BSL Glossary - Astronomy curriculum terms

astronomy icon: image of solar system, including sun and planets in order

A to Z

Subject categories

Deep Sky Objects
globular cluster nebula open cluster
Solar System
asteroid asteroid belt Callisto (Galilean satellite) comet dwarf planet earth - planet Europa (Galilean satellite) Galilean satellite - Callisto Galilean satellite - Europa Galilean satellite - Ganymede Galilean satellite - Io Ganymede (Galilean satellite) inner planets Io (Galilean satellite) Jupiter - planet Kuiper belt Mars - planet Mercury - planet moon(s) Neptune - planet Oort cloud outer planets planet Pluto planet Saturn - planet Saturn's Rings solar system solar system - interactive map Titan (Saturn's moon) Trans Neptunian Object Uranus - planet Venus - planet
Stars
Aldebaran - star Altair - star Arcturus - star Betelgeuse - star Capella - star Castor - star Deneb star Polaris star Pollux star Procyon star Regulus - star Rigel - star Sirius - star Spica - star Vega star
diagram of the constellation Orion
Aquila Auriga Bootes Canis Major Canis Minor Cassiopeia Cygnus Gemini Leo Lyra Orion Pegasus star constellation Taurus Ursa Major Ursa Minor Virgo
diagram of star pattern: the Plough
Plough (pattern) star pattern summer triangle pattern winter triangle pattern
image of the Milky Way which can be seen when Stargazing
Andromeda binoculars dark adaptation dark sky discovery site earthshine fireball galaxy light pollution meteor meteorite Milky Way Northern Lights stargazing Zodiacal lights
Absorption (or absorption spectroscopy) Angular Momentum Angular Resolution Astrobiology Astrochemistry Astrometry Astrophysics Axis of Rotation Binary Stars Blue Shift Brown Dwarf Circumbinary Circumplanetary Disc Column Density Core Accretion (Gas) Core Accretion (Planet) Dark Cloud Debris Discs Dense Core Direct Imaging Doppler Effect Exoplanets Extreme UV Far UV Gas Planet (Jupiter) Giant Planet Gravitational Microlensing Ice Planet (Neptune) Interferometry Interstellar Medium Kepler's Laws (of Planetary Motion) Keplerian Motion Metre-sized barrier Midplane Minuscale Movement Molecular Cloud Oort cloud Optical Depth Optically Thick Optically Thin Outflows Photoevaporation (Disc) Photoevaporation (of a planet) Planetary Core Planetary System Protoplanet Protoplanetary Disk Protostar Radial Velocity Radial Velocity Method Red Shift Rocky Planet (Earth) Snowline Spectroscopy Star Formation Transit Transit Method
illustration of the explosion of a star also known as a supernova
astronaut big bang black hole dark energy dark matter International Space Station neutron star nova planisphere pulsar red giant space suit starchart supergiant supernova white dwarf

A to Z of Astronomy Terms

Absorption (or absorption spectroscopy) Aldebaran - star Altair - star Andromeda Angular Momentum Angular Resolution Aquila Arcturus - star asteroid asteroid belt Astrobiology Astrochemistry Astrometry Astronaut Astrophysics Auriga Axis of Rotation
Betelgeuse - star big bang Binary Stars binoculars black hole Blue Shift Bootes Brown Dwarf
Callisto (Galilean satellite) Canis Major Canis Minor Capella - star Cassiopeia Castor - star Circumbinary Circumplanetary Disc Column Density comet constellation Core Accretion (Gas) Core Accretion (Planet) Cygnus
dark adaptation Dark Cloud dark energy dark matter dark sky discovery site Deneb star Debris Discs Dense Core Direct Imaging Doppler Effect dwarf planet
earth - planet earthshine Europa (Galilean satellite) Exoplanets Extreme UV
Far UV fireball
galaxy Galilean satellite - Callisto Galilean satellite - Europa Galilean satellite - Ganymede Galilean satellite - Io Ganymede (Galilean satellite) Gas Planet (Jupiter) Gemini Giant Planet globular cluster Gravitational Microlensing
Ice Planet (Neptune) inner planets Interferometry International Space Station Interstellar Medium Io (Galilean satellite)
Jupiter - planet
Kepler's Laws (of Planetary Motion) Keplerian Motion Kuiper belt
Leo light pollution Lyra
Mars - planet Mercury - planet meteor meteorite Metre-sized barrier Midplane Milky Way Minuscale Movement Molecular Cloud moon(s)
nebula Neptune - planet neutron star Northern Lights nova
Oort cloud open cluster Optical Depth Optically Thick Optically Thin Orion outer planets Outflows
Pegasus Photoevaporation (Disc) Photoevaporation (of a planet) planisphere planet Planetary Core Planetary System Plough (pattern) Pluto planet Polaris star Pollux star Procyon star Protoplanet Protoplanetary Disk Protostar pulsar
Radial Velocity Radial Velocity Method red giant Red Shift Regulus - star Rigel - star Rocky Planet (Earth)
Saturn - planet Saturn's Rings Sirius - star Snowline solar system Space Suit Spectroscopy Spica - star star constellation Star Formation star pattern starchart stargazing summer triangle pattern supergiant supernova
Taurus Titan (Saturn's moon) Trans Neptunian Object Transit Transit Method
Uranus - planet Ursa Major Ursa Minor
Vega star Venus - planet Virgo
white dwarf winter triangle pattern
Zodiacal lights