Astronomy Flashcards by Ravindra M

Groupings of stars
Stars showing mythological figures

Constellations

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This lunar phase is when the moon is between the earth and sun, and it causes the side facing earth to receive no sunlight and appear invisible in the sky

New moon

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This gas giant became the outermost planet in our solar system
Known for its deep blue color and strong winds
Eighth planet from sun

Neptune

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This astronomical distance is defined as the distance light travels in one year
6 trillion miles
Equivalent to approximately 9.6 trillion kilometers

Light years

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Puerto Rico
Large radio telescope used for astronomical observations and atmospheric studies
It’s collapse was in 2020
Detecting pulsars, mapping near Earth asteroids.

Arecibo observatory

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These planets orbit stars outside of our solar system

Exoplanets

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This region of space is located between Mars and Jupiter
Ceres is the largest object located in this region of space

Asteroid belt

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Geological feature appear on Earth’s surface after meteorite or asteroid impacts

Impact craters

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High-energy electromagnetic radiation
Produced by astronomical objects such as supernovae and pulsars

Gamma rays

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Reclassified as dwarf planet
In 2006 by International astronomical union

Pluto

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Recognizable pattern of stars
Not constellations

Asterism

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First artificial satellite launched into orbit
1957
Soviet Union

Sputnik 1

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This nicknames is commonly given to comets due to their icy composition and dusty tails

Dirty Snowball

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What is the name of the massive storm which has persisted on Jupiter for centuries

Great Red Spot

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This planet is the largest in our solar system
Known for its Great Red Spot
It has the most massive magnetic field of any planet in our solar system
It has at least 79 known moons

Jupiter

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This theory states that the universe began as a single point and has been expanding ever since
It is supported by cosmic microwave background radiation
Proposed by Georges Lemaitre
It suggests that the universe was once extremely hot and dense

Big Bang Theory

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This system contains the Sun and all celestial bodies that orbit it
Planets, asteroids
Sun-created

Solar system

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This large system consists of billions of stars, gas, and dust bound by gravity
Milky Way
Universe structures

Galaxy

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This astronomical object has an extremely strong gravitational pull
It can event prevent light from escaping
Space-time warping
It is formed from the collapse of a star
Its presence can be detected by its effect on nearby objects.

Black Hole

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This massive stellar explosion occurs at the end of a star’s life cycle
Extremely brightness
Elements dispersion

Supernova

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These rocky bodies orbit the Sun and are mostly found in a belt between Mars and Jupiter
Space Rocks
Asteroid Belt

Asteroids

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What is the name of the closest known star system to the Sun, which includes a red dwarf called Proxima Centauri?
It is 4.37 light years away
It’s a triple star system

Alpha Centauri

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What planet became the farthest from the Sun after Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet?
It was discovered in 1846
It has deep blue appearance

Neptune

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What astronomer co-wrote and hosted the television show Cosmos: A Personal Voyage?
He popularized the phrase “billions and billions”.
He worked on NASA’s Voyagers missions

Carl Sagan

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What scientific theory describes the origin of the universe as an expansion from a single point approximately 13.8 billion years ago? It explains the expansion of space. It was first proposed by Georges Lemaîtr

Big bang theory

What planet, known for its rings, is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the only one less dense than water? It has over 80 known moons. Its largest moon is Titan.

Saturn

What constellation, located on the celestial equator, is named after a hunter from Greek mythology? It contains the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel. It is visible from both hemispheres

Orion the Hunter

What constellation, named after a hunter in Greek mythology, is located on the celestial equator? It’s belt contains three aligned stars It is visible from both hemispheres

Orion

What invisible, hypothetical form of matter is believed to make up about 85% of the universe’s mass? Scientists detect through gravitational effects It helps explain galaxy rotational curves

Dark Matter

What region on the Sun’s surface appear darker because they are cooler than surrounding area. They can last from days to months They’re numbers follow an 11-year cycle

Sunspots

What NASA program was responsible for the first crewed missions to the Moon? It was initiated by John.F Kennedy The last mission, Apollo 17, occurred in 1972

Apollo program

What two spacecraft, launched by NASA in 1977, were designed to explore Jupiter and Saturn but have since traveled beyond the Solar System? They carried golden records with sounds from Earth They sent back data about interstellar space

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

What is the term for the total amount of light energy that is radiated by a star from its surface? It is measured in watts It is related to a star’s temperature and its size

Luminosity

What location on the Moon was the landing site for Apollo 11? It was chosen for its flat surface It is named for it’s smooth, dark appearance

Sea of Tranquility

What planet’s innermost moon, Io, is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System? It has over 400 active volcanoes It has a thin atmosphere of sulphuric dioxide

Jupiter

What galaxy contains our solar system? It is part of the Local Group of galaxies It is a barred spiral galaxy

Milky Way

Clue 1: This moon is the largest in our solar system. • Clue 2: It orbits Jupiter and is known for its volcanic activity. • Clue 3: Its name is also shared by a character in Greek mythology. What moon is this?

