Solar System Flashcards
What are the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum?
Gamma rays, x-rays, ultra violet, visible light, infra red, microwave, radio wave
wavelengths, frequencies, and energies on the spectrum
gamma- shortest wavelength, high frequency, high energy- radio wave- long wavelength, low frequency, low energy
Distinguish between refracting and reflecting telescopes
refracting: uses lenses that sends light through the objective lens and through a focus to the eyepiece, where the magnifying happens.
Reflecting; uses curved mirrors to reflect the light bounces off of a primary mirror which hits a secondary mirror and then through a focal point to the eyepiece.
What type of light can the Hubble telescope observe?
near ultraviolet, visible, infrared
Why is the Hubble telescope so magnificent?
images not blocked by atmosphere and turbulence reduces the resolution in images
Earths day- night cycle
As the earth rotates, it also orbits around the sun so when the rotation completes, the sun is in a different part of the sky.
Earths solstices
The tilt of the earths axis also accounts for having shorter days and longer days. For example the June solstice is when the north rotational pole is facing the sun and the northern side of the hemisphere faces the longest day of the year whereas the southern side faces the shortest.
Earths seasons
The tilt of the earth also accounts for the earths seasons and why when the northern pole is facing the sun in the rotational orbit, Canada experiences summer, where Australia experiences their colder winter months.
Earths tides
The gravitational pull of the sun and the moon actually create tides. since the moon is much closer, it exerts a stronger gravitational pull and the earths oceans will bulge and dip as the moon orbits.
Earths equinoxes
Happens twice a year when the sun passes earths equator. On these days, night and day are both equal all over the planet.
What is a solar eclipse?
Blocking of the suns light by the moon passing between the earth and the sun.
What is a lunar eclipse?
When the moon passes through the earths shadow
What are the phases of the moon?
Full moon, waxing gibbous, first quarter, waxing crescent, new moon, waning crescent, third quarter, waning gibbous,
How did the moon form?
It is said that the earth collided with a large asteroid that took a chunk of earth off and formed to the asteroid. The gravity and orbit formed it to be round do to its large mass like other planets.
What are lunar highlands?
Light colored, mountainous regions.
What is mare?
Dark smooth plains on the moon.
What are craters?
impacts formed on the moon from things crashing into it.
What is regolith?
Loose material covering the moon, containing dust, soil broken rock.
What is ejecta?
Material that falls back to the moon after an impact blast.
What are lunar rays?
Long trails of ejecta on the moons surface.
What are rills?
Valley like features on the moon.
Why is there a far side of the moon?
The tidal forces from the earth slowed down the moon so only one side faces the earth at all times.
Why is the far side of the moon dark?
The crust is thicker and it’s more cratered
Micro gravity vs weightlessness
Micro gravity just means there is very little gravity. This doesn’t mean that things that are floating are weightless, it just means there’s little gravity and therefore able to float.
How are satellites in free fall?
technically they are falling towards the earth, they just keep on missing the earth due to gravity and rotation.
Significance of sputnik
worlds first artificial satellite, launched 1957.
significance of Yuri garagin
first human to travel to space in 1961
Significance of project mercury
learned to put people into orbit, one man capsule launched in 1959
significance of the Gemini program
two man capsule launched in 1965 to help prepare for the Apollo moon landing.
significance of the Apollo program
in 1969, Apollo 11 allowed Neil Armstrong to walk on the moon
define synchronous
An orbiting body has the same orbital period as the planet it orbits
define eccentricity
the shape of an orbit. If the eccentricity is 0, it is a circular orbit if it is 1, it is a very parabolic orbit/oval
define apogee
when a satellite is the furthest from the center of the erath
define aphelion
the point of orbit when the planet is furthest from the center of the sun
define perigee
when a satellite is closest to the center of the earth in its orbit
define perihelion
when a planet is closest in its orbit to the center of the sun
Ptolemy contributions
created the geocentric model that says the earth is the center of the solar system and everything revolves around the earth.
Copernicus contributions
proposed the heliocentric model, that planets actually revolved around the sun.
Galileo’s contributions
first one to use a telescope to create the idea that planets revolved around the sun and also discovered four of Jupiter moons while doing it.
Tycho Brahe contributions
danish astronomer helped build on the heliocentric model.
Kepler contributions
discovered that the orbits around the sun are actually elliptical
Newtons contributions
created the universal gravitational law stating that force depends on mass and the distance between the two,
Mercury: size, magnetic field, atmosphere, surface
small, magnetic dipole, thin to no atmosphere, heavily cratored
Venus’ GHG effect
hottest planet due to GHG effect, mainly consists of a CO2 atmosphere. suffice clouds present, extreme atmospheric pressure, some volcanic activity, high albedo (reflective) . The albedo is how much incident radiation is reflected and since the atmosphere is transparent to visible light, infrared radiation is emitted and the GHG hold it in heating up the planet.
Mars: atmosphere, size, magnetic field, surface
mainly CO2, half the size of earth, no atmosphere, red iron dioxide surface
Water on mars?
in the summer time water is discovered to flow on mars evident in the dark streaks on the planet showing water flowing down craters and hills.
Life on mars
finding water on mars is possible habitable for microorganisms.
describe Jupiter
gas giant mainly H and He, rapid rotation makes atmospheric circulation. weather comes from gravitational contraction.
4 Galilean moons
IO: volcanic pizza moon, caused by jupiter indiced tides.
Europa: iced crust with possible slushy ocean below.
Ganymede: icy cratered moon
Callisto: very old surface and craters
describe Saturn
ring particles are made up of water, ice, and some rocky material. less dense than water so it would float in a bathtub. atmosphere is H and He.
contrast Uranus and Neptune similarities and differences
both have same H and He atmosphere, both have similar rotational periods, neptune has a 165 yr orbital period whereas Uranus has 84yrs. neptune is bigger than Uranus.
solar system formation theory
starts with a cloud of dust and gas, then a supernova explosion and a shockwave is sent. the shockwave indces gravitational contraction and some degreee of spin. greatest density at center of cloud that gets hot as outside is cooler. center turns into a protostor and then forms chunks that turn into asteroids gravity starts to move these into orbit and they form into planets.
describe the kuiper belt
composed of frozen ices of methane ammonia and water and also contains Pluto and many other dwarf planets and billions of comets.
describe Oort cloud
goes 1/3 out to the nearest star and contains trillions of comets.
comet structure
no matter the comets path, the tail is always facing away from the sun. asteroid= rock, comet= ice ball
1980, Tunguska Russia, only killed one person.
similarities and differences between Pluto and Ceres
Ceres orbits in the asteroid belt whereas Pluto orbits in the kuiper belt. both of them are biggest objects in their belt though. both describes as dwarf planets. Jupiter gravity prevents Ceres from full growth whereas Pluto is full grown.
