Vocabulary
What is a solar system?
A system consisting of a local star orbited by its plates and their moons, as well as any other local objects.
What 2 things make up the universe?
Matter and Energy
Name 3 out of the 5 characterizations of stars.
Color, temperature, size, composition, brightness.
How are many constellations named?
After characters in Greek myths.
Name 2 of the 4 terrestrial planets.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
What is a star system?
A group of two or more stars.
What explosion created the universe?
The Big Bang
What are the 2 types of star clusters?
Open clusters: loose and disorganized.
Globular clusters: tightly packed groups of older stars.
This explosion helps seed super heavy elements around the galaxy giving birth to new types of stars and planets.
What is a supernova?
What types of gas make up gas giants?
Helium, water vapor, and hydrogen.
What is a light-year?
The distance that light travels in 1 year, or 9.46 trillion kilometers.
Dark areas on the sun are called this.
What are sunspots?
How can you identify a spiral galaxy.
Has a bulge in the center, contains mostly old, red stars.
Has arms that curve in a spiral pattern, contains young blue and white stars.
Contains much gas and dust.
When supermassive stars burn out, it is possible for this to sometimes form.
What is a blackhole?
What is larger, terrestrial planets or gas giants?
Gas giants are much larger!
What is dark energy?
A type of energy that opposes gravity and causes the expansion of the universe.
What factors do scientists use to calculate the age of the universe? (Name 2 of the 3)
The patterns of background radiation.
How fast distant galaxies move away from us.
The age of the oldest stars.
What is special about an elliptical galaxy?
Has almost no dust and gas between stars.
Has no new stars being formed.
The color of a star tells you this
Besides the planets, what 4 types of bodies make up the solar system? Name 3 of the 4.
Sun, Comets, Asteroids, and Meteroids.
What is the universe?
All of space and everything in it.
All objects in space give off or emit, this kind of energy.
What is electromagnetic radiation?
What type of stars are found in nebulas?
What is a protostar?
What happens to the speed of planets when they are close to the Sun?
They move faster - discovered by Kepler.
What are the two ways we continue to learn about the solar system?
Lunar Explorations.
Space Probes (such as Juno, exploring Jupiter.)