Astronomical Dictionary Page #5

Magnitude

The degree of brightness of a celestial body designated on a numerical scale, on which the brightest...

Meteor

Also known as a "shooting star" or "falling star", is a bright streak of light in the sky caused by ...

Meteorite

A stony or metallic object from interplanetary space that impacts a planetary surface....

Minor Planets

This term is preferred by astronomers, and is synonomous with the term asteroid. ...

Moon

A naturally occurring satellite, or relatively large body, orbiting a planet. ...

Magma

Molten rock material (liquids and gases)....

Mantle

The main bulk of a planet between the crust and the core; on Earth, the mantle ranges from about 40 ...

Mare

A dark, low-lying lunar plain, filled to some depth with volcanic rocks....

Mars

Planet fourth in order from the sun. In Roman mythology, god of war and discord (Greek name, Ares)....

Massif

A massive topographical feature, commonly formed of rocks more rigid than those of its surroundings....

Mead

Margaret Mead (1901-1978) American anthropologist, author and lecturer on contemporary social issues...

Mercury

The planet closest to the sun. In Roman mythology, the fleet-footed messenger god and escort of dead...

Mimas

In Greek mythology, a giant....

Morphology

The study of structure or form....

Mylitta

In ancient Phoenicia, a moon goddess who presided over fertility and childbirth....

Nebula

A term used to describe celestial objects which have a fuzzy, or nebulous, appearance (from the Lati...

Nova

Literally, a new star. An existing star which suddenly increases its brightness by more than 10 magn...

Navka

Arab mother-goddess....

Neptune

Planet eighth in order from the sun. In Roman mythology, god of the sea (Greek name, Poseidon)....

Nucleus

The frozen core of a comet which contains almost the entire cometary mass and is located in the come...

Occultation

This is when one celestial body, passes in front of, and obscures, another. This refers to the sam...

Open Cluster

A group of young stars, possibly bound together by gravity. Over 750 of them have been recorded. It ...

Opposition

A planet is said to be "in opposition" when it appears opposite the Sun in the sky. For the outer pl...

Optical Binary

Not a true binary system; two stars which appear in alignment from the perspective of the Earth ...

Orbit

The path of one body around another due to the influence of gravity. For two-body systems, the possi...