Space Flashcards
What are comets made of
How big are they
Core of frozen gas and dust
Up to 20km in diameter BIGGER THAN METEORS 🌠
Why do tails of comets always point aways from the sun
The core is evaporating in the sunlight
What orbit to comets have
Elliptical around the sun
How are objects in our galaxy kept in orbit
By the gravitational force of the sun 🌞
Gravity provides the centripetal force so they don’t fly off
Sun exerts an inward pull force due to gravity
What do light years measure
Distance light travels in one year
Positives and negatives of unmanned space travel
Can withstand conditions and needs no food,oxygen
Can measure temp, radiation and gravity etc
Information travels at speed of light
Lower cost
NO ONE TO FIX IT IF IT BREAKS. MUST HAVE ZERO MAINTAINANCE
Positives and negatives of manned space travel
Samples can be taken
Long time to reach places and radio signals take longer to reach earth
Keeping warm is vital at -270’
Space needed for fuel, food, water and oxygen
What are asteroids
Where do they normally orbit
What could they form but why not
Rocks left over from formation of solar system
Normally orbit a belt between mars and jupiter but can get knocked towards earth
They could form a planet but Jupiter’s gravitational pull prevents this
What could be the impacts if an asteroid hit
Craters Heat may cause fires Sunlight blocked from dust Climate change Species may become extinct
What are some evidence of collisions on earth
Craters
Unusual elements in rocks
Sudden change in fossils indicating much death
What are NEOs
Near earth objects
Asteroid or comet with possible collision course
What are solutions to NEOs approaching
Survey for them
Monitor them with satellites
Deflect with explosion if collision deemed imminent
What does the big bang theory suggest
Universe started in one place with explosion 🎆
Microwave radiation is received from all parts of the universe
How does redshift prove the universe is expanding
Wavelengths are longer when focused on further away objects
Light from star/galaxy is shifted towards red end of the spectrum
The faster the galaxy/star is moving away, the greater the redshift
The furthest galaxies move the fastest they have greater redshift
Explain how stars are formed as protostars then later, main sequence stars
PROTOSTARS⭐️are formed when interstellar gas clouds containing mainly hydrogen collapse under gravity
Temperature of Protostar increases
Thermo-nuclear fusion reactions take place releasing lots of enegy
Becomes MAIN SEQUENCE STAR (eg. our sun🌟)
In the death of a star how will it become either a red giant or red super giant
Fusion fuel runs out and star swells up becoming colder to form either
RED GIANT or
RED SUPER GIANT
depending on the mass
What is the process a RED GIANT takes before dying
MEDIUM WEIGHT STAR: RED GIANT TO PLANETARY NEBULA THEN WHITE DWARF
Core contracts, outer layers of gas drift into space PLANETARY NEBULA
Core cools and contracts becoming WHITE DWARF (huge density)
What is the process a RED SUPER GIANT takes before dying
What can supernova either turn to
HEAVY WEIGHT STAR:RED-SUPER GIANT TO SUPERNOVA THEN NEUTRON STAR OR BLACK HOLE
When red supergiant explodes it becomes a SUPERNOVA releasing lots of energy, dust and gas
Supernova can either turn to NEUTRON STAR or BLACK HOLE
Supernova can either turn to NEUTRON STAR or BLACK HOLE
What are neutron stars
Stars with a mass of 10x our suns mass
Formed only by neutrons
Supernova can either turn to NEUTRON STAR or BLACK HOLE
What are black holes
Greater than 10x mass of our sun
Large mass in small space so has large gravity
Can only be observed indirectly through effects on their surroundings
X-ray and light cannot escape
What was earth first believed to be
What actually is it
Geocentric
Heliocentric
Copernicus
Claimed Earth and all other planets orbited sun
Not accepted as it contradicted Roman Catholicism
Galileo Galilei
Invented a telescope and saw that venus has phases like the moon
Convinced him that Earth and other planets orbited sun
Tried and convicted of heresy making heliocentric view unpopular for many years
