Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe. Flashcards
Spectrum
the bond of color produced when white light passes through a prism
apparent magnitude
the brightness of a star as seen from earth
absolute magnitude
the brightness that a star would have at a distance of 32.6 light-years from earth
light-year
The distance light travels in one year
parallax
An apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from different locations
red giant
A large, reddish star late in its life cycle
white dwarf
A small, hot, dim star that is the leftover center of an old star
H-R diagram
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a graph that shows the relationship between a star’s surface temperature and absolute magnitude
main sequence
the location on the H-R diagram where most stars lie
supernova
A gigantic explosion in which a massive star collapses and throws its outer layers into space
neutron
star A star that has collapsed under its own gravity
pulsar
A rapidly spinning neutron star that produces radio waves
black hole
An object in space whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape.
galaxy
A huge group of single stars, star systems, star clusters, dust, and gas bound together by gravity
nebula
A large cloud of dust and gas in space
