angle: The space (usually measured in degrees) between two intersecting lines or surfaces at or close to the point where they meet.
app: Short for application, or a computer program designed for a specific task.
astronomer: A scientist who works in the field of research that deals with celestial objects, space and the physical universe.
astrophysicist: A scientist who works in an area of astronomy that deals with understanding the physical nature of stars and other objects in space.
atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon.
citizen science: Scientific research in which the public — people of all ages and abilities — participate. The data that these citizen “scientists” collect helps to advance research. Letting the public participate means that scientists can get data from many more people and places than would be available if they were working alone.
corona: An adjective that refers to crown, as in crown-shaped viruses known as coronaviruses. (in astronomy) The outermost layer of the atmosphere surrounding the sun (and other stars). The sun’s corona is normally visible only during a total solar eclipse, when it is seen as an irregularly shaped, pearly glow surrounding the darkened disk of the moon.
disrupt: (n. disruption) To break apart something; interrupt the normal operation of something; or to throw the normal organization (or order) of something into disorder.
eclipse: This occurs when two celestial bodies line up in space so that one totally or partially obscures the other. In a solar eclipse, the sun, moon and Earth line up in that order. The moon casts its shadow on the Earth. From Earth, it looks like the moon is blocking out the sun. In a lunar eclipse, the three bodies line up in a different order — sun, Earth, moon — and the Earth casts its shadow on the moon, turning the moon a deep red.
grid: (in mathematics or mapping) A network of lines that cross each other at regular intervals, forming boxes or rectangles, or an orderly field of dots that mark where each pair of lines intersect, or cross one another. (in electricity) The interconnected system of electricity lines that transport electrical power over long distances. In North America, this grid connects electrical generating stations and local communities throughout most of the continent.
moon: The natural satellite of any planet.
NASA: Short for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Created in 1958, this U.S. agency has become a leader in space research and in stimulating public interest in space exploration. It was through NASA that the United States sent people into orbit and ultimately to the moon. It also has sent research craft to study planets and other celestial objects in our solar system.
orbit: The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a galaxy, star, planet or moon. One complete circuit around a celestial body.
planet: A large celestial object that orbits a star but unlike a star does not generate any visible light.
plume: (in geology) Fluids (air, water or magma typically) that move, largely intact, in a feather-like shape over long distances.
radiation: (in physics) One of the three major ways that energy is transferred. (The other two are conduction and convection.) In radiation, electromagnetic waves carry energy from one place to another. Unlike conduction and convection, which need material to help transfer the energy, radiation can transfer energy across empty space.
radio: Referring to radio waves, or the device that receives these transmissions. Radio waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that people often use for long-distance communication. Longer than the waves of visible light, radio waves are used to transmit radio and television signals. They also are used in radar. Many astronomical objects also radiate some of their energy as radio waves.
recruit: (noun) New member of a group or human trial. (verb) To enroll a new member into some group or organization. It could be into the military. Or it could be into participating in a research group to test some drug, behavior or environmental condition.
satellite: A moon orbiting a planet or a vehicle or other manufactured object that orbits some celestial body in space.
smartphone: A cell (or mobile) phone that can perform a host of functions, including search for information on the internet.
solar: Having to do with the sun or the radiation it emits. It comes from sol, Latin for sun.
solar eclipse: An event in which the moon passes between the Earth and sun and obscures the sun, at least partially. In a total solar eclipse, the moon appears to cover the entire sun, revealing on the outer layer, the corona. If you were to view an eclipse from space, you would see the moon’s shadow traveling in a line across the surface of the Earth.
solar wind: A flow of charged particles (including atomic nuclei) that have been ejected from the surface of the star, such as our sun. It can permeate the solar system. When emitted by a star other than the sun, this radiation is known as a stellar wind.
star: The basic building block from which galaxies are made. Stars develop when gravity compacts clouds of gas. When they become hot enough, stars will emit light and sometimes other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The sun is our closest star.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
telescope: Usually a light-collecting instrument that makes distant objects appear nearer through the use of lenses or a combination of curved mirrors and lenses. Some, however, collect radio emissions (energy from a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum) through a network of antennas.
totality: (in astronomy) The brief period during an eclipse when one object totally obscures another. For a solar eclipse (when viewed from Earth), this would be when the moon appears to completely block out the sun’s light.
unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.