Astronomy Flashcards

1
Q

What does Astronomical Unit mean?

A

a distance equal to the average distance between Earth and the Sun

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2
Q

What does Light Year mean?

A

a unit of distance equal to the distance travelled by light in a single year

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3
Q

What does Parsec mean?

A

the distance from Earth at which stellar parallax would equal 1 second of arc

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4
Q

What is Nebula?

A

a cloud of interstellar gas and dust

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5
Q

What is Constellation?

A

any of the 88 groups of stars as viewed from Eath and the Solar System

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6
Q

What is Planetesimal ?

A

one small celestial body that was fused together to form the planets of the solar system

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7
Q

What is Protoplanetary?

A

protoplanets are moon-sized or larger planetary embryos within discs that have undergone internal melting to differentiated interiors

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8
Q

What is Nuclear Fusion?

A

Nuclear reaction when an atomic nuclei of low atomic number fue to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy

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9
Q

What is Terrestrial Planets?

A

a planet which has characteristics of a rocky surface like the Earth’s

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10
Q

What are Gas Giant Planets?

A

a planet composed of almost entirely of gas

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11
Q

What is a Comet?

A

a celestial object of a nuclues of ice and dust, when near the sun a “tail” of gas/dust particles pointing away from the sun

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12
Q

What is Asteroid?

A

a small/rocky body that orbits the sun

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13
Q

What is a Cosmologist?

A

an astronomer who studies the evolution and space-time of the universe

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14
Q

What is Angular Velocity?

A

the rate of change of an angular position of a rotationg body

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15
Q

What is Orbit?

A

the curved path of a celestial object around a star, planet, or moon

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16
Q

What is Period?

A

a length of time

17
Q

What does it mean to Revolve?

A

move in a circle/ on a central axis

18
Q

What is a Rotation?

A

the action of rotating around an axis/center

19
Q

What is the Sidereal Day?

A

the time between two consecutive transits of First Point of Aries

20
Q

What is the Solar Day?

A

when Earth makes a complete rotation on its axis

21
Q

What is a Year?

22
Q

What is Accretion?

A

the drawing together of interstellar gas and surrounding objects by gravity in a celestial object

23
Q

What is Spring Tide?

A

occurs when the Moon is either new or full and the Sun and Earth are aligned

24
Q

What is Neap Tide?

A

occurs at the first and third quarters of the moon

25
Q

What is Eccentricity?

A

the measure of an elliptical path , especially an orbit, from a perfect circle

26
Q

What is Coma?

A

the shining cloud of gas that surrounds the nucleus and is the major portion of the head of the comet near the Sun

27
Q

What is Precession?

A

the slow movement of the axis of a spinning body around another axis

28
Q

What is an Orbital Plane?

A

the plane on which a body is orbiting

29
Q

What is Inclination?

A

the degree of deviation from the horizontal or vertical