Space Physics Flashcards

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1
Q

Name the planets in order

A
  1. Sun
  2. Mercury
  3. Venus
  4. Earth
  5. Mars
  6. Saturn
  7. Uranus
  8. Neptune
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2
Q

Name the rocky planets

A

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars

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3
Q

Which planets are the larger planets?

A

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

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4
Q

What comes after Neptune?

A

Dwarf planets like Pluto

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5
Q

Name other objects in the solar system

A

Moons
asteroids
comets

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6
Q

What are moons?

A

Natural satellites which orbit planets,
most planets have at least 1 but some have more

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7
Q

What is the solar system?

A

small part of the Milky Way galaxy

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8
Q

Galaxy

A

massive group of stars

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9
Q

How do stars form?

A
  1. From clouds of dust and gas - a nebula
  2. Gas is mainly Hydrogen in a nebula
  3. Gravity causes cloud of dust and gas to collapse
  4. As dust particles move faster, temp rises to millions of degrees celcius
  5. This is called a protostar
  6. If temp of protostar is high enough, hydrogen nuclei join together to form helium
  7. This is nuclear fusion
  8. Protostar has turned into a star
  9. Nuclear fusion releasing lots of energy
  10. Star is in equilibrium with gravity thats acting inwards - causes star to collapse (there are 2 opposing forces) and NF which acts outwards causing star to expand
  11. Both forces are balanced
  12. At this point, it is a main-sequence star
  13. What happens next depends on the size of the star
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10
Q

What is a nebula

A

cloud of dust and gas which is mainly hdyrogen

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11
Q

What does gravity cause the stars to do?

A

collapse

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12
Q

What does nuclear fusion cause the stars to do?

A

expand

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13
Q

What is a protostar?

A
  • Formed by a nebula experiencing gravity which causes it to collapse
  • Lots of particles moving quickly which causes a very high temp
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14
Q

What causes a protostar to turn into a star?

A
  • If the temp is high enough, the hydrgoen nuclei will do nuclear fusion and join together to form helium
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15
Q

What happens to the main sequence star if its about the same size as our Sun/ small/ medium?

A
  1. Hydrogen in star begins to run out
  2. This point, outward force due to fusion energy is less than inward force due to gravity
  3. Causes star to collapse inwards
  4. Temp increases due ot collapse
  5. Helium nuclei fuse together to create heavier elements
  6. This makes expands to make a red giant
  7. At some point, red giant stops fusing helium
  8. Star shrinks = white dwarf
  9. Since its not carrying out fusion it cools down and stops releasing energy = black dwarf
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16
Q

What happens to the main sequence star if its bigger than our Sun?

A
  1. Red super giant shine brightly again - more nuclear fusion
  2. They explode = supernova
  3. forms elements heavier than iron due to the temp high that are ejected across the universe
  4. Supernova condenses into a neutron if star was big
  5. Or black hole if star was massive
17
Q

What is a neutron star?

A
  • Formed by a supernove if star was big
  • Neutrons densely packed together
18
Q

What is a black hole?

A

Lots of gravity that light cant escape

19
Q

How does the Earth orbit the Sun?

A

In a circular orbit but striclty speaking scientists say they orbit as a elliptical orbit

20
Q

What causes the Earth to be held in its orbit?

A

Force of gravity acting between sun and earth

21
Q

How often do geostationary satellites orbit?

A

once every 24 hrs, this means they always point to the same part of the earth, however other artifical satellites orbit more freq

22
Q

In circular orbits, what does the force of gravity lead to?

A

A change in velocity (speed w/ direction) but not in speed

23
Q

If the satellite speed changes what also changes?

A

the radius of the orbit

24
Q

If speed of satellite increases, what happens to radius? Why?

A
  • radius of orbit decreases
  • Because at a high speed, satellite needs greater force of gravity to prevent it flying off into space
  • by moving closer, gf is greater and satellite remains in a stable orbit
25
Q

What did scientists see in 1900 when looking at light emitted from diff galaxies?

A
  • Light from v distant galaxies has an increased wavelength comapred to light from closer galaxies
26
Q

What do nearby galaxies have and what does it mean?

A
  • small redshift
  • they are moving away
27
Q

What do more distant galaxies have and what does it mean?

A
  • larger red shift
  • moving away faster
28
Q

What do very distant galaxies have and what does it mean?

A
  • very large redshift
  • moving away v fast
29
Q

Evidence for universe is expanding?

A

Distant galaxies are moving faster than nearby galaxies = expanding

30
Q

2 types of satelites and explain what they are

A
  • Natural - not man made
  • Artificial - man made, communication, orbiting telescopes
31
Q

What are asteroids

A
  • made mostly of rock and metal
  • found in asteroid belt (between mars and jupiter)
32
Q

what are comets

A
  • ice and dust
  • have more of a elliptical orbit
  • outskirts of solar system
33
Q

What holds together the stars in a galaxy

A

gravity

34
Q

What changes may happen in a protostar as it grows in size and attracts more particles?

A
  • increase in temp
  • increase in density
  • nuclear fusion could intiate
35
Q

What does a change in velocity mean in orbits?

A

accelerating

36
Q
A