Unit 3

Question 1

Where do sunspots occur

Answer 1

Where strong magnetic activity in the Sun’s outer layers cause relative cooling in small regions

Question 2

Photosphere

Answer 2

Layer of the sun which emits the most visible light

Question 3

Chromosphere

Answer 3

Outermost layer of the sun

Question 4

Corona

Answer 4

Upper region of the chromosphere, where the solar atmosphere becomes much less dense

Question 5

Granulation

Answer 5

Texturing in the surface on the sun

Question 6

Convective Zone

Answer 6

A large area where cycles of material flow back and forth from the inner to the outer regions of the zone

Question 7

Radiative Zone

Answer 7

Zone where energy travels outward. Material gets hotter between the boundary with the convective zone and the core

Question 8

Nuclear fusion

Answer 8

Physical process which generates energy for the sun. Helps balance out the forces of gravity which would otherwise bring the outer layers crashing into the center

Question 9

Proton-proton chain

Answer 9

Nuclear reaction series that powers the sun

Question 10

Luminosity

Answer 10

Absolute power output at the source

Question 11

Brightness

Answer 11

Apparent output as observed at a distance

Formula: Brightness = luminosity / 4 pi (distance)^2

Question 12

Star temperature and absorption lines

Answer 12

The cooler a star gets ,the more atoms and molecules can hold on to electrons to create absorption lines

Question 13

Distance in parsecs

Answer 13

1/parallax angle in arc seconds

Question 14

High temperature stars are

Answer 14

Smaller and bluer

Question 15

Lower temperature stars are

Answer 15

Bigger and redder

Question 16

Increased luminosity doesn’t change the star’s color because

Answer 16

It doesn’t change the temperature, just the amount of light emitted

Question 17

H-R Diagram

Answer 17

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, which shows the relationship between star luminosity and temperature

Question 18

What influences the luminosity of a star

Answer 18

The amount of energy produced in the core. Less energy= lower luminosity

Question 19

If the radius of star A is twice that of star B, and both have similar temperatures, how do their luminosities compare?

Answer 19

Star A is 4 times as luminous ad star B

Question 20

If 2 stars have the same apparent brightness, the fainter one is…

Answer 20

Closer

Question 21

Apparent Brightness formula

Answer 21

Luminosity/4*pi distance squared

Question 22

What is the main sequence

Answer 22

The curve on the HR diagram where stars of different masses are located while they’re converting hydrogen to helium in their cores

Question 23

White dwarf stars

Answer 23

The dying cores of sun-like stars, held up by electron degeneracy pressure

Question 24

Brown dwarf star

Answer 24

Failed star which failed to start fusion

Question 25

Medium mass stars end up as

Answer 25

Supernovae and neutron stars

Question 26

High mass stars end up as

Answer 26

Supernovae and black holes

Question 27

How do gold and silver end up in stars

Answer 27

Supernovae explosions

Question 28

Why are things torn apart when they near a black hole?

Answer 28

The part of the object closer to the black hole feels a greater force

Question 29

the event horizon of a black hole is

Answer 29

The minimum distance from which light can escape

Question 30

Star’s habitable zone

Answer 30

The region in which liquid water can be present on a planet’s surface

Question 31

Extremophiles

Answer 31

Life that manages to survive very hostile environments

Question 32

Radiodurans

Answer 32

Can survive in the high levels of radiation on Mars’s surface

Question 33

Hydrothermal vent communities

Answer 33

Can exist in the total darkness and pressures in the liquid oceans of Europa d

Question 34

When was the first extrasolar planet discovered?

Answer 34

1992

Question 35

The first extrasolar planet in the habitable zone was found in:

Answer 35

2001

Question 36

Transit Mode

Answer 36

The periodic dimming of light as an exoplanet passes in front of its host star and casts a shadow on Earth’s telescopes. Used to find exoplanets

Question 37

Open clusters

Answer 37

Clusters not held/bound together well by gravity. Stars within the clusters are flying off in different directions above the escape velocity. They will disperse in a few million years

Question 38

Globular star clusters

Answer 38

Concentrated, with lots more stars than open clusters (hundreds of thousands/million stars). Very old and very yellow

Question 39

Cluster formation tells us about

Answer 39

The age of the cluster

Question 40

Cat’s Eye nebula

Answer 40

Planetary nebula created when a dying, sun sized star ejects its outer layers of gas into space. Has rings and a symmetrical appearance

Question 41

Why is the cat’s eye nebula symmetrical

Answer 41

Bipolar jets create matching jets on both sides.

Question 42

Helix Nebula

Answer 42

The one that looks like a giant eye. red glow caused by hydrogen. Shaped like a donut because of Earth’s line of sight

Question 43

Nova

Answer 43

Explosion caused by white dwarfs taking on the matter of a nearby companion. Lights up the inside of an otherwise invisible gas cloud

Question 44

Type I supernova

Answer 44

Created from too much matter being dumped on a white dwarf