Earth Vocab
the path of the Earth around the sun
revolution / orbit
a group of stars that make a pattern or shape
constellation
stars can (START / END) as a black hole
END! massive stars can end up as a blackhole
is the Earth's axis STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN or TILTED
TILTED (bonus high five if you know how many degrees about!)
the sun and other stars appear to move from
east to west
The Earth spins on an invisible line called an ___________
axis
the north star
Polaris
every star starts as a ______________
stellar nebula
It takes the Earth _____________ to complete a revolution and ___________________ to complete one rotation
(need both!) 365 days, 24 hours
the volume of the sun is _______________ times bigger than the volume of the Earth
one million
one full spin around the Earth's axis is known as a
rotation
the cooler, darker, areas of the sun's atmosphere
sunspots
the third stage of a star when it increases in size and gets really hot
red giant or red supergiant
Why does the Earth stay in its orbit around the sun? (explain!)
*answers may vary* because of the sun's mass and it's gravitational pull
the sun and other stars are made up of
one half of the Earth is known as a _________________
hemisphere
an explosive eruption of waves and particles into space (like an energy volcano)
solar flare
what are the two "types" of stars?
1. low mass/average stars
2. high mass / massive stars
the days in fall and spring when the amount of day and night hours are equal are called an
equinox (spring equinox and autumn equinox)
do the stars and sun actually move across the sky? EXPLAIN
*answers may vary* because the Earth pins on it's axis and the rotation of the Earth makes us spin while the objects in the sky actually stay still
the shape of Earth's orbit around the sun is
elliptical (oval shaped)
the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere
corona
toward the end of a massive star's life it explodes and can be called a
supernova
how does the Earth have seasons? Explain
*answers may vary* seasons depend on whether we are pointed toward or away from the sun, where we are in the Earth's rotation, and how the axis is tilted. The northern and southern hemispheres have different seasons
Is the sun considered a large star?
in terms of the universe, NO! It's actually a low mass/average star