Ganymede

Clue 1: This is the phenomenon that causes stars to appear to move in the sky due to the Earth’s rotation. • Clue 2: It causes the appearance of rising and setting of celestial objects. • Clue 3: This motion leads to the division of the sky into constellations. What phenomenon is this?

Diurnal motion

Clue 1: This scientist proposed the theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. • Clue 2: His work challenged the geocentric model of the universe. • Clue 3: He published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres in 1543. Who is this person?

Nicholas Copernicus

According to ancient scientist Ptolomy, this object was the center of our universe. This object’s only moon likely occurred when another object, Theia, collided with this planet.

Earth

Not Aquarius. • Meteor shower from Halley’s comet. • Stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka. • Brightest stars: Rigel and Betelgeuse. • Mythological hunter

Orion!

• May have a coronagraph. • Protested on Mauna Kea. • James Webb namesake. • Hubble is a famous one.

Telescopes

• Massive stellar explosion. • Type Ia involves white dwarfs. • Exceeds Chandrasekhar limit. • Brighter than a nova.

Supernova

• Has a Great Dark Spot. • Twotinos orbit it. • Moon: Triton. • Most distant planet.

Neptune

• Exceed Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit. • Non-rotating ones called Reissner–Nordström. • Described by Hawking radiation. • Nothing can escape. • Regions of intense gravity.

Black Holes

• Atmosphere traps greenhouse gases. • Made of sulfuric acid. • Called “Earth’s Twin.” • Hottest planet in solar system. • Thick clouds.

Venus

• First visited in 1969. • Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. • Sea of Tranquility. • Seen by Jim Lovell. • Earth’s satellite.

Moon

• Lost mission in 1999 due to metric vs. imperial confusion. • Viking landers did soil tests here. • Spirit and Opportunity rovers explored it.

Mars

• Spiral, elliptical, and irregular types • Formed via Lindblad resonance • Includes Andromeda and the Milky Way • Upper part of the Hubble tuning fork diagram

Galaxy

• Galilean transformations (inertia, relativity) • Supported heliocentric theory • Improved the telescope • Observed Jupiter’s moons

Galileo Galilei

• Atomic number of nickel • Equals 4 × 7 • Equal to 2 fortnights • Digits sum to 10 • A perfect number (also a fun math fact)

• Studied by Cassini-Huygens mission • Has moons like Titan, Rhea, Enceladus • Known for its Great White Spot • Sixth planet from the Sun

Saturn

• Known for its Great Red Spot • Has moons like Ganymede and Europa • Fifth planet from the Sun • Observed by Galileo • Largest planet in the solar system

Jupiter

• Classified as chondrites • Found in the Transantarctic Mountains • Bright ones are called bolides • Strike the Earth and form impact craters • Different from asteroids or meteoroids

Meteorites

• Formed 4.6 billion years ago • Result of gravitational collapse • Described by Copernicus as the center of the solar system • Nearest star to Earth • Massive object that planets orbit

Sun

• Grazed by Krachts and Marsdens • Features prominences, spicules, and sunspots • Undergoes an 11-year cycle • Surrounded by photosphere and corona • Star Earth orbits

Sun

• Has moons like Io, Ganymede, and Europa • Home to the Great Red Spot • Largest planet in the Solar System • Causes volcanism on its moons through tidal forces • Orbits Callisto and the biggest moon: Ganymede

Jupiter

• Arthur Eddington tested general relativity during one • Helium discovered during one by Janssen and Lockyer • Types include solar and lunar • Celestial event that blocks sunlight • Leads to temporary darkne

Eclipses

• Found in Kirkwood gaps and Jovian Trojans • One has a moon named Dactyl • Includes Vesta • Found between Mars and Jupiter • Part of a namesake belt

Asteroids

The existence of virtual particles causes these objects to “evaporate”. Reinhard Genzel, Andrea Ghez, and Roger Penelope won the 2020 Nobel prize for a discovery regarding this object called Sagittarius.

