B2 · 40 words
The night sky in German
What is overhead, what it is called in German, and the words for looking at it.
Practise this list
From these 40 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
German names the sky with compounds that can be read rather than learned, which makes this one of the easiest specialist areas to enter. Die Sternschnuppe is a star and a snuffed candle; die Milchstraße is a milk road; die Tagundnachtgleiche says in one word that day and night are equal. Two constellations keep their everyday German names rather than their Latin ones — der Große Wagen is the Plough, and der Kleine Bär holds the pole star — and the German for a telescope is usually das Fernrohr, a far tube, before it is das Teleskop.
The words
Noun (40)
Grammar for these: The three genders · The plural
der SternstarNounA2
Plural: die Sterne.
das SternbildconstellationNounB2
Plural: die Sternbilder.
der MondmoonNounA2
Plural: die Monde, used of other planets.
die Mondsichelcrescent moonNounB2
Plural: die Mondsicheln.
der Vollmondfull moonNounB1
Used without an article: bei Vollmond.
der Neumondnew moonNounB2
The moon is invisible then, which is the point.
die Mondphasephase of the moonNounB2
Plural: die Mondphasen.
der PlanetplanetNounB1
Weak masculine: den Planeten.
die UmlaufbahnorbitNounB2
Plural: die Umlaufbahnen.
der KometcometNounB2
Weak masculine: den Kometen.
die Sternschnuppeshooting starNounB1
Literally a star and a snuffed candle end.
der MeteoritmeteoriteNounB2
Weak masculine: den Meteoriten.
die MilchstraßeMilky WayNounB2
Literally milk road.
die GalaxiegalaxyNounB2
Plural: die Galaxien. Stress on the last syllable.
das FernrohrtelescopeNounB2
Literally a far tube; the everyday word.
das TeleskoptelescopeNounB2
The technical word, used of large instruments.
das OkulareyepieceNounC1
Plural: die Okulare.
die SternwarteobservatoryNounB2
Plural: die Sternwarten.
die Sonnenfinsternissolar eclipseNounB2
Plural: die Sonnenfinsternisse.
die Mondfinsternislunar eclipseNounB2
Unlike a solar eclipse, which needs a filter.
die Dämmerungtwilight, duskNounB1
Covers both dawn and dusk.
die Lichtverschmutzunglight pollutionNounC1
No plural.
der HorizonthorizonNounB1
Plural: die Horizonte. Also figurative.
der ZenitzenithNounC1
No plural. Also used figuratively of a career.
der Polarsternpole starNounB2
The only star that appears to stand still.
der Große Wagenthe Plough, Big DipperNounB2
Written with capitals; the adjective declines.
der Kleine BärUrsa MinorNounC1
The German names are used far more than the Latin ones.
die EkliptikeclipticNounC1
No plural.
der TierkreiszodiacNounC1
Literally the animal circle.
die SonnenwendesolsticeNounB2
Plural: die Sonnenwenden.
die TagundnachtgleicheequinoxNounC1
One word saying exactly what it means.
das Lichtjahrlight yearNounB2
Plural: die Lichtjahre.
die HelligkeitbrightnessNounB2
No plural in normal use.
der Doppelsterndouble starNounC1
Plural: die Doppelsterne.
der ZwergdwarfNounB2
Plural: die Zwerge. The same word as in fairy tales.
der RiesegiantNounB2
Weak masculine: den Riesen.
die SupernovasupernovaNounC1
Plural: die Supernovae.
das Schwarze Lochblack holeNounB2
Both words capitalised as a fixed term.
der Sternhaufenstar clusterNounC1
Plural is the same.
die KonjunktionconjunctionNounC1
The same word as a grammatical conjunction.
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
This list belongs to Science and research — 21 lists and 754 words that can also be practised as a whole.