AST Final 3 Flashcards
Comets; Short period
<200 years, Kuiper Belt
Comets; Long period
> 200 years, Oort Cloud
Circumpolar Stars
stars that can be seen at all times of the year and all times of night.
Angular size
the angle an object appears to span in your field of view
angular distance
the angle an object appears to span in your field of view
parallax
apparent shift in position of stars from different viewpoints
● Not observed by ancients
Retrograde Motion
planets appear to go backward (west to east instead of east to west) sometimes
Epicycles
a small circle whose center moves around the circumference of a larger one
Scientific method
A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
Hypothesis
A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
Theory
A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data
Law
a descriptive statement or equation that reliably predicts events under certain conditions
forces
A push or a pull that causes objects to move, change position or experience tension or compression.
angular momentum
The quantity of a body’s rotation is the product of its moment of inertia and its angular velocity.
momentum
The product of an object’s mass and velocity
