Chapter 4 Quiz Flashcards
How old is the solar system?
4.6 billion years
What is deep time and how do we describe it with the cosmic calendar?
deep time is the concept of geological time. (multimillion year time frame) the cosmic calender is 13.8 billion years of life in 1 year. the big bang is January 1st at midnight, and the current moment is December 31 at midnight
What is the basic thing a hydrogen bomb does? why do we need to know that in astronomy?
A hydrogen bomb uses the energy from a primary fission reaction to compress and ignite a secondary nuclear fusion reactions which makes the bomb explode. the sun is a fusion energy source, acting in a similar manner.
What is an element?
substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances; made of atoms
What is an atom?
basic unit of a chemical element
what is an isotope?
two or more forms of the same element that contain equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons; hence differ in relative atomic mass but not in chemical properties
What happened in the big bang theory and when did it happen?
Happened 13.7 billion years ago. It created space time, hydrogen and helium. all known elements have been created from hydrogen and helium
How long after the big bang theory was our solar system formed?
about 9 billion years
What produced all of the elements from the H and He that were formed in the Big Bang?
Stars were created from the interstellar gas from H and He condensing together. this created massive heat and energy that bore new elements from this massive amount of energy created from stars
What is the basic thing that stars do and how do they do it?
Stars make elements for us. They take lower elements and fuse them into higher elements
How do stars shed matter and what becomes of a star when it dies? Where are stars born?
As stars run out of fuel, they swell and cool. when it runs out, it collapses and the star explodes into a supernova. after it explodes the star leaves behind a neutron star or black hole, as well as expanding remnants of gaseous debris. all the material that explodes outwards continues and slowly dissipates. this expanding material called interstellar gas creates new stars. the waves created by an exploding star begin a chain reaction with other particles in space that in the end forms new stars
what are interstellar clouds and why/how would they collapse?
an accumulation of gas, plasma and dust. parts of the cloud clump together due to gravity and eventually collapse (make a sphere) together forming a new star (the sun)
What is the nice model? what does it basically describe?
the nice model is an example of how science is a work in progress. it proposes the migration of the giant planets from an initial compact configuration into their present postions
6 stages of the solar system formation according to the nice model
- there was a vast, rotating cloud of gas and dust that began to collapse due to gravity. there was an increased density, temp, and rotation rate and decreased overall size forming the protosun
- as the protosun began to grow, it formed a disk.
- the heat from the protosun removed gases from the inner disk out to the snowline
- After Tens of millions of years… collisions between dust particles created large debris, including moon-sized bodies. The first planet to form, Jupiter, cleared the gas and dust in its orbit.
- After tens of millions of years… Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus formed(closer than they are today). Debris from outside the snow line spiraled inward. Terrestrial planets formed from this debris and orbiting moon-sized bodies
- After another tens of millions of years… Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus spiraled outward, with Neptune and Uranus changing places. Much debris was sent inward and far outward during this period, creating Kuiper belt and Oort cloud.
what are planetesimals?
a rock-type object formed from collisions with other objects in the solar system. The collisions eventually formed larger objects that led to the formation of planets.
