Earth In Space Flashcards
revise
What are the 8 planets and what is their order?
-Mercury
-Venus
-Earth
-Mars
-Jupiter
-Saturn
-Uranus
-Neptune
When do we get an eclipse?
When the shadow of the moon falls on the Earth.
What is the solar system?
The system of objects which are controlled by the sun.
What does the solar system consist of?
-a star called sol
-8 planets and their satellites
-Asteroids
-Comets
-Dwarf planets (3 that we know of)
What does a planet also do when it orbits the sun?
It spins on its axis.
What is a day?
The time it takes a planet to spin once on its axis.
EACH PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM SPINS AT
A DIFFERENT RATE, SO EACH HAS A DIFFERENT LENGTH OF DAY.
Why were months introduced?
To follow the cycle of the moon.
How many days does it take the moon to circulate the Earth?
27.3 earth days
At least once a year one month will have how many full moons.
2 full moons
Called blue moons
What is a year?
The time it takes for a planet to orbit the sun once.
How long is a year on Earth?
365.25 days
Do all planets have the same length of years?
No, the further from the sun the planet is, the longer the planets year is because it has to travel a bigger distance.
What degrees does the earths axis tilts on?
23.4 degrees
Why do we experience summer?
In June the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, so it gets more heat energy from the sun and it’s lighter for a longer time. The northern hemisphere experiences summer.
Why do we experience winter?
In December the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, so it gets less heat energy from the sun and it’s lighter for a shorter time. The northern hemisphere experiences winter.
What are the characteristics of summer?
-The sun appears earlier
-The sun is higher in the sky
-The sun disappears later
What are the characteristics of winter?
-The sun appears later
-The sun is lower in the sky
-The sun disappears earlier
Why do we get well defined shadows when it is a sunny day?
Because sunlight travels in straight lines.
Why do shadows get shorter from morning to mid-day?
The sun gets higher in the sky and the steeper the angle it makes with the
pillar the shorter the shadow becomes.
What would happen to the length of the shadow in the afternoon?
It gets longer as the sun is lower in the sky.
What is the life cycle of a star?
Stellar Nebulae
-Low mass star/high mass star
-red giant/red supergiant
-planetary nebula/supernova
-white dwarf/black hole or neutron star
-black dwarf
What is the stellar nebulae?
-big area of gas and dust
-birthplace of stars
What is a low mass star?
-coalesced from a cloud of gas
-also known as a main sequence star
-our sun
-nuclear powerhouse
-converts hydrogen to helium in its core to produce heat and light
What is a red giant?
When a low mass star dies it cools, expands and becomes less bright forming a red giant.
-No hydrogen or helium fuel
What is a planetary nebula?
At the end of a red giants life the outer layers of it drift into spaces, leaving a planetary nebula
-gas and dust
What is a white dwarf?
-a dead star
- in the centre of a planetary nebula
-remains a hot dense star
What is a black dwarf?
-a white dwarf cooled down
-none exist yet
-no heat or light
What is a high mass star?
-4x the mass of our sun
-lives 600 million years
-burns hydrogen faster so lives shorter lives
What is a red supergiant?
-is what happens to a high mass star when all the hydrogen is used up
-the largest star in volume in the universe
-temperature 3500-4500 cold
What is a supernova?
The death of a large star
-the event creates a big bang which is very bright
-10 billion kelvin in temperature
-most violent thing that occurs in our universe
What is a black hole?
-gravitational force so big not even light can escape it
- once a star dies it is created
Massive concentrations of matter packed into small spaces
What is a neutron star?
It is created if the core of a supernova is less than 2.5 solar masses compressed like a giant atomic nucleus.
What are black holes?
-a compact object
-strong gravitational force
-very dense
-sucks things in and crushes it
How do we know black holes are there?
Because of the light behind them that are actually galaxies and gravitational lensing
-crush any matter coming into them
What are galaxies?
A collection of dust and gas and stars
What types of galaxies are there?
-spiral
-elliptical
-irregular
What is the name of our galaxy?
The milky way
What is the type and size of our galaxy?
-the black hole in the middle has a radius of 52,850
-the spiral 100,000 light years across
-spiral galaxy
What does the term ‘red shift’ mean?
the frequency of the light when it moves away from us towards us its blue shift is streched out.
What is red shift?
Galaxies moving away from us have their light stretched to a longer wavelength, red-shifted.
What is the Big Bang theory?
The universe expanding proven by red shift, how it began.
What evidence is there that supports the the big bang theory?
CMBR- cosmic microwave radiation.
-Gravitational lensing
% of hydrogen and helium in the universe
What are the types of telescope for visible light
Refractor Telescope= 2 lenses
Reflector Telescope= uses mirror
What are the advantages of having earth bases telescopes?
-cheap to build
-easy to fix
-accesible to many people
What are the disadvantages of having earth bases telescopes?
-inteferes with light coming in
-weather=low visiblity
-only used at night
What are the advantages of having telescopes in orbit?
-unaffected by weather
-see the whole light spectrum
-use 24 hours a day
What are the disadvantages of having telescopes in orbit?
-very expensive mirrors
-shrink/blur images
-hard to repair
Which 3 bodies in the solar system have been visited the most?
Moon
Mars
Venus
Why do you think the Moon, Mars and Venus have been visited the most?
they’re closest/easiest to get too
Why has mercury only had 2 successful probes?
Because it is too close to the sun so it’s too hot.
What must you have when going to space?
AN OXYGEN SUPPLY
A WATER SUPPLY
A FOOD SUPPLY
A POWER SUPPLY
A SYSTEM FOR SANITATION
HOW TO KEEP FIT IN LOWER/ZERO GRAVITY
What is gravity?
The force that keeps the planets orbiting the Sun.
What is the distance light travels in one year known as?
A light year
What is mean’t by the term light year?
The distance light travels in one year
How to calculate a light year?
300,000,000x365.25x24x60x60=
9500000000000000m
Which way is the earth rotating for us in scotland?
Its turning anti-clockwise when looking from the North Pole
What is meant by the big bang and what proves it?
theory for origin of universe
-started as a small point and the universe is expanding and is still expanding
If the objective lens had a larger diameter, what difference would be noticeable in the object being viewed?
It would collect more light, meaning a better image.
What is Earth?
A planet.
Why do planets orbit the sun?
Due to the strong gravitational force, coming from the star.
What is a month?
Approxiametly, the time it takes the moon to orbit the Earth once.
When did the first human enter space?
12th April 1961
When a space probe is destined for a planet or other body what can it be classified as?
FLYBY
IMPACTOR
LANDER (release rovers)
Why do we experience seasons?
-the way the planet rotates 23.4
JUNE= northern tilted towards
DECEMBER=northern tilted away
When are light years used?
When expressing distances to stars and other distances.
How is a black hole formed?
THEY FORM WHEN A MASSIVE STAR
(AT LEAST 25 TIMES THE MASS OF THE SUN) EXPLODES IN A GIGANTIC
EXPLOSION CALLED A SUPERNOVA. WHAT IS LEFT BEHIND IS A BLACK
HOLE
