The Birth And Death Of Stars Flashcards
What is a red giant
A red giant is a large, bright star with a cool surface that forms when a star like our sun runs out of hydrogen fuel
What is a white dwarf
A white dwarf is a small, hot star that form when a star like our sun runs completely out of fuel and slowly fades and cools
What is a black dwarf
A black dwarf is a remnant formed when a white dwarf star cools and gradually fades away
What is absolute magnitude scale
Absolute magnitude is the scale for measuring the brightness of objects at the same distance.
What is the absorption spectrum?
The absorption spectrum is the spectrum with lines missing from the pattern; opposite of an Emission spectrum because the element has absorbed it’s characteristic light wavelengths and removed them from the spectrum.
What is the Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is a theory that the universe began from a hot, dense state at some time in the past, from when it has continued to expand and will continue to do so into the future.
What a black hole?
A black hole is a region in space of infinite density where Gravity is so large that nothing can escape from it, including light itself.
What is a blue shift?
A blue shift is a apparent increase in frequency (towards the blue end of the spectrum) of light from galaxies that are moving towards the earth.
What is apparent magnitude.
Apparent Magnitude is a scale for measuring the brightness of an object when viewed from earth
What is a constellation?
A constellation is a grid like segment of the stars in the sky; older definition was a group of stars that appear to form a pattern.
What is CMB?
CMB stands for Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. CMB is a form of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave spectrum left over from the formation of the universe; evidence for the Big Bang theory
What is the Doppler effect?
The Doppler effect is a apparent change in wavelength (or frequency) when the source of the waves or the observer is moving; responsible for the red shift or distance stars.
What is the Emission spectrum?
The emission spectrum is a pattern of wavelengths (or frequencies) that appear as coloured lines in a spectroscope; it is unique to each element.
What is a galaxy?
A galaxy is a huge collection of billions of stars held together by their own gravity.
What is the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram?
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a graph displaying star data with the spectral class or star temperature on the x-axis and absolute magnitude on the y-axis.
What is a light year?
A light year is the distance that light travels in 1 year.
What is the main sequence?
The main sequence is a narrow diagonal band on a HR diagram that includes most stars, as well as the sun, running from top left of the graph to the lower right.
What is a Nebula?
A nebula is a cloud of dust in space.
What is a neutron star?
A neutron star is a small, highly dense star, made mostly of neutrons.
What is a planetary nebula?
A planetary nebula is a glowing shell of gas formed when stars die.
What is a red shift?
A red shift is a apparent decrease in frequency (towards the red end of the spectrum) of light from galaxies that are moving away from the earth.
What is a spectral class?
A spectral class is a group that a star belongs to based on it’s temperature.
What is the Steady State Theory?
The Steady State Theory is a theory that the universe has always existed and that matter is constantly being created at an enormous rate, causing the universe to expand.
What is a Stellar Parallax?
A stellar parallax is the change apparent position of a star against its background when viewed from two different positions.
What is a supernova?
A super nova is the explosive death of a star.
