Glossary Part 3

Welcome to the new Glossary section of the Solar Space Station, below is a comprehensive list of all the basic space-related words. If you have any additions, please e-mail me at .

Just click on the letter your desired word begins with from the list just below:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Magnetic Field	The area near a planet where magnetic forces can be detected.
MMU	Manned Manoeuvring Unit - a jet backpack worn by astronauts which lets them whizz around in space.
Magnitude	How bright a celestial body is.
Meteor	aka Shooting Star - Streaks of light made when meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere.
Meteorite	The frazzled remains of a meteoroid which has survived to the Earth's surface.
Meteoroid	A floating piece of small rock in space.
Milky Way	Our Galaxy.
Minor Planet	Term used to describe a large asteroid
Mons	Mountain (eg Olympus Mons)

Natural Satellite	A planet's moon.
Nebula	A cloud of dust and gas in space. Some are luminous and some nebulae are dark.
Nova	The apparent 'brightening of a star' in the sky. This is caused by material drawn from a companion star igniting.

Observatory	A place where people look into space.
Occulation	When a celestial body pass of another.
Oort Cloud	The theoretical shell of comets circling the Solar System at approx. 1 light year.
Orbit	The path of an object circling a second object.

Payload	The objects carried into space by rockets.
Perihelion	When the orbit of a planet takes it to the point closest to the Sun.
Planet	A large, spherical body.
Planetary Nebula	A very hot star surrounded by expanding gases that give off a glow because of intense radiation from the star.
Porridge	A nice, filling dish made of oatmeal often eaten at breakfast which originated in Scotland.

Quasar

Quasi-stellar Radio Source - A very luminous but distant galaxy, formed very early on in the history of the Universe.