sun, Earth, and Moon form a right angle, causing the gravitational pulls of the Sun and Moon to partially cancel each other out and resulting in a smaller tidal range
- 45. Our star (Sun), planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteoroids.
- 46. The sun, Earth and moon are in a line and the moon is in the Earth’s shadow.
Down
- 1. The theoretical opposite of black holes; mathematically, they spit out matter and light and nothing can ever enter them.
- 3. An imaginary line around the middle of a planet.
- 4. An invisible line that an object spins around.
- 5. not bound to any star system or galaxy, allowing it to float freely through space. These "cosmic drifters" are born from dying stars, but violent supernovae explosions or galactic collisions can fling them out of their original orbits
- 7. The deadliest explosions in the universe. In mere seconds, two colliding stars can emit a beam of radiation that shines a million trillion times brighter than our Sun, which could sterilize entire solar systems.
- 8. towering, finger-like columns of cool interstellar gas and dust located about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the Eagle Nebula (M16). They are famous for being highly active stellar nurseries—vast cosmic incubators where gravity causes gas to collapse and ignite nuclear fusion, birthing new stars.
- 9. An invisible line around the Earth, 23° north (above) the equator.
- 10. The time when the moon travels between the sun and the Earth.
- 11. The degree the Earth leans over to the side. The tilt of the Earth is about 23.5°
- 17. Doomed planets trapped in the decaying gravitational pull of their dying stars, eventually being shredded to pieces and consumed
- 18. a massive, gravitationally bound system consisting of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter. You can think of them as the colossal "cities of the universe," with each galaxy containing anywhere from millions to trillions of stars
- 20. The mysterious force making the universe expand faster and faster, which could eventually pull everything apart in a "Big Rip.
- 21. Exoplanets like HD 189773b feature atmospheres with temperatures over 1,300°C and 8,700 km/h winds. The planet's silicate-heavy atmosphere condenses, resulting in constant, sideways rain made of molten glass
- 24. The path a planet travels around the sun or a moon travels around
- 25. one of the largest known structures in the observable universe. It is a colossal, two-dimensional "wall" or filament of galaxies stretching approximately 1.37 billion light-years across.
- 26. a massive gravitational anomaly located about 150 to 250 million light-years away from Earth. It exerts a colossal pull, dragging the Milky Way and thousands of other neighboring galaxies toward it at speeds of over 2 million kilometers per hour
- 33. a massive, glowing cloud of dust and gas (primarily hydrogen and helium) floating in the vast expanse of space. They act as the universe's cosmic recycling centers, serving as the birthplaces of new stars as well as the beautiful, expanding remnants of dying ones.
- 35. Massive coronal mass ejections can hurl clouds of charged particles toward us. If Earth were in the direct path, it could fry power grids, disable satellite networks, and cause global internet blackouts
- 36. The movement of an object around another object. e.g. the Earth revolves around the sun 1 revolution = 365 days = 1
- 40. A way of showing large measurements.
- 41. Measurements above or below the equator.
- 42. An object spinning around its own axis. e.g. the Earth rotates on its axis 1 rotation = 24 hours = 1 day