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Prefix words > vocabulary and astronomy notes > Flashcards

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
Q

revolution

A

the motion of 1 body about another as Earth about the sun

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26
Q

rotation

A

the spinning of a body, such as Earth, about its axis

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27
Q

galileo galilei

A

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
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28
Q

universal gravitation

A

every body attracts every other body
gravitational force is stronger with a larger distance
mass is greater when there is less gravitational force

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29
Q

johannes kepler

A

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

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30
Q

The big bang theory

A

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

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31
Q

star

A

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
Q

planets

A

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
Q

Solar system

A

A star in all of the planets that orbit around it

34
Q

Galaxy

A

A large collection of interstellar material solar systems and dark matter that’s held together by gravity

35
Q

universe

A

all of time space and its contents

36
Q

geocentric model

A

model of the solar systems that states that the earth is the center of the solar system

37
Q

heliocentric model

A

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
Q

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

A

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
Q

ellipsoid earth

A

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
Q

revolution

A

movement in a predictable orbit around another object

41
Q

revolution of the earth facts

A

The earth revolves around the sun and it takes 365.24 days(1 year)

42
Q

rotation

A

spinning around on internal axis

43
Q

earths rotation facts

A

Earth rotates counterclockwise and it takes 24 hours ( one day)

44
Q

axis of earth facts

A

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
Q

differential heating of water versus land

A

water heats up more slowly than land and water cools down more slowly than land

46
Q

precession

A

change in the direction of the access but there’s not change in the 23.5° tilt

47
Q

nutation

A

A wobble around the earth’s axis 1/2° change / 18 year period

due to moons gravity

48
Q

barycenter

A

The balance between the masses of the planets as they orbit

49
Q

constellations

A

A group of stars that form a pattern in the sky there’s 88 different ones

50
Q

light year

A

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
Q

visible light

A

A small part of the electromagnetic spectrum

52
Q

spectroscope

A

separate light into different colors

hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in stars

53
Q

Doppler effect

A

apparent shift in the wavelength of light admitted by a light source moving toward or away from the observer

54
Q

Blue shift

A

light waves appear to have shorter wavelength as the star moves toward the earth the spectrum shifted toward blue end

55
Q

red shift

A

light waves appear to have a longer wavelength as the star moves away from the earth the spectrum shifted toward red end

56
Q

a star forms when

A

nuclear fusion begins

57
Q

Fusion

A

The joining of two or more atomic nuclei

different from nuclear fission which splits atoms

58
Q

main sequence star

A

longest stage of life cycle- nuclear fusion releases energy

59
Q

Black hole

A

Hole in space with gravity so great that not even light escapes – form from collapsed supernova

60
Q

galaxies

A

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
Q

spiral

A

right center of stars with arms spiraling out

62
Q

comet

A

composed of dust rock frozen water and gas

63
Q

astroid

A

solid rock like mass irregular in shape

64
Q

meteoroid

A

Rock or icy fragment moving through space – can’t be large as a boulder or as small as sand

65
Q

meteor

A

light made by meteoroid as it passes through earths atmosphere

66
Q

meteorite

A

A meteoroid that land on earth – most to burn up before striking the surface

67
Q

phases

A

various shapes of the moon lighted by reflected sunlight – cycle takes about 30 days

68
Q

waxing

A

when the size of the visible portion of the moon is increasing

69
Q

waning

A

when does size of the visible portion of the moon is decreasing

70
Q

New moon

A

no lighted area of the moon is visible from the earth – the moon is always half lit by the sun

71
Q

Full moon

A

tire half of the side of the moon facing earth is lit

72
Q

Crescent

A

less than half of the side facing the earth is lit

73
Q

gibbous

A

more than half of the side facing the earth is lit

74
Q

tides

A

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
Q

Spring tide

A

tied with maximum daily title range that occurs during new in full moons

76
Q

neap tides

A

tides with minimum daily title range that occurs during first and third quarter moons

Prefix words (13 decks)

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