小小科學人 100宇宙大發現AB

Glossary字彙 取自 100 things to know about space

小小科學人 100宇宙大發現/ 小天下出版社

This glossary explains some of the words used in this book. Words written in italic type have their own entries. 

底下所列的字彙，是用來說明這本書裡一些重要名詞的意思。

Apollo missions 阿波羅任務

美國航空航太總署指揮的一系列登月任務

A series of missions run by NASA with the ultimate aim of sending astronauts to the Moon.

asteroid 小行星

在太空中沿著軌道繞恆星轉的大石塊，但是體積較小，不能被歸類為行星或矮行星。

A rock in space that orbits a star, but is not big enough to be classified as a planet or a  dwarf planet.

astronomical unit (AU) 天文單位

一種測量太空中較長距離的單位，1個天文單位就是地球到太陽的平均距離。

A way to measure long distances in space. 1 AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

atmosphere 大氣層

包圍行星或衛星的一層氣體。

A layer of gases that surrounds a planet and some moons.

atom 原子

非常小的粒子，是可見宇宙中所有固體、液體和氣體物質最小的基礎結構。

An incredibly tiny particle; the smallest building block of the solids, liquids and gases that make up all the things in the Universe that we can see.

Big Bang, the 大霹靂

一種解釋充滿能量與物質的宇宙，如何從奇點在一瞬間快速膨脹成形的理論。

A theory about how the Universe began through the instantaneous appearance and rapid expansion of matter from a singularity.

「billion 十億

1,000,000,000. 」英屬特殊計數法，全文未採用，不用節錄這個單位1,000,000,000. Also called a thousand million.

black hole 黑洞

一個引力強大到連光線都無法脫逃的區域，有些是來自超級重的恆星崩塌而來，有的是宇宙初始時龐大的壓力將物質硬擠進去而形成。

A collapsed star that has such a powerful gravitational pull that it prevents even light from escaping.