Light and stars Flashcards
includes gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared
radiation, microwaves, and radio waves.
Electromagnetic radiation
the arrangement of electromagnetic radiation according to wavelength.
electromagnetic spectrum
a small packet of light energy.
photon
the study of the properties of light that
depend on wavelength.
spectroscopy
an uninterrupted band
of light emitted by an incandescent solid, liquid, or gas under pressure.
continuous spectrum
a continuous spectrum produced when white light passes through a cool gas under low pressure. The gas absorbs selected wavelengths of light, and the
spectrum looks like it has dark lines
superimposed.
Absorption spectrum
s a series of bright lines
of particular wavelengths produced by a hot gas under low pressure.
emission spectrum
“FINGERPRINTS” lines
identify the elements present and thus the star’s chemical composition.
SPECTRAL LINES
the apparent change in
frequency of electromagnetic or sound waves caused by the relative motions of the source and
the observer.
Doppler effect
used to determine whether a star or other body in space is moving away from or toward Earth.
Doppler effect
a telescope that uses a
lens to bend or refract light
refracting telescope
produces an image
by bending light from a distant object so that the light converges at an area
focus
a telescope that reflects
light off a concave mirror, focusing the image in front of the mirror
reflecting telescope
a telescope designed to
make observations in radio wavelengths.
radio telescope
orbit above Earth’s atmosphere and thus
produce clearer images than Earth-based
telescopes.
space telescope
first space telescope, built by NASA
HUBBLE space telescope
telescope that study X-rays
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
used to study both visible light and gamma rays.
Compton Gamma- Ray Observatory
study infrared radiation.
James Webb Space Telescope
the region of the sun that
radiates energy to space, or the visible surface of the sun.
Photosphere
the first layer of the solar
atmosphere found directly above the
photosphere.
Chromosphere
the outer, weak layer of the solar
atmosphere
Corona
a stream of protons and electrons
ejected at high speed from the solar corona.
solar winds
a dark spot on the sun that is cool
sun spot
huge cloudlike structures
consisting of chromospheric gases
prominences
ionized gases trapped by
magnetic fields that extend from regions of intense solar activity.
prominences
brief outbursts that normally
last about an hour and appear as a sudden brightening of the region above a sunspot cluster.
solar flares
are bright displays of ever-changing light caused by solar radiation interacting with the upper atmosphere in the region of the poles.
Auroras
the way that the sun produces
energy. This reaction converts four hydrogen nuclei into the nucleus of a helium atom, releasing a tremendous amount of energy
nuclear fussion
is 74% hydrogen
Sun
large region in the corona which is less dense and is cooler than its surroundings. Through these holes, streams of solar wind escape at high
speeds.
corona hole
A pattern that we recognize in the night sky
asterism
An apparent group of stars originally named after mythical characters
constellations
a constellation that is very prominent and
easily recognizable; close to the equator and visible everywhere.
Orion
Brightest star
Alpha star
how many constellation in present day?
88
what path does stars move?
westward
is our north star, directly above the
earth’s axis at the North Pole.
Polaris
disappear or lose brightness.
eclipses/ecliptic
a unit of distance; It is the distance that
light travels in one year.
light year
A nearby star can be viewed from earth and is seen in a position among other stars.
stellar paralax
A nearby star can be viewed from earth and is seen in a position among other stars.
stellar parallax
The study of the aspects and properties of the spectrum
spectroscopy
he total energy radiated by the star every
second in all its forms and wavelengths.
Luminosity
Hottest star
O
The bluer a star appears=
the hotter the star
Coolest star
M
The wavelengths become smaller and the
perceived color will shift toward O blue
blue shift
As the wavelengths gets larger, the
color shifts toward red.
red shift
A very large mass of gas and dust in space
Nebula
