Astronomy Flashcards
Define the word Astronomical.
The average distance between the earth and the sun.
What’s a Light-year?
The distance light goes in one year.
Define Parsec.
A unit used to describe large distances.
What’s Nebula?
** A fuzzy patch in the sky , either light or dark.**
Define Consellation.
A group of stars that make pattern.
What is Planetesimal?
One of the small celestial bodies that, according to one theory (planetesimal hypothesis), were fused together to form the planets of the solar system.
Define Protoplanetary**.
the collection of matter, in the process of condensation, from which a planet is formed.
What is Nucear Fusion?
When light nuclei are forced together.
Define a Comet.
A celestial body moving about the sun, usually in a highly eccentric orbit, consisting of a central mass surrounded by an envelope of dust and gas that may form a tail that streams away from the sun.
What’s Terrestrial Planets?
A inner planet.
Define a Gas giant planet.
A large massive low-density planet that is compsed primarily of hydrogen, hellium, methane, and ammonia in either their gaseous or liquid state.
What’s a Cosmologist?
A astronomer who studies the evolution and space-time relation in the the universe.
Define Orbit.
The curved path, usually elliptical, described by a planet, satellite, spaceship, etc., around a celestial body, as the sun.
What’s a Period?
A portion of time.
Define Rotation.
The movement or path of the earth or a heavenly body turning on its axis.
