Space Science Set 1

Question 1

What is astronomy?

Answer 1

Astronomy is the study of everything that exists beyond the earth, and is really the study of light

Question 2

What does the word astronomy mean?

Answer 2

Astron means star and nomos means law

Question 3

What is a telescope?

Answer 3

A telescope is a tool that makes far away things look up-close and bright.

Question 4

Who is credited with building the first telescope in 1609?

Answer 4

Galileo Galilei, however many people had been building the knowledge for many years before.

Question 5

Who actually built the first telescope?

Answer 5

Hans Lippershey in 1608, but Galileo improved his design.

Question 6

Why did Galileo become so famous?

Answer 6

He promoted his ideas and also found Jupiter’s largest moons.

Question 7

In 1923, what did Edwin Hubble do?

Answer 7

Edwin Hubble use the most powerful telescope on earth at the time to find the Andromeda Galaxy.

Question 8

Although astronomers knew about Andromeda Galaxy, how did Hubble add to their knowledge?

Answer 8

Hubble measured how far away Andromeda is, 10 times further away than the edge of our galaxy.

Question 9

What did Hubble’s discovery lead to?

Answer 9

Astronomers realized the universe was much bigger than they had thought and confirmed the existence of other galaxies.

Question 10

What are the two types of telescopes?

Answer 10

Refracting telescopes and reflecting telescopes

Question 11

How do refracting telescopes work?

Answer 11

Refracting telescopes bend (refract) incoming light through a tube to a focal point.

Question 12

What are the two types of lenses in a refracting telescope?

Answer 12

An objective lens at the front through which light comes through first and an eye piece which magnifies the image.

Question 13

How does a reflecting telescope work?

Answer 13

a reflecting telescope uses mirrors to reflect light to a focal point.

Question 14

What are the mirrors in a reflecting telescope?

Answer 14

A primary mirror is a big curved mirror at the back that starts to focus the light, and the secondary mirror is a smaller mirror at the front that redirects the light towards your eye. There is also an eye piece lens.

Question 15

Which type of telescope is better?

Answer 15

each one has advantages and disadvantages depending on what you want to look at.

Question 16

What do most modern observatories use?

Answer 16

Most modern observatories use reflectors because the telescopes are so huge.

Question 17

What is aperture?

Answer 17

Aperture is the diameter of the opening on the front. The bigger the aperture the more light enters the telescope

Question 18

Why do telescopes need large apertures?

Answer 18

Telescopes need large apertures because the starts only give off dim light, so the aperture needs to be large to let in as much light as possible.

Question 19

What is focal length?

Answer 19

Focal length is the length from the aperture to the focal point in the telescope.

Question 20

What happens as the focal length gets longer?

Answer 20

The longer the focal length the smaller the patch of sky you can see, but the greater the magnification.

Question 21

Why do reflecting telescopes have an advantage when it comes to focal length?

Answer 21

Refractors bend the light down the tube, the tube has to be at least as long as the focal length, but in reflecting telescopes the mirrors reflect the light so the tube can be shorter.

Question 22

Why is aperture not so important to most astronomers?

Answer 22

Most planets are visible using a small telescope, and the moon is too bright if your aperture is too large. Even a small 20 cm telescope can see hundreds of galaxies and nubulae.

Question 23

What is a galaxy?

Answer 23

A galaxy is a large system of stars, gases, and dust

Question 24

What is a nebulae?

Answer 24

A nebulae is an interstellar cloud of dust and hydrogen gas, some are 100 million miles away

Question 25

Why are astronomical cameras handy?

Answer 25

An astronomical camera can detect if a galaxy has a spiral centre and can give you precise data.

Question 26

What is a spectroscope?

Answer 26

A spectroscope works like a prism and allows the camera to pick up small changes in colour.

Question 27

What do the different colours in a spectroscope image show you?

Answer 27

A spectroscope image shows you different colours or different wavelengths of light.

Question 28

What is the entire spectrum of light called?

Answer 28

The entire spectrum of light is called the electromagnetic spectrum EMS

Question 29

Which light has the longest wavelength?

Answer 29

Red has the longest wavelength

Question 30

Which light has the shortest wavelength?

Answer 30

Violet has the shortest wavelength

Question 31

What are the different names of the different kids of light?

Answer 31

Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, xray, gamma ray

Question 32

Why is important for astronomers to know about the different kinds of light when you can’t see them anyways.

Answer 32

Not every object emits light, and some might be emitting other types of light that can be seen with things other than the eye.

Question 33

What is radio astronomy?

Answer 33

Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies space using radio frequencies instead of visible light.