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Space Physics Flashcards

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1
Q

what is in our solar system

A

the sun
the 8 planets
dwarf planets that orbit around the sun
natural satellites

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2
Q

example of natural satellites

A

the moons that orbit planets

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3
Q

what is our solar system a small part of

A

the milky way galaxy

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4
Q

how was the sun formed

A

from a cloud of dust and gas (nebula) pulled together by gravitational attraction

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5
Q

where does the sun lie in the solar system

A

the centre as it is heliocentric

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6
Q

planets in the solar system

A

mercury
venus
earth
mars
jupiter
saturn
uranus
neptune
(pluto)

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7
Q

acronym for solar system planets

A

my very early morning jam sandwich usually nauseates (people)

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8
Q

what are smaller planets made of

A

mainly rock

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9
Q

what are larger planets made of

A

mainly gas

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10
Q

where do planets orbit the sun from

A

all planets orbit the sun on the same plane

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11
Q

what do all planets do

A

orbit the sun
rotate

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12
Q

what are the differences in rotation of planets

A

different speeds
some rotate in the opposite direction or on a skewed axis to the other planets from a past collision throwing its axis off balance

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13
Q

why do larger planets have rings

A

their gravitational field is so strong it attracts debris

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14
Q

where was the earth initially

A

in the centre
with planets our moon and the sun orbiting it

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15
Q

features of the original solar system model

A

geocentric model
everything orbited in perfect circles
with a fixed background of stars

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16
Q

when was the heliocentric model formed

A

600 years after the initial model

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17
Q

what did the heliocentric model contain

A

the sun at the centre of

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18
Q

what was the evidence for the heliocentric model

A

mars retrograde motion

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19
Q

what is mars retrograde motion

A

earth orbits the sun faster than mars so we undertake it, so it appears to reverse its direction in the sky

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20
Q

what did galileo observe

A

moons orbiting jupiter
showing not everything orbited the earth

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21
Q

what did kepler show

A

the planets orbited in ellipses and not circles

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22
Q

what happens as the planet orbits the sun

A

the gravitational force causes the planet to change direction constantly as it moves in a circle
this means the velocity is always changing so the force causes the planet to accelerate without increasing its speed

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23
Q

what is needed for a stable orbit

A

if the planet moves closer to the sun eg its orbital radius decreases
the gravitational attraction to the sun increases meaning force and acceleration increase
so the orbital speed of the planet increases

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24
Q

features of mercury venus earth and mars

A

relatively small
rocky

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25
Q

what is a galaxy

A

a massive group of stars

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26
Q

how many stars does the milky way contain

A

hundreds of billions of stars

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27
Q

how many galaxies are in the universe

A

hundreds of billions of

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28
Q

what do stars form from

A

clouds of dust and gas called a nebula

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29
Q

what is the gas in a nebula

A

mainly hydrogen

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30
Q

what happens in the first stage of a star being formed

A

gravity causes the cloud of dust and gas to collapse

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31
Q

what happens as the dust particles move faster

A

the temperature rises to millions of degrees celsius

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32
Q

what is a protostar

A

a collapsing cloud of hot gas and dust

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33
Q

what happens if the temperature of the protostar gets high enough

A

hydrogen nuclei join together to form helium

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34
Q

what is nuclear fusion

A

hydrogen nuclei join together to form helium

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35
Q

what happens to the protostar when nuclear fusion occurs

A

the protostar has turned into a star

36
Q

what is nuclear fusion doing once the protostar is a star

A

releasing a huge amount of energy

37
Q

what happens within the star as it undergoes nuclear fusion

A

there are two opposing forces

38
Q

what are the two opposing forces in the star

A

gravity
energy from nuclear fusion

39
Q

what does gravity do in the star in nuclear fusion

A

acts inwards to the core
making the star collapse

40
Q

what does the energy from nuclear fusion do to the star

A

creates a force acting outwards from the core
making the star expand

41
Q

what happens to the two opposing forces in a star during nuclear fusion

A

the force of gravity acting inwards is balanced by the force due to fusion energy acting outwards

