Unit 2 & 3

Question 0

Describe the enormous amounts of time it takes spacecraft to travel long distances

Answer 0

Fastest spacecraft travels 58,000 km/h. At this speed, it would take 75,000 years to reach to nearest star

Question 1

What is a light year?

Answer 1

A measure of distance

Question 2

What is luminosity?

Answer 2

The actual brightness of a star

Question 3

What is apparent magnitude?

Answer 3

The brightness of stars as they appear
|——————————-|
Brightest Dimmest

Question 4

What is absolute magnitude?

Answer 4

How bright a star really is. (Stars are aligned at the same distance)

Question 5

How does the color help determine the temperature of a star?

Answer 5

Stars with cool surfaces are red, while stars with hot surfaces are blue-white

Question 6

What is geocentric?

Answer 6

Earth centered

Question 7

What is heliocentric?

Answer 7

Sun centered

Question 8

What were the contributions from Kepler, Galileo, and Copernicus?

Answer 8

Kepler - Laws of Planetary Motion
Galileo - Used a telescope
Copernicus - Heliocentric model

Question 9

What is gravity?

Answer 9

Force of attraction between two objects due to their masses

Question 10

What does Keplers 1st law state?

Answer 10

Planets orbit in an elliptical path

Question 11

What does Keplers 3rd law state?

Answer 11

The farther away someone is from the sun, the longer its orbit is

Question 12

What is Newtons law of universal gravitation?

Answer 12

Gravitational force ^ as the mass of the objects ^
Gravitational force decreases the farther the objects are
(Inverse relationship)

Question 13

What are the layers of the sun in order?

Answer 13

The core, the radiative zone, the convective zone, the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona

Question 14

How does the sun produce energy?

Answer 14

By nuclear fusion

Question 15

What is nuclear fusion?

Answer 15

Two low-mass atomic nuclei fuse to form another, heavier nucleus, and matter is converted into energy

Question 16

What is convection?

Answer 16

Movement of matter due to differences in density

Question 17

Where does convection happen?

Answer 17

The convection zone

Question 18

What is differential rotation?

Answer 18

Different parts of the body route at different speeds (the sun’s equator rotates faster than the poles)

Question 19

What is a sunspot?

Answer 19

A dark area on the photosphere that is cooler

Question 20

What is a solar flare?

Answer 20

Explosive release of energy

Question 21

What is a prominence?

Answer 21

A huge loop of gas

Question 22

What are terrestrial planets and what are a few properties of them?

Answer 22

A planet that is highly dense, and composed of rock and metal. They rotate slowly, and have no rings and few satellites

Question 23

Wy is Pluto classified as a dwarf planet?

Answer 23

Because it doesn’t have enough mass to clear the junk out of its orbit

Question 24

What is a dwarf planet?

Answer 24

A body that orbits the sun and has enough mass to be round, but has not cleared its orbital path

Question 25

What are dwarf planets composed of?

Answer 25

Rock and ice

Question 26

Where is the Kuiper Belt located in the solar system?

Answer 26

Just beyond the orbit of Neptune

Question 27

What are characteristics of gas giants?

Answer 27

Gas giants have deep, massive gas atmospheres, mostly made of hydrogen and helium