Space Science Flashcards
What is an AU (Astronomical Unit)?
An AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, about 150,000,000 kilometres.
What is 35 AU referred as? (More than one)
Something in space that is 35 times further than the distance from the Sun to Earth. (35 x 150 million km’s)
What is a light year?
A Light year is the distance light travels in one year
How fast does light travel in space?
Light travels through space at 300,000 kilometres per second and 9.46 trillion kilometres per year.
What is the main purpose of a flyby spacecraft?
A flyby is a path a spacecraft follows past a planet or other body in space to get information about it.
What is the main purpose of a orbiter spacecraft?
Orbiter spacecraft are carrying out the second phase of solar system exploration, following up the initial reconnaissance with in-depth study of each of the planets.
What is the main purpose of a atmospheric spacecraft?
Atmospheric spacecraft are designed for a relatively short mission to collect data about the atmosphere of a planet or satellite.
What is the main purpose of a lander spacecraft?
A lander is a spacecraft that descends towards, comes to rest on, the surface of an astronomical body.
What is the purpose of Penetrator Spacecraft
Surface penetrators have been designed for entering the surface of a body, such as a comet, surviving an impact of hundreds of Gs, measuring, and telemetering the properties of the penetrated surface.
What is the purpose of the Observatory Space
A space observatory is a device used for observing distant heavenly bodies like stars, planets, etc
What is the order of the Phases of the moon?
New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full moon, Waning Gibbous, Third quarter, Waning crescent and New moon.
What is the order of the EM Spectrum (Longest to shortest)?
Radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, X-rays ,ultraviolet, Gamma rays
What is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse happens when, at just the right moment, the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. Sometimes the Moon only blocks part of the Sun’s light.
What is a lunar eclipse
Lunar eclipses occur at the full moon phase. When Earth is positioned precisely between the Moon and Sun, Earth’s shadow falls upon the surface of the Moon, dimming it and sometimes turning the lunar surface a striking red over the course of a few hours.
What is scale?
Scale is looking at objects in space, but it isn’t the real scale. The real version of the solar system is huge so we have to downscale it.
What is the order of the planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
What does rotation cause
Rotation causes day and night.
What does revolution cause
revolution causes seasons
What is the solstice?
The summer solstice occurs at the moment the earth’s tilt toward/from the sun is at a maximum.
What is the Equinox
An equinox is an event in which a planet’s subsolar point passes through its Equator.
How fast does the earth rotate?
23 hours, 56 minuets and 4 seconds
What types of telescopes are there?
Reflecting, refracting, radio, space
How long does the earth take to go all the way around the sun?
365, 5 hours, 59 minuets, and 16 seconds. (365.25 days)
What are radio telescopes?
an instrument used to detect radio emissions from the sky, whether from natural celestial objects or from artificial satellites.
What is a refracting telescope?
a telescope which uses a converging lens to collect the light.
what is a reflecting telescope
a telescope in which a mirror is used to collect and focus light.
what is a space telescope
The main reason we put telescopes into space is to get around the Earth’s atmosphere so that we can get a clearer view of the planets, stars, and galaxies that we are studying
