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vocabulary and astronomy notes Flashcards

1
Q

blackhole

A

a massive star that has collapsed to such a small volume that its gravity prevents the escape of everything, including light

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2
Q

comet

A

a small body made of rocky and metallic pieces held together by frozen gases; comets generally revolve about the sun in an elongated orbit

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3
Q

constellation

A

an apparent group of stars originally named for mythical characters; the sky is presently divided into 88 constellations

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4
Q

galaxy

A

a group of stars, dust, and gases held together

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5
Q

main-sequence star

A

a star that falls into the main sequence category on the H-R diagram
this category contains the majority of stars and runs diagonally from the upper left to the lower right on the H-R diagram

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6
Q

meteor

A

the luminous phenomenon observed when a meteoroid enters earth’s atmosphere and burns up, popularly called a shooting star

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7
Q

meteorite

A

any portion of a meteoroid that reaches earth’s surface

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8
Q

neap tide

A

lowest tidal range

occurring near the times of the first quarter and 3rd quarter phases of the moon

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9
Q

nebula

A

a cloud or gas and/or dust in space

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10
Q

spring tide

A

highest tidal range that occurs due to the alignment of the earth moon and sun

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11
Q

supergiant

A

a very large, very bright red giant star

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12
Q

tide

A

daily change in the elevation of the ocean surface

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13
Q

aphelion

A

the place in the orbit of a planet where the planet is farthest from the sun

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14
Q

astronomy

A

the scientific study of the universe; it includes the observation and interpretation of celestial bodies

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15
Q

big bang theory

A

the theory that proposes that the universe originated as a single mass which subsequently exploded

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16
Q

doppler effect

A

the apparent change in frequency of electromagnetic or sound waves caused by the relative motions of the source and the observer

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17
Q

electromagnetic spectrum

A

the arrangement of electromagnetic radiation according to wavelength

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18
Q

ellipse

A

an oval

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19
Q

geocentric

A

describes the concept of an earth-centered universe

greeks believed this

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20
Q

heliocentric

A

describes the view that the sun is at the center of the solar system
aristarchus(greek) believed this
he found planets relative distance

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21
Q

light year

A

the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers

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22
Q

nuclear fusion

A

the way in which the sun produces energy; Nuclear Fusion occurs when less massive nuclei combine into more massive nuclei, releasing tremendous amounts of energy

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23
Q

perihelion

A

the point in the orbit of a planet where it’s closest to the sun

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24
Q

precession

A

a slow motion of Earth’s axis that traces out a cone over a period of 26,000 years

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25
revolution
the motion of 1 body about another as Earth about the sun
26
rotation
the spinning of a body, such as Earth, about its axis
27
galileo galilei
described the behavior of moving objects - there are four moons orbiting jupiter - planets are circular - venus has moon phases - the moon isn't smooth it has holes and its rough - the sun has sun spots
28
universal gravitation
every body attracts every other body gravitational force is stronger with a larger distance mass is greater when there is less gravitational force
29
johannes kepler
found 3 laws of planetary motion orbit is an ellipse planets go faster when closer to the sun orbital revolution period is in earth years
30
The big bang theory
universe started as something smaller than an Atom( singularity ) and expanded not big and not loud it was 13.8 billion years ago it's still expanding today and it created everything
31
star
celestial body that emits light which is generated by nuclear energy it's made of gases and plasma held together by gravity a body of gases that gives off a tremendous amount of radiant energy in the form of light and heat
32
planets
celestial body that orbits the sun and has a nearly round shape due to its gravitational force and has cleared it's orbital path
33
Solar system
A star in all of the planets that orbit around it
34
Galaxy
A large collection of interstellar material solar systems and dark matter that's held together by gravity
35
universe
all of time space and its contents
36
geocentric model
model of the solar systems that states that the earth is the center of the solar system
37
heliocentric model
model of the solar system that states that the sun is the center of the solar system and the planets revolve around it copernicus then galileo
38
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
first law is planets orbit the sun in a path called an ellipse Second law planets move fastest when they're closest to the sun in their orbits third law the farther away a planet orbits the longer the planet takes to revolve around the sun
39
ellipsoid earth
The earths diameter is wider at the equator than at the polls it's not a perfect sphere this is caused by the rotation of the earth and the centrifugal force perpendicular to it
40
revolution
movement in a predictable orbit around another object
41
revolution of the earth facts
The earth revolves around the sun and it takes 365.24 days(1 year)
42
rotation
spinning around on internal axis
43
earths rotation facts
Earth rotates counterclockwise and it takes 24 hours ( one day)
44
axis of earth facts
The earth is tilted on a 23.5° angle on its axis and the tilt of earths is the reason day and night are 12 hours each and why we have seasons
45
differential heating of water versus land
water heats up more slowly than land and water cools down more slowly than land
46
precession
change in the direction of the access but there's not change in the 23.5° tilt
47
nutation
A wobble around the earth's axis 1/2° change / 18 year period due to moons gravity
48
barycenter
The balance between the masses of the planets as they orbit
49
constellations
A group of stars that form a pattern in the sky there's 88 different ones
50
light year
The distance like to travel in one year which is 9.5 trillion km it takes eight minutes for the suns light to reach earth
51
visible light
A small part of the electromagnetic spectrum
52
spectroscope
separate light into different colors hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in stars
53
Doppler effect
apparent shift in the wavelength of light admitted by a light source moving toward or away from the observer
54
Blue shift
light waves appear to have shorter wavelength as the star moves toward the earth the spectrum shifted toward blue end
55
red shift
light waves appear to have a longer wavelength as the star moves away from the earth the spectrum shifted toward red end
56
a star forms when
nuclear fusion begins
57
Fusion
The joining of two or more atomic nuclei different from nuclear fission which splits atoms
58
main sequence star
longest stage of life cycle- nuclear fusion releases energy
59
Black hole
Hole in space with gravity so great that not even light escapes – form from collapsed supernova
60
galaxies
large scale groups of stars how together by gravity – there are at least 100 billion galaxies – we are in the Milky Way galaxy – within one of the special arms
61
spiral
right center of stars with arms spiraling out
62
comet
composed of dust rock frozen water and gas
63
astroid
solid rock like mass irregular in shape
64
meteoroid
Rock or icy fragment moving through space – can't be large as a boulder or as small as sand
65
meteor
light made by meteoroid as it passes through earths atmosphere
66
meteorite
A meteoroid that land on earth – most to burn up before striking the surface
67
phases
various shapes of the moon lighted by reflected sunlight – cycle takes about 30 days
68
waxing
when the size of the visible portion of the moon is increasing
69
waning
when does size of the visible portion of the moon is decreasing
70
New moon
no lighted area of the moon is visible from the earth – the moon is always half lit by the sun
71
Full moon
tire half of the side of the moon facing earth is lit
72
Crescent
less than half of the side facing the earth is lit
73
gibbous
more than half of the side facing the earth is lit
74
tides
daily changes in the level of the oceans – caused by the moons gravitational pool – tide changes every six hours – most areas have two hide tides and 2 low tides each day
75
Spring tide
tied with maximum daily title range that occurs during new in full moons
76
neap tides
tides with minimum daily title range that occurs during first and third quarter moons

Prefix words (13 decks)

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