42
Q

what does it mean when the two forces in the star are balanced

A

the star is in equilibrium

43
Q

what kind of star is formed after nuclear fusion

A

a main sequence star

44
Q

why do stars stay in the main sequence for a long time

A

nuclear fusion releases a lot of energy

45
Q

what happens to a star the same size as the sun after being a main sequence star

A

the hydrogen in the star begins to run out
the outward force due to fusion energy is less than the inward force due to gravity
so the star collapses inwards
temperature increases
helium nuclei fuse together to create heavier elements
the star expands to form a red giant
at some point the red giant stops fusing helium
so the star shrinks and forms a white dwarf
the white dwarf isn’t carrying out fusion so it gradually cools
it stops releasing any energy and forms a black dwarf

46
Q

what happens to stars bigger than the sun after the main sequence star stage

A

stars run out of hydrogen
leave the main sequence stage and expand into red super giants
helium nuclei fuse to produce heavier elements
red super giant stops carrying out nuclear fusion
the star explodes (supernova)
the temperature of the supernova is high enough to produce elements heavier than iron
when explodes these elements are distributed throughout the universe
remains of star can form a neutron star or a black hole

47
Q

what can nuclear fusion not make

A

any element heavier than iron

48
Q

what does a supernova make

A

elements heavier than iron

49
Q

why do supernovas produce elements heavier than iron

A

the temperature is high enough

50
Q

features of a neutron star

A

neutrons densely packed together

51
Q

features of a black hole

A

such a large gravity that not even light can escape

52
Q

what is the earth orbiting the sun known as

A

a circular orbit

53
Q

what is the realistic orbit of the sun known as

A

an elliptical orbit

54
Q

what is the earths orbit

A

virtually circular

55
Q

how is the earth held in its orbit

A

gravity acting between the sun and the earth

56
Q

what do planets do around the sun

A

orbit it

57
Q

how do the planets stay in orbit around the sun

A

gravity holds the planets in their orbits

58
Q

what is the moon an example of

A

a natural satellite

59
Q

example of an artificial satellite

A

satellite used for satellite tv

60
Q

who makes artificial satellites

A

man made

61
Q

when do geostationary satellites orbit

A

once every 24 hours

62
Q

what does geostationary satellites orbiting once every 24 hours mean

A

they always point to the same part of the earth

63
Q

what is the frequency of other artificial satellites

A

more frequent than geostationary satellites

64
Q

what does the force of gravity lead to in a circular orbit

A

a change in velocity but not a change in speed

65
Q

what happens to the direction of a planet in orbit

A

it is constantly changing

66
Q

what does the direction of the planet orbiting mean

A

the velocity is constantly changing as well

67
Q

what happens if the speed of a satellite orbiting the earth changes

A

the radius of the orbit must also change

68
Q

what happens if the speed of a satellite increases

A

the radius of its orbit decreases

69
Q

why does the radius of an orbit decrease with an increase in satellite speed

A

at a higher speed the satellite needs a greater force of gravity to prevent it flying off into space

70
Q

how does a satellite get a greater force of gravity

A

moves closer to earth

71
Q

what is the impact of a satellite moving towards earth for greater force of gravity

A

remains in a stable orbit

72
Q

what is the speed changing radius changing rule also true for

A

planets
moons

73
Q

what did astronomers detect when studying light emitted from different galaxies

A

light from very distant galaxies has an increased wavelength compared to light from closer galaxies

74
Q

what happens if you put light from the sun through a prism

A

it creates a spectrum

75
Q

why do dark lines appear in a spectrum

A

certain elements in the sun absorb light of specific wavelengths so those wavelengths appear as dark lines

76
Q

how is red shift shown

A

lines from light in a different galaxy have shifted slightly towards the red end of the spectrum

77
Q

what does red shift tell us

A

galaxies are moving away from eachother

78
Q

what is the impact of galaxies moving away

A

the light waves are stretched so observed wavelength is increased

79
Q

what is the red shift of galaxies further away

A

bigger

80
Q

how are galaxies further away moving compared to closer ones

A

moving faster

81
Q

what does distant galaxies moving faster than nearby galaxies suggest

A

the universe is expanding

82
Q

how do scientists believe the universe began

A

from a very small region
that was extremely hot and dense
that expanded to form the universe

83
Q

what had astronomers previously assumed about gravity

A

it would cause the expansion fo the universe to gradually slow down

84
Q

what did observations of supernovae show

A

the rate of expansion is increasing

85
Q

what have scientists recently suggested the universe contains

A

matter and energy that we cannot detect

86
Q

what are matter and energy we can’t detect called

A

dark matter
dark energy

87
Q

what could dark matter and dark energy explain

A

why the expansion of the universe is speeding up

Physics (19 decks)

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