Praise The Sun
How long is the solar cycle?
10-12 years
What color are the stars with the highest surface temperature?
Blue
What do we call a forming star before its main sequence phase?
Protostar
If the wavelengths of light we see from a galaxy are LONGER than usual, that means it is ______-shifted and moving ____________.
Red, away
What is the name of the particle that combined to make protons and neutrons within the first second of the Big Bang?
Quarks
What percent of the mass in the solar system is contained in the sun?
99.86%
(between 99.5-99.9% is OK)
What property of a star determines which elements it can fuse in its core?
Mass
What happens in the core of a main sequence star? (Be specific!)
Burning of hydrogen into helium (fusion)
What did Edwin Hubble observe about faraway galaxies, and what did he conclude about the universe?
They are nearly all moving away (redshifted); concluded that universe was expanding.
What is the percentage of hydrogen and helium that scientists predict was made during the Big Bang?
75% Hydrogen, 25% Helium
What does CME stand for?
Coronal Mass Ejection
Name the four categories of stars that appear on the H-R Diagram.
Main sequence, Red giants, Supergiants, White dwarfs
What will be the ending stage of a star that is 12x the mass of the sun?
Neutron star
When looking at a distant galaxy, we see the full set of colors of the rainbow, with some dark lines representing the missing wavelengths. We call this the galaxy's ____________ spectrum.
Absorption
What is the name of the era that created the Cosmic Microwave Background?
Recombination
What is the layer of the sun between the core and convection zone?
Radiation Zone (or Radiative Zone)
What is on the x-axis and y-axis of an H-R Diagram?
x: (Surface) temperature
y: (Absolute) brightness
What two opposing forces keep a star stable in its main sequence?
Inwards gravity, outwards fusion pressure
Name three things that can be inferred about a star by looking at its spectral lines.
Pick 3: Elements present, class, temperature, direction moving, speed
Put the following in order: Nucleosynthesis, Particle era, Planck era, Recombination, Inflation, First Stars Form
Planck era -> Inflation -> Particle era -> Nucleosynthesis -> Recombination -> First Stars Form
What makes sunspots darker than surrounding regions?
Cooler / lower temperature
What is the heaviest element that a star the size of our sun will be able to create via stellar nucleosynthesis?
Carbon
How do the SIZE, BRIGHTNESS, and SURFACE TEMPERATURE of a star change when it becomes a red giant?
Size: gets bigger, Brightness: gets brighter, Temperature: gets cooler
One of the wavelengths of hydrogen's spectrum is 656 nm. Galaxy X has an observed wavelength of 690 nm. Calculate the speed of the galaxy moving away from us, in km/s.
Hint: The speed of light is 300,000 km/s.
~15,500 km/s
What is the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background in Kelvins?
2.7 K