Earth Science Flashcards
Asteroid
- small rocky body that orbits Sun
- larger than meteoroids, smaller than planets
Asteroid Belt
between Mars and Jupiter
Black Hole
region of spacetime w/ gravitational forces so strong that nothing can escape from it
Comet
- icy celestial body
- close to Sun –> heats up releases gas and dust
- forms glowing coma and tail
Cosmology
study of origin, evolution, and fate of universe
Doppler Effect
- change in frequency / wavelength of light from source moving relative to observer
- used to measure star velocities
Dwarf Planet
has not cleared neighboring region of other objects
Event Horizon
boundary surrounding black hole beyond which no information / matter can escape
Exoplant
outside our solar system that orbits a star
Fusion
2 light atomic nuclei combine and release energy
Gravity
- attractive force between 2 masses
- F = G(m₁ * m₂) / r²
Hubble’s Law
recessional velocity of galaxies is directly proportional to distance from Earth
Kepler’s Law
describing planetary motion
1. orbits are ellipses
2. equal areas swept in equal times
3. square of orbital period is proportional to cube of semi-major axis
Light Year (ly)
- distance that light travels in 1 year
- ~ 9.46 trillion km
Meteor
- visible path of meteoroid as it enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up due to friction w/ air
- shooting star
Meteorite
meteoroid that survives passage through Earth’s atmosphere and land on surface
Meteoroid
- small rocky/metallic body in outer space
- smaller than asteroid
Nebula
- giant cloud of gas and dust in space
- birthplace of stars and planets
Planet
- large astronomical body that orbits star
- spherical due to its own gravity
- cleared its orbit of other debris
Pulsar
highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation
Quasar
- extremely luminous and active galactic nucleus powered by supermassive black hole
- emits massive amounts of energy
Red Giant
- late phase in star’s life cycle
- significant increase in size and luminosity after hydrogen burning ceases
Redshift
phenomenon where light is shifted to longer wavelengths due to object moving away from observer
Solar System
gravitationally boung system consisting of Sun and celestial bodies (planets & moons) that orbit it
Spectroscopy
- study of interaction between light and matter
- to determine composition and properties of celestial objects
Supernova
powerful explosion at the end of a star’s life cycle often resulting in neutron star / black hole
Chronostratigraphy
- branch of stratigraphy that studies age and time relationships of rock strata
- temporal framework of geological history
Fossilization
- organic material becomes fossil
- burial, sedimentation, and mineralization over time
Gondwana
- southern supercontinent
- Paleozoic era
- South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India
Laurasia
- northern supercontinent
- after Pangaea broke apart
- late Mesozoic era
- North America, Europe, Asia
Lithostratigraphy
- study of rock layers based on physical and mineralogical characteristics
- correlating and interpreting geological history
Magnetostratigraphy
- method of dating rock layers by analyzing magnetic properties of minerals w/in them
- insights into past geomagnetic reversals
Paleoclimate
study of past climates using data from geological records (ice cores, sediment layers, fossil evidence)
Pangaea
supercontinent during late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic (~335 mya)
Panthalassa
ocean surrounding Pangaea
Tethys Ocean
- between Gondwana and Laurasia
- distribution of marine life during Mesozoic era
Uniformitarianism
- processes operating past are same as those observed today
- the present is the key to the past
