Test 10, Chapter 10 Flashcards
Mars’s two moons are Deimos and
Phobos
What is the largest moon in the solar system?
Ganymede
A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a two-dimensional graph that compares stars by their temperature and
brightness
The Summer Triangle is formed of the stars Deneb, Vega, and
Altair
During what phase of the moon is the entire sunlit side visible?
full moon
the orbits of the planets are symmetrical ovals called
ellipses
frozen chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun are called
comets
The explosion of a star is called a
supernova
The convection cells that cover the sun’s visible surface are called
granules
What are the flamelike columns of gas that continually erupt from the lowest layer of the sun’s atmosphere?
spicules
What is the visible portion of the sun
photosphere
What galaxy shape is the Milky Way
barred spiral
What unit of measurement is approximately equal to the distance between the sun and the earth?
astronomical unit
You will label the following constellations:
Cassiopeia, Taurus, Ursa Major, Orion, Cygnus
- describes Venus’s backwards rotation on its axis
retrograde
- name for the period of time that the moon takes to orbit the earth
lunar month
- imaginary sphere with Earth at the center and the heavenly bodies on its inner surface
celestial sphere
- imaginary “band” in the sky in which the sun, moon, and planets travel
zodiac
- the two planets between which the asteroid belt is located
Mars, Jupiter
- an object that orbits another object
satellite
- describes a star that is always above the horizon to an observer at a particular location
circumpolar
- What group of small, icy objects orbit the sun outside the orbit of the outermost planet?
Kuiper belt
- The observed brightness that a star would have to an observer located 10 parsecs away is the ____ magnitude
absolute
- what is the cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the center of a comet?
coma
- who developed the law of universal gravitation
Isaac Newton
- what is a rapidly rotating star that emits directional beams of radio waves?
pulsar
- what Latin word is used to refer to the lunar “seas”
mare
- Which scientific law states the relationship between a planet’s period and average distance from the sun?
third law of planetary motion
- What is the apparent change in the position of an object caused by an actual change in the position of the observer?
parallax
- What is the largest galaxy in the Local Group?
Andromeda galaxy
- Which category of stars includes the sun?
main sequence
- With which planet do the Trojan asteroids share an orbit?
Jupiter
- What is an object so massive and dense that not even light can escape its gravity?
black hole
- the largest planet in our solar system
Jupiter
- known for its ring system
Saturn
- the outermost planet in our solar system
Neptune
- the fastest-moving planet
Mercury
- sometimes called the “morning star” and “evening star”
Venus
- gas giant that seems to lie on its side
Uranus
- notable feature is Olympus Mons
Mars
- A planet’s closest approach to the sun is ____
perihelion
- The idea that the earth is at the center of the universe and that the sun, planets, and stars all revolve around the earth is the _______ view.
geocentric
- A small rock from space that is burning up as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere is a
meteor
- A large cloud of gas and dust in space is called a
nebula
- the phenomenon in which the moon passes between the sun and the earth is a _____ eclipse.
solar
- The study of God’s creation beyond the atmosphere is
astronomy
- A small group of stars that is used to form a picture or represent an object is an
asterism
- vega
Lyra
- Sirius
Canis Major
- Spica
Virgo
- Aldebaran
Taurus
- castor
Gemini
- Polaris
Ursa Minor
- Betelgeuse
Orion
- Regulus
Leo
Compare and contrast binary stars, open clusters, and globular clusters.
- A binary star is a system in which two stars are bound together by gravity; these two stars circle each other in the same way that the moon revolves around the earth.
- Open clusters are loose, asymmetrical clumps containing tens to hundreds, and occasionally thousands, of stars.
- Globular clusters are tightly clumped spherical groups of thousands or millions of stars that travel outside the boundaries of the Milky Way in unusual orbits around the galaxy’s center.
