Astronomy Flashcards
Arctic Circle
66.5°. North, top of the globe. ( total darkness on December 21)
Tropic of Cancer
23.5° north June 21 sun is overhead at noon
Tropic of Capricorn
23.5° south December 21 sun over head at noon
Antarctic circle
66.5° south bottom of the globe total darkness at noon June 21
What do stars produce?
Light
Heat
Ultraviolet radiation
Blue Giants
Brightest stars
Red stars
Coolest stars
Compared to a red dwarf a white dwarf is…
Hot
Compared to a red dwarf a red giant is…
Bright
What size star is our sun
Average
The planets stay in orbit around the sun because of…
Ellipse
Jupiter is a
Jovian planet
The moon revolves around the earth every
27 and 1/3 days
Most stars appear to
Rise in the east and set in the West
Earth rotates every
24 hours
Earth revolves around the sun every
365 1/4 days
Longitude
Up down
Latitude
Side to side
In graphing which goes first?
Latitude then longitude
When the sun is highest in the sky the shadows are
Short
In the winter the shadows are
Long
Lights up and then darkens
Clockwise
When the moon is in between the sun and the earth the moon phase is a
New
What causes the moon to show phases when viewed on earth
Revolution on the moon
Waining then waxing
Smaller than bigger
The distance between the earth and the moon varies in provided by the apparent change in the moons
Diameter
The revolution of the moon around the earth is
The motion that causes the moon to show phases
The actual orbits of the planets are
Elliptical with the sun at one of the foci
The moon has a ** force of gravity than the earth
Weaker
What’s the reason the earth revolves around the sun
Gravitational force
Cosmetic background information
Evidence to prove the Big Bang theory
Name the planets
MVEMJSUNP
Terrestrial planets vs Jovian planets
Inner plants are closer to each other
Inner are small dense and rocky
Outer planets are mostly gas
The outer planets are larger
Asteroid
Small rocky body orbiting the sun
Axis of rotation
Straight line through all fixed points of a rotating rigid body around which all the other points of the body move in circles
Comet
A celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust, when it is near the sun it has a tail that goes away from it
Eclipse
an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination
Equator
An imaginary line drawn around the earth
Equinox
The time or date when the sun crosses the celestial equator when day and night are of equal length (9/22-3/20)
Meteoroid
A small body moving in the solar system that would become a meteor if it entered earths atmosphere
Moon
Natural satellite of the earth visible by reflected light of the sun
Moon phase
The shape of the moon is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of the moon as seen by earth
Orbit
The curved path of a celestial object of spacecraft around a star planet or moon
Revolve
Move in a circle on a central axis
Rotate
Move or cause to move in a circle around an axis or center
Solar system
The collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit around the sun also including asteroids meteoroids and comets
Spherical
Shaped like a sphere
Star
Large ball of gas
Summer solstice
The solstice that marks the onset of summer
Tides
The alternative rising and falling of the sea usually twice each lunar day at a particular place
Winter solstice
The solstice that marks the onset of winter
Cosmology
The study of the origin and future of the universe
Big Bang Theory
States that the universe began with a tremendous explosion
H-R diagram
Graph showing the relationship between a stars surface temperature and its absolute magnitude
Main Sequence
A diagonal pattern of stars on the H-R diagram
White dwarf
A small hot star near the end of its life the leftover center of an old star
Red giant
A star that expands and cools once it is out of hydrogen and fuel
Supernova
The death of a large star by expansion
Neutron star
A star in which all the particles have become neurons the collapsed remains of supernova
Black hole
An object with more than 3 solar masses squeezed into a ball only 10km across, whose gravity is so strong that not even light can escape
Astronomical unit
The average distance between the earth and the sun, or approximately 150,000,000km
Terrestrial planets
The small dense rocky planets of the inner solar system
Jovian planets
Gas giants
The large gaseous planets of the outer solar system
Meteorite
A very small rocky body that revolves around the sun
Meteor
A streak of light caused when a meteoroid or comet, dust burns up in the Earths atmosphere before it reaches the ground
