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Gemini missions
Gemini missions
A series of crewed space missions in the earliest days of NASA’s exploration of space. They were developed in preparation for the Apollo project, which would land people on the Moon. The crewed flights lasted between March 1965 and November 1966.
Geostationary orbit
An orbit about 35,900km above the surface of the Earth’s equator in which a satellite will move at the same speed as the Earth. As
a result, a satellite will always remain in the same place above the equator. This orbit is used for weather and communications satellites.
Giant planet
(See: Gas giants.) Giant star
A star close to the end of its life that has finished converting its hydrogen into helium and then swollen up. A giant star may be up to 25 times the size of the Sun and hundreds of times brighter.
Gibbous
The phase of the Moon when it is between half and full illumination. The word gibbous comes from the Latin for hump.
 Gibbous—More than half illuminated.
Giotto
The first space probe launched
by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched in 1985 to study Halley’s Comet. It was later retargeted to study another comet.
Goddard Space Flight Center
One of the NASA facilities
whose tasks include the design
and tracking of satellites and the Hubble Space Telescope. It is also engaged in space science research.
Great Dark Spot
The large, oval shape on the surface of Neptune. It was about 10,000km across and visible
when the Voyager probe reached Neptune in 1989. It may be a weather feature, a kind of giant storm, like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. Pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope no longer show this spot, suggesting that the spots on Neptune come and go more rapidly than those on Jupiter.
Guide star
A star that is easy to find with
a telescope, and that is close to the part of the Universe under observation. The use of guide stars allows faint stars to be found quickly.
 Hale-Bopp Comet.
H
Hale-Bopp Comet
A comet named after the two astronomers who discovered it in 1995. It became prominent in the sky during the second half of the 1990s.
Halley, Edmond
An English astronomer, Edmond Halley (1656-1742) was the first person to map the stars in the southern sky. He also predicted that a comet he had seen in 1682 would return in 1758. When it did, it was named Halley’s Comet.
Halley’s Comet
The most famous comet, named after the astronomer Halley, who predicted the return of one of the most spectacular comets to pass close to the Earth. It has a return cycle of 76 years.
Halley’s Comet has reappeared only 20 times since it was first observed in 239 b.c. It last appeared in 1986, when it was inspected by several space probes, including Giotto. It will reappear in 2062.
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