EARTH SCIENCE QUIZ Flashcards
The universe is literally everything, the sum of all existence. It includes all matter, like stars and galaxies. The universe also includes all radiation and all other forms of energy.
The Origin of the Universev
“ordinary” matter
consisting of protons, electrons, and neutrons that comprises atoms, planets, stars, galaxies, and other bodies
Baryonic matter
matter that has gravity but does not emit light.
Dark matter
a source of anti-gravity; a force that counteracts gravity and causes the universe to expand.
Dark energy
an early stage in the formation of a star resulting from the gravitational collapse of gases.
Protostar
a nuclear fusion reaction (i.e., nucleosynthesis) responsible for the energy produced by stars.
Thermonuclear reaction
stars that fuse hydrogen atoms to form helium atoms in their cores; outward pressure resulting from nuclear fusion is balanced by gravitational forces
Main Sequence Stars
the distance light can travel in a year; a unit of length used to measure astronomical distance
Light years
- the building blocks of galaxies born out of clouds of gas and dust (nebula) in galaxies
- Instabilities within the clouds eventually results into gravitational collapse, rotation, heating up, and transformation to a protostar-the core of a future star as thermonuclear reactions (nucleosynthesis) set in.
Stars
clusters of billions of stars and clusters of galaxies form superclusters. In between the clusters is practically an empty space.
- Galaxy
Was first predicted by George Lemaitre, the father of Big Bang Theory
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
Universe began from a “singularity” that expanded overtime
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
nearest galaxy in the Milky Way
Andromeda constellation aka Andromeda galaxy
radial pulse
Cepheid Star
Galaxies are moving away from each other, hence as evidence for an expanding universe, just as predicted by Einstein’s
Red Shift
Abundant Elements
Hydrogen
Helium
Lithium
can explain what may be holding galaxies together for the reason that the low total mass is insufficient for gravity alone to do so
Dark matter
can explain the observed accelerating expansion of the universe.
Dark energy
Based on recent data, the universe is how many years old
13.8 billion years old.
This evidence for expansion contradicted the previously held view of a static and unchanging universe.
Theory of General Relativity.
velocities of distant objects in the universe in proportion to their distance from Earth
Hubble’s law
who discovered the CMB
Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson (1964)
Also known as relic radiation
COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB)
It maintains that new matter is created as the universe expands thereby maintaining its density. Its predictions led to tests and its eventual rejection with the discovery of the cosmic microwave background.
STEADY STATE THEORY (BONDI & GOULD, & HOYLE, 1948)
It postulates that 13.8 billion years ago, the universe expanded from a tiny, dense and hot mass to its present size and much cooler state.
BIG BANG THEORY
The big bang theory rests on two ideas:
Einstein’s General Relativity (1915) and the Cosmological Principle.
Gravity is thought of as a distortion of space-time and no longer by a gravitational field in contrast to the Law of Gravity by Newton
Einstein’s General Relativity
assumes that the universe
is homogenous and
isotropic when averaged
over large scales
Cosmological Principle
believed in
many gods and myths which
narrate that the world arose
from an infinite sea at the first
rising of the sun.
Ancient Egyptians
tell the story of a creator
god Mbombo (or Bumba) who,
alone in a dark and water-
covered Earth, felt an intense
stomach pain and then
vomited the stars, sun, and
moon.
The Kuba people of Central
Africa
in _______there is the narrative
that gods sacrificed Purusha,
the primal man whose head,
feet, eyes, and mind became
the sky, earth, sun, and moon
respectively.
India
the _____ of _______, _______ and _______claim that a supreme being
created the universe, including
man and other living
organisms.
The monotheistic religions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
a huge disc- and spiral-shaped
aggregation of about at least
100 billion stars and other
bodies.
Milky Way galaxy
this is where the solar system is located
Milky Way galaxy
This galaxy is about _________ across
100 million
light years
The solar system revolves
around the galactic center once
in about ________ years.
240 million
The Milky Way is part of the so-
called Local Group of galaxies,
which in turn is part of the
____________
Virgo supercluster of galaxies
Much of the mass of the Solar
System is concentrated at the
______ (Sun) while angular
momentum is held by the __________
center, outer planets.
Orbits of the planets elliptical
and are on the same plane.
Yes
Except for hydrogen, helium, inert gases, and volatiles, the universe and Earth have similar abundance especially __________________
for rock and metal elements.
The sun and the large planets have
enough gravity to retain ___________________. Rare inert gases are too light for the Earth’s gravity to retain, thus _______________.
retain hydrogen and helium, the low abundance.