Black holes

Planet has cloud pattern and it is known as the “hexagon.” Has lowest density in the solar system

Saturn

• First observed Jupiter’s moons • Advocated heliocentrism (sun-centered universe) • Dropped objects of different masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa • Condemned by the Inquisition • Wrote Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems

Galileo Galilei

• These objects are observed to rotate quickly without losing structure • Part of the Hubble tuning fork diagram • Includes barred and unbarred types • Andromeda is an example of this type of galaxy

Spiral galaxies

• Prevented from collapsing by electron degeneracy pressure • Smaller than neutron stars and black holes • Sirius B is an example of this type of stellar remnant • Most common endpoints for main-sequence stars • White dwarf stars are less massive than other stellar remnants

White dwarfs

• The largest object in the Kuiper Belt • Known for its Tombaugh Region • Contains moons like Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra • Once classified as the ninth planet from the Sun • Orbiting Charon, it is sometimes considered a double planet

Pluto

• Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first to complete it • The Tranquility Base was set up during this event • Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4 are Chinese missions that also completed this task • Occurred during Apollo 11 • Humans first landed on the Moon in 1969

Moon landing

• Rosetta was the first spacecraft to land on one of these • Known for dirty snowball theory • Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter in 1994 • Solar wind forms their tails • Famous ones include Halley’s and Hale-Bopp

Comets

Detected using methods like transitphotomentry and racdial velocity measurements Located outside of our solar systems

Exosplanets

• The center of this galaxy contains a black hole named Sagittarius A* • Harlow Shapley believed this was the only galaxy until challenged • Our solar system is located in one of its spiral arms • Visible in the Milky Way’s neighbor, Andromeda • Known for the zone of avoidance

Milky Way

• This object is the only natural satellite of Earth • Affects ocean tides due to its gravitational pull • The first landing by humans occurred here during Apollo 11 • Has a gray surface with many craters • Its phases include new moon and full moon

Moon

• Discovered by Johann Galle using calculations from Le Verrier • Has the largest retrograde moon in the Solar System, Triton • Methane causes its blue appearance • The eighth planet from the Sun • The farthest planet from the Sun

Neptune

1. No-hair theorem describes them with mass, charge, angular momentum. 2. M87 black hole first imaged in 2019; Hawking radiation occurs at event horizon.

Astronomy

1. Has gossamer rings from debris of Amalthea and Thebe. 2. Acts like an “asteroid sponge” (Shoemaker-Levy 9 collision). 3. Galileo moons include Ganymede and Io; Great Red Spot visible.

Jupiter

• Discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. • New Horizons revealed its “frozen heart” in 2015. • Demoted to a trans-Neptunian object after Eris was found in 2006. • Used to be the 9th planet from the Sun.

Pluto

• First mission ended in tragedy with a fire. • Used Saturn V rockets. • Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin were astronauts. • Missions to the Moon.

Apollo program

• Skylab scattered debris over Australia. • Freedom was planned but not built. • Mir and ISS are examples.

Space stations

• Wolf-Rayet stars are very hot. • Classified as Population I or II. • Plotted on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. • Fuse hydrogen in their cores.

Stars

• A mission named “Grunt” failed to find a launch window from Earth orbit to this object. • It is the larger, closer of two moons discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall orbiting Mars. • It completes an orbit in 8 hours and has the Stickney Crater. • Named after Ares’ son, the personification of fear.

Phobos

• Located northwest of Sirius. • Contains Rigel and Betelgeuse. • Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak form its belt. • The Orion Nebula is in its Sword asterism.

Orion

• Names a “deep field” and “ultra deep field” in Ursa Major. • In 1929, discovered galaxies recede with velocity proportional to distance. • Namesake space telescope launched in 1990.

Edwin Hubble

• Thought to be flat because density parameter omega is close to one. • Created by the Big Bang; age inversely proportional to gravitational constant (Dirac hypothesis). • Accelerating expansion attributed to dark energy. • Possible end includes heat death.

Universe

• Classified as C-type, S-type, or M-type by spectral lines. • Large examples include Pallas and Vesta. • Make up the belt between Mars and Jupiter. • Greek for “star-like.”

Asteroids