Astronomy Flashcards
Comets often have a ____?
Tail
What are comets made of
Dust, rock, frozen water, gas
What kind of orbit do comets move in
Elliptical
What is a space rock called while it is in orbit still
Meteroid
What is a space rock called when it is in Earth’s atmosphere
Meteor
What is a space rock called when it hits earth
Meteorite
Why are asteroids not planets
Because they are too small, and not enough gravitational pull to clear the area.
Where is the asteroid belt located
Mars and Jupiter
Name 2 asteroids
1 Ceres and Mathilde
What is a meteor shower
a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky.
What’s a meteor
a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth’s atmosphere (space rock)
What’s an asteroid
asteroid is a minor planet–an object that is neither a planet nor a comet–that orbits within the inner Solar System.
What’s a comet
Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices.
What are the 3 types of galaxy shapes
Elliptical, Spiral, Irregular
How many arms are spiral galaxy made of
2
What is our home galaxy called
Milky Way Galaxy
What is our neighboring galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy
What is our neighboring star
Alpha Centauri
At the center of every spiral galaxy is a ________
Black Hole
What is a nebula
A huge cloud of dust and gas, within galaxies
What are galaxies held together by
Gravity
Name 2 meteor showers
Perseids and Lyrids (or Eta Aquarids)
Name 2 comets
Halley’s Comet, Hale Bopp
What is a satellite
Something that orbits around a planet
How many planets have satellites
6/8
Name 2 satellites
Moons, Sputnik 1, Explorer 1, the ISS
Which planet has the most moons
Jupiter or Saturn??
Which planets have no moons
Mercury ans Venus
Which planet is names after the God of agriculture
Saturn
Name 3 things satellites are used for
Mapping, weather detection, TV, telephone
What’s the avg speed the ISS orbits around Earth
27,700 km/h
What is astronomy
It is the study of the universe and everything within it
What’s the altitude that space begins
The Kármán Line
Where is the Kármán line located
100 km above ground level
TroStMeThEx is?
The order of the atmosphere bottom to top, excluding ground level
List the atmosphere bottom to top (TroStMeThEx)
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere
Which atmosphere is the Kármán Line?
Thermosphere
Which atmosphere do you find meteors
Mesophere
How high up is the troposphere
6-20km
How high up is the stratosphere
50km
How high up is the mesophere
85 km
How high up is the thermosphere
690 km
How high up is the exosphere
10,000 km
Where do most visible objects float around (hot air balloons, airplanes)
Right between ground level and the troposphere
What is a constellation
A group of stars that form a recognizable pattern
What are the views of the universe
Geocentric (earth, old) and Heliocentric (sun, current)
What is it called when Earth catches up to a planet making it look like the observed planet is going backwards?
Retrograde motion
Who made the heliocentric universe model
Nicholas Copernicus
Who made the geocentric universe model
Ptolemy
What is the solar system
A collection of sun, planets, satellites, comets, asteroids, meteors, and space debris
Fastest moving planet?
Mercury
Uranus rotates on its
Side!
The largest planet?
Jupiter
The hottest planet
Venus
How many rings does Saturn have
7
Why is Neptune blue
Because of the high concentration of methane gas
