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| WORD |
MEANING |
| Earth |
The third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet
in the Solar System. The only planet in the Solar System where large
quantities of water exist, and the only planet in the Universe on which
life is known to exist. Earth has one natural satellite (the Moon). |
| EDT |
Eastern Daylight Time. The time used during Spring and
Summer on the East Coast in the United States , the west coast in South America, the Bahamas and some
Caribbean islands. The time is four hours behind GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or
UTC (Universal Time Coordinate). As Eastern Daylight Time is used in Florida,
it is sometimes used when describing the times of space launches from
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. |
| EST |
Eastern Standard Time. The time used during Autumn/Fall and
Winter on the East Coast of North America, the west coast in South
America, the Bahamas and some Caribbean islands. The time is five hours
behind GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) and UTC (Universal Time Coordinate). As
Florida falls under Eastern Standard Time, many launches from Kennedy
Space Center are referred to under the EST time. |
| Elara |
|
| Element |
Chemical material in its simplest form,
such as hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, etc. An element can be a solid,
a liquid or a gas. Matter is made up of many elements. There are 105
elements in total. The Solar System was formed out of a cloud of matter.
The elements in this matter combined with other elements as they formed
the Sun and planets. For example, when carbon combined with oxygen, it
formed carbon dioxide. |
| Elliptical/Ellipse |
An elongated circle. Most of the planets in the Solar System
don't orbit in perfect circles; instead their orbits are elliptical,
meaning that they may be oval shaped and sometimes the Sun isn't exactly
central. Venus has the most circular orbit, whereas dwarf planets like
Pluto and Eris are the most eliptical. |
| Enceladus |
moon of saturn |
| Epimetheus |
moon of saturn |
| Erinome |
moon of jupiter |
| Escape Velocity |
The minimum velocity (or speed) that an object needs to be
travelling at to escape the gravitational pull of a much larger object.
For example, for a rocket to leave the orbit of Earth, it needs to reach a
certain velocity or else it will fall back to Earth. On planets and moons
with a smaller pull of gravity (the Moon, Mars), the velocity needed to
leave that object would be much less. |
| ESA |
European Space Agency. A group of fifteen European (believe
it or not!) countries which design, develop and launch satellites and
probes into space. ESA's most notable missions are Mars Express and Venus
Express. The ESA works with other space agencies around the world, like
NASA and the Russian Space Agency, and has Canada as a cooperating state.
The nations which make up the ESA are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. |
| Erriapus |
moon of saturn |
| Event Horizon |
The boundary of a black whole. The pull of gravity beyond
this point is so great that for any matter to escape it, it must be
travelling faster than the speed of light. |
| Euanthe |
moon of jupiter |
| Eukelade |
moon of jupiter |
| Europa |
moon of jupiter |
| Eurydome |
moon of jupiter |
| Exoplanet/Extrasolar Planet |
A planet which orbits another star in the Universe. By June
2007, there were 242 planets known to orbit other stars. Most exoplanets
are detected by the effect they have on their host stars and haven't
actually been imaged. Most known exoplanets are more like Jupiter than
Earth (since a planet like Earth won't have a very visible effect on its
host star so isn't known about). Although few Earth-like planets are known
to exist, it is certain that several of them do exist which greatly
increases the chances of life existing or being able to exist elsewhere in
the Universe. |
| Extra Terrestrial |
Literally means "not of" or "beyond the
Earth". Refers to anything that doesn't belong to planet Earth. An
Extra Terrestrial would be a being from another planet, or an alien. |
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