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astronomy quiz > astronomy quiz > Flashcards

astronomy quiz Flashcards

1
Q

solar flares

A

Areas near sunspots caused by rapidly changing magnetic fields of sunspots. Do not last long.

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2
Q

Granules

A

Convective cells formed by heated matter rising, cooling, and sinking on the sun’s surface

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3
Q

sunspots

A

darker, cooler areas on the sun caused by a disturbance in the sun’s magnetic field.

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4
Q

Solar prominences

A

Slow ejections of gas that travel through the corona

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5
Q

Core

A

Hottest part of the sun, centre, up to 15 million degrees C, particles collide with each other and join together (nuclear fusion)

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6
Q

nuclear fusion

A

particles colliding and joining in the sun’s core

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7
Q

radiative zone

A

area surrounding the core, energy from nuclear fusion goes here first

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8
Q

convective zone

A

area surrounding radiative zone. energy from nuclear fusion goes here next, but it can take up to a million years to move between the two zones. hotter substances rise, colder ones fall, energy continues to move outward to next layer

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9
Q

photosphere

A

outermost, coolest area of the sun (after convective zone). temp. 5500 degrees celcius

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10
Q

chromosphere

A

warmer inner atmosphere of sun

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11
Q

corona

A

cooler, white-coloured outer atmosphere of sun

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12
Q

cluster

A

a group of galaxies pulled together by gravity

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13
Q

supercluster

A

a group of galaxy clusters

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14
Q

galaxy

A

an enormous, rotating collection of gas, dust, planets, stars, and other celestial objects

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15
Q

satellite

A

celestial object orbiting a planet

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16
Q

name 3 things that come from space exploration

A

freeze-dry tech, GPS, exercise equipment, protective padding on sports uniforms (designed for spacecrafts), air purification systems

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17
Q

pros and cons of studying space (2 each)

A

P: products, resources, information
C: cost, dangerous, environment

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18
Q

How does the sun cause the auroras?

A

particles from solar wind interact with our atmosphere to form the light

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19
Q

solar wind

A

the continuous flow of charged particles from the sun that flows through the solar system

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20
Q

rotation vs revolution

A

rotation: on it’s own axis
revolution: obriting around somethng else

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21
Q

geocentric model of solar system

A

sun and other planets travel around the earth

22
Q

heliocentric model of solar system

A

solar system revolves around the sun

23
Q

orbital radius

A

average distance between a celestial object of the sun (orbital radius of Earth is 1 AU)

24
Q

orbital period

A

time to complete one revolution

25
why do we have seasons
Earth's tilt - for half the year, the north gets more direct sun rays, so it is summer there. For the other half, north is facing away, so it is winter there (summer in south)
26
explain the phases of the moon
For a full moon, the Earth is between the moon and the sun so that for the side of the Earth where it is night, they can see a fully illuminated moon. one half of the moon is always fully illuminated, but we cannot always see that half. When the moon is between the earth and the sun, it is a new moon because the illuminated half is the half we cannot see at all.
27
high tide (what moon phase)
full moon
28
solar eclipse
can't see the sun (moon blocks)
29
lunar eclipse
Can't see the moon (it's in earth's shadow)
30
how far is one AU
earth to sun, 150 million km
31
how far is one lightyear
how far light can travel in a year, 10 trillion km
32
nebula
giant cloud of gas and dust in space. sometimes, new stars form here, and sometimes they die to form nebulas
33
how do planets form
materials in a nebula (gas and dust) keep colliding until the gravitation pull is strong enough for it to be a planet
34
protoplanet
planet smaller than 10 km in diameter
35
do planets move clockwise or counter clockwise
counter clockwise
36
two kinds of planets and which planets fit into each category
terrestrial planets: earth, mars, mercury, venus | Gas giants: Jupiter, neptune, saturn, uranus
37
what gases make up the gas giants
hydrogen (H2) and helium (He)
38
what is a dwarf planet
planet: dominates its orbit, enough gravity to pull it into a sphere shape, orbits a star
39
what and where is the kuiper belt
it is where the dwarf planets are, it lies beyond neptune's orbit
40
asteroids
celestial bodies too small to be considered planets, but that still orbit the sun
41
what and where is the asteroid belt
it is composed of metals (asteroids), between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
42
meteoroids
any piece of rock or metal smaller than an asteroid
43
meteors
meteoroids that have been pulled into the earth's atmosphere (burning up)
44
meteorite
a meteor that did not completely burn up and that was able to hit the ground
45
apparent vs absolute magnitude
both brightness of the star: apparent vs actual
46
spectograph
splits light energy into patterns of colours to determine the elements in a star
47
how old is the solar system
approx. 5 billion years
48
what is the solar nebule theory
theory that the solar system was formed when the solar nebula, a massive cloud of dust and gas, began to contract.
49
evidence of the solar nebula theory
This theory explains why planets orbit the sun in the same direction, why they are all on the same plane surrounding the sun, and why the terrestrial planets are closer to the sun than the gas giants.
50
red shift
Red Shift is the phenomenon where the light emitted from planets becomes red, telling us that the planet is moving away from us.
51
big bang theory
all matter and energy in the universe expanded from an area that was smaller than the period at the end of a sentence.
52
evidence for big bang
Hubble's discovery in the 1920s of a relationship between a galaxy's distance from Earth and its speed; and • the discovery in the 1960s of cosmic microwave background radiation

astronomy quiz (1 decks)

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