8th Grade Science Test 10 Flashcards
Mars’s two moons
Deimos and Phobos
the largest moon in the solar system
Ganymede
A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a two-dimensional graph that compares stars by two things
temperature and brightness
the summer Triangle is formed of three stars
Deneb
Vega
Altair
During what phase of the moon is the entire sunlit side visible
full moon
the orbits of the planets are symmetrical ovals called
ellipses
Frozen chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun
comets
the explosion of a star
supernova
the convection cells that cover the sun’s visible surface
granules
the flamelike columns of gas that continually erupt from the lowest layer of the sun’s atmosphere
spicules
the visible portion of the sun
photosphere
galaxy shape of the Milky Way
barred spiral
unit of measurement is approximately equal to the distance between the sun and the earth
astronomical unit
Be able to identify the following constellations:
Cassiopeia Taurus Ursa Major Orion Cygnus
describes Venus’s backward rotation on its axis
retrograde
name for the period of time that the moon takes to orbit the earth
lunar month
imaginary sphere with Earth at the center and the heavenly bodies on its inner surface
celestial sphere
imaginary “band” in the sky in which the sun, moon, and planets travel
zodiac
the two planets between which the asteroid belt is located
Mars
Jupiter
an object that orbits another object
satellite
describes a star that is always above the horizon to an observer at a particular location
circumpolar
group of small, icy objects that orbit the sun outside the orbit of the outermost planet
Kuiper belt
the observed brightness that a star would have to an observer located 10 parsecs away
absolute magnitude
the cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the center of a comet
coma
who developed the law of universal gravitation
Isaac Newton
a rapidly rotating star that emits directional beams of radio waves
pulsar
Latin word used to refer to the lunar “seas”
mare
scientific law that states the relationship between a planet’s period and average distance from the sun
third law of planetary motion
the apparent change in the position of an object caused by an actual change in the position of the observer
parallax
the largest galaxy in the Local Group
Andromeda galaxy
category of stars that includes the sun
main sequence
which planet do the Trojan asteroids share an orbit with
Jupiter
an object so massive and dense that not even light can escape its gravity
black hole
the largest planet in our solar system
Jupiter
known for its ring system
Saturn
the outermost planet in our solar system
Neptune
the fastest-moving planet
Mercury
sometimes called the “morning star” and “evening star”
Venus
gas giant that seems to lie on its side
Uranus
notable feature is Olympus Mons
Mars
a planet’s closest approach to the sun
perihelion
the idea that the earth is at the center of the universe and that the sun, planets, and stars all revolve around the earth is the
geocentric view
a small rock from space that is burning up as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere
meteor
a large cloud of gas an dust in space
nebula
the phenomenon in which the moon passes between the sun and the earth
solar eclipse
the study of God’s creation beyond the atmosphere
astronomy
a small group of stars that is used to form a picture or represent an object
asterism
Vega
Lyra
Sirius
Canis Major
Spica
Virgo
Aldebaran
Tauruss
Castor
Gemini
Polaris
Ursa Minor
Betelgeuse
Orion
Regulus
Leo
Compare and contrast binary stars, open clusters, and globular clusters.
A binary star is a system in which two stars are bound together by gravity; these two stars circle each other in the same way that the moon revolves around the earth.
Open clusters are loose, asymmetrical clumps containing tens to hundreds, and occasionally thousands, of stars.
Globular clusters are tightly clumped spherical groups of thousands or millions of stars that travel outside the boundaries of the Milky Way in unusual orbits around the galaxy’s center.
