Chapter 28 - The Sun-Earth-Moon System
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18 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Albedo | Amount of sunlight that is reflected by the surface of a planet or a satellite, such as the Moon. |
| Highland | Light-colored, mountainous, heavily cratered areas of the Moon, composed mostly of lunar breccias. |
| Mare | Dark-colored, basaltic, smooth plain on the Moon, between 3.1 and 3.8 billion years old, that formed from lava welling up and filling in large impact basins. |
| Impact crater | Moon crater formed when space material impacted on the lunar surface. |
| Ejecta | Material that falls back to the lunar surface after being blasted out by the impact of a space object. |
| Ray | Long trail of ejecta that radiates outward from a Moon crater. |
| Rille | Valleylike structure that meanders across some regions of the Moon's maria. |
| Regolith | Layer of loose, ground-up rock on the lunar surface. |
| Ecliptic | Plane that contains Earth's orbit around the Sun. |
| Summer solstice | Occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at 23.5° north latitude, around June 21, and results in the maximum number of daylight hours for the northern hemisphere and the minimum number for the southern hemisphere. |
| Winter solstice | Occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at 23.5° south latitude, around December 21, and results in the minimum number of daylight hours for the northern hemisphere and the maximum number for the southern hemisphere. |
| Autumnal equinox | Occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and results in day and night of equal length for both northern and southern hemispheres. |
| Vernal equinox | Occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and results in day and night of equal length for both northern and southern hemispheres. |
| Synchronous rotation | Describes the state at which the Moon's orbital and rotational periods are equal. |
| Solar eclipse | Occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun and the Moon casts a shadow on Earth, blocking Earth's view of the Sun; can be partial or total. |
| Perigee | Closest point in the Moon's elliptical orbit to Earth. |
| Apogee | Farthest point in the Moon's elliptical orbit to Earth. |
| Lunar eclipse | Occurs only during a full moon, when Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, and Earth's shadow falls on the Moon. |
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