Astronomy Flashcards
What is the definition for astronomy?
The study of the Universe
What is a constellation?
A group of stars that form a pattern in the sky.
What is the Polaris?
A bright star located within a degree of the north pole.
What is the EM Spectrum?
A spectrum based on the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
What is the Emission spectrum?
A spectrum based on the amount of electromagnetic radiation a source emits.
What is the Absorption spectrum?
A spectrum based on how much radiation is absorbed by a substance when electromagnetic radiation is transmitted through.
What is the Astronomical unit?
A unit of measurement that is 149,597,871 kilometers, it is also the approximate distance from the center of the sun to the center of Earth.
What is the definition of a light year?
The distance at which light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion km.
What is luminosity? (astrology)
The brightness of a star
What is a nebula?
Is a cloud of gas and dust in space.
What is a proto-star?
A large glowing dust cloud that could eventually become a star.
What is a red giant?
Red stars that are cooler and brighter then blue/white stars.
What is fusion?
The process and result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity.
what is a white dwarf?
Is formed when a small star has used all its central fuel and lost its outer layers.
What is a supernova?
An intensely bright object caused by a red giant star that exploded.
What is a neutron star? The dense core left after a large star exploded
The dense core left after a large star exploded.
What is a black hole?
Objects in space whose gravitational forces are so strong that not even rays of light can escape.
What is a galaxy?
A group of millions, or even billions of stars held together by gravity.
What is a globular cluster?
A large and compact circular start cluster.
What is a quasar?
It is a distant radio sources that resemble stars, except for they are larger
What is The Big Bang?
It’s a theory in which the universe was originally created by a dense sphere of hydrogen that exploded into our ever growing/expanding universe
What is an Astronomical unit?
A unit of measurement equal to 149.6 million kilometers, it is also the distance from the center of the earth to the center of the sun.
What is a Period of rotation?
Is the period in which the planet completes a full rotation
What is a Period of revolution?
is the period in which the planet completes a full loop of it orbital course
What is the corona?
is the sun’s outer atmosphere, that is above the chromosphere
What is a chromosphere?
a layer of the sun’s atmosphere that is located just above the photosphere
What is a photosphere?
is the visible yellow surface of the sun
What is a solar flare?
is a sudden burst of energy that comes from areas of sunspot activity
What is a sunspot?
a dark area on the sun’s atmosphere
What is solar wind?
a stream of electrically-charged particles that are blown out from the sun in all directions
What is a planet?
is a celestial body moving in orbit around a star
What is a moon?
Is any natural satellite of a planet
What is the force of gravity?
is when, objects with mass attract one another
What is a ellipse? is a regular oval shape
is a regular oval shape
What is eccentricity?
the change of a curve or orbit from circularity
What is a perihelion?
the spot at which the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is closest to the sun
What is aphelion?
the spot at which the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is furthest to the sun
What is Kepler’s Laws(3)?
The first out of three laws state that planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at one focus. The second states that the radius vector of a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times. The third law relates the distances of the planets from the sun to their orbital periods.
What is an Asteroid Belt?
the region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are located
What is an asteroid?
Is any small celestial bodies composed of rock and metal that move around the sun.
What is a dwarf planet?
It is a celestial body resembling a small planet but lacking certain technical criteria that are required for it to be classed as such.
What are Terrestrials?
It is representing the earth as distinct from other planets, meaning anything Earth bond is terrestrial.
What is a meteorite/meteoroid?
Is a small body moving in the solar system that would become a meteor if it entered the earth’s atmosphere.
What are Jovian’s?
is and adjective referring to the planet Jupiter.
What is a comet?
is a chunk of frozen gasses, ice, and rocky debris that orbits the Sun
What is a coma?
is a diffuse cloud of gas and dust surrounding the nucleus of a comet.
What is a nucleus of a comet?
It is a solid part of the head of a comet.
