Astronomy Vocab Review

Fill in the blank: An ______ is a small rocky object that orbits the Sun, most commonly found in the asteroid belt.

• asteroid

• comet

• planet

• star

Fill in the blank: An ______ is an imaginary line through a planet on which the planet rotates.

• axis

• equator

• orbit

• meridian

Fill in the blank: The ______ is a theory that everything in the universe was once packed together in an extremely small, hot dense ball of energy and matter/something caused this ball to expand and cool.

• Big Bang Theory

• Steady State Theory

• String Theory

• Quantum Theory

Fill in the blank: A ______ is a small body of ice, rock, and dust that orbits the Sun in an elongated ellipse/tail extends away from the Sun.

• comet

• asteroid

• planet

• moon

Fill in the blank: A ______ is a group of stars connected in a recognizable pattern.

• constellation

• galaxy

• planet

• asteroid

Fill in the blank: The ______ is the theory that a single deity created the universe from nothing.

• Creation Theory

• Big Bang Theory

• Evolution Theory

• Steady State Theory

Fill in the blank: A ______ is a nearly spherical object that orbits the Sun, does not have its own orbit, and is not a moon.

• dwarf planet

• asteroid

• comet

• moon

Fill in the blank: An ______ is a day during which the Sun's direct rays point to the equator.

• equinox

• solstice

• eclipse

• zenith

Fill in the blank: A ______ is a huge cluster of gas, dust, and billions of stars.

• galaxy

• planet

• comet

• asteroid

Fill in the blank: ______ is a force of attraction between objects that is due to their masses.

• gravitational force

• electromagnetic force

• nuclear force

• frictional force