555 Flashcards
White dwarf
A small, hot, dim star that is left over center of an old star.
Red giant
A large, reddish star late in its life cycle.
- Main-sequence star
The location on the H-R diagram where most stars lie.
- Black hole
An object so massive and dense that even light cannot escape its gravity.
Light year
The distance that light travels in one year; about 9.5 trillion kilometres.
- Parallax
An apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from different locations.
- Supernova
A gigantic explosion in which massive star collapses and throws its outer layers into space.
Polaris (the star)
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky named after the vain queen Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda, in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivaled beauty.
Canis major
Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere.
- Orion
Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world.
- Ursa minor
Ursa Minor, (Latin: “Lesser Bear”) also called the Little Bear, in astronomy, a constellation of the northern sky, at about 15 hours right ascension and 80° north declination, and seven of whose stars outline the Little Dipper.
- Ursa major
Ursa Major is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory.
Hubble, Edwin
Edwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer.
- Newton, Isaac
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author.
- Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath, from Pisa.
Kepler, Johannes
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and natural philosopher.
Brahe, Tycho
Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer, known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical observations.
- Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and astrologer who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises.
