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Photo of jupiter

Astronomical Words

The planets of our solar system, and other space-related things and concepts.

A satellite is something that people have launched into orbit around the Earth. Satellites circle the Earth, either remaining as if they are in the same place as seen from the Earth, called Geostationary orbit, or moving around the Earth. Satellites are used for many things. They can be used to watch and take photos of the Earth for military or other reasons; they can be used for communications like television or telephones, to find out where you are using Global Positioning System (GPS), to watch and help predict the weather, and for various research purposes.

Sis forSpace

Space is a common name for everything outside of earth. It is also known as the universe.
Photo of a space shuttle launching
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A space shuttle is a vessel that can be used to take people and objects like satellites out into orbit around the Earth. Space shuttles use a huge amount of fuel to break the forces of gravity holding them down.
A star is like a big ball of fire that is very far away from us. They are thousands of times bigger than the Earth, and many stars are much, much bigger than our sun.

Sis forSun

Our sun is a star that is very close to us. It is thousands of times bigger than the Earth. It keeps us warm during the day with its light, and all the plants in the world use the sunlight to grow.
Photo of a telescope
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A telescope is a long, tubular device that is used to look at objects that are an extremely long distance away, so far you can't even see them with your naked eye. Inside the telescope is a series of lenses that magnifies what you are looking at. Telescopes are used to look at stars and planets that are a very, very long way away.
A picture of the known universe from the Hubble space telescope.
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Uis forUniverse

The universe describes all known matter and space. All of the planets and galaxies in existence are part of the universe. Another word for universe is cosmos.