TOEFL IBT - Astronomy

Vocabulary is promordial in order to improve your TOEFL score. Remember, Preparation is the key to succeed !

This vocabulary will be useful if you ever take an astronomy course in school, for expanding your English vocabulary, or especially for any number of English language exams you may take. Here we will look at the most commonly used words in the field, along with their French translations.

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asteroid	rocky objects revolving around the sun that are too small and numerous to be considered planets	If that should happen, the asteroid might eventually hit Earth.	l’astéroïde
astronomy	the study of the Moon, stars, and other objects in space	Though massive, these galaxies have escaped detection by conventional astronomy.	l’astronomie
axis	an imaginary line that passes through Earth’s center and its North and South Poles	Of course, the planet now rotates on a different axis.	l’axe
Big Bang	theory that an explosion created the universe many billions of years ago	In modern astronomy the Big Bang theory is the dominant postulation.	le Big Bang
black hole	an object so massive and dense that even light cannot escape its gravity	Nothing that happens inside a black hole matters to the outside world.	le trou noir
comet	a ball of dust and ice that orbits the Sun	What if the comet pieces that hit Jupiter had hit Earth?	la comète
constellation	an imaginary pattern of stars in the sky	Early Tuesday, the constellation will lie in the northeastern sky.	la constellation
dark matter	matter that does not give off electromagnetic radiation but is quite abundant in the universe	The final topic dealt with dark matter distribution in the Milky Way.	la matière noire
eclipse	the partial or total blocking of one object in space by another	Head for Cartagena in Colombia for total eclipse of the Sun.	l’éclipse
ellipse	an elongated circle, or oval shape; shape of planetary orbits	This is the major axis of the ellipse, its greatest diameter.	l’ellipse
equinox	the first day of spring or fall when the Sun is directly over the Equator	But fierce storms are no more likely around the equinox specifically.	l’équinoxe
galaxy	a collection of stars, star systems, dust, and gas bound together by gravity	Theorists believe such galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers.	la galaxie
gravity	the force of attraction between all masses in the universe	But gravity will be enormously complicated to create on a spaceship.	la gravitation
light year	the distance that light travels in one year; about 9.46 trillion kilometers	The object is about 30 light years away in the constellation Ophiuchus.	l’année-lumière
lunar eclipse	when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon and casts a shadow on the Moon	Also, under special circumstances, a lunar eclipse can occur on the 12^th.	l’éclipse de lune
mass	the amount of matter in an object	The mass of the Sun has decreased since the time it formed.	la masse
meteor	a bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere	A meteor landing in the desert is news for a day.	le météore
nebula	a huge cloud of dust and gas in space	However, this would have created a shell around the nebula.	la nébuleuse
orbit	the path of an object as it revolves around another object in space	From that orbit, you can hardly see the horizon curve.	l’orbite
rotation	the spinning motion of a planet on its axis	All these techniques also serve to monitor Earth rotation irregularities as well as plate tectonic motions.	la rotation
solar eclipse	when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth	Looking at a solar eclipse with the naked eye can be dangerous.	l’éclipse solaire
solar wind	a stream of electrically charged particles given off from the Sun	This flood of electrically charged particles is known as the solar wind.	le vent solaire
solstice	the time that Earth’s poles point at their greatest angle toward or away from the Sun	The calendar suggests the solstice is still a long way off.	le solstice
tide	the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the Moon	I think the tides have a lot to do with it.	la marée
universe	all of space and everything in it	How could the universe be younger than some of its components?	l’univers

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TOEFL IBT – Astronomy

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