space rocks
What is a meteoroid?
A small rock or particle in space.
What is a star made of?
mostly hydrogen and helium.
What is a planet?
A: A large object orbiting a star, spherical, and clears its orbit.
What is rotation?
Spinning on an axis (causes day and night).
What is a constellation?
A pattern of stars named after shapes or stories.
What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?
A meteor burns in Earth's atmosphere; a meteorite lands on Earth.
What is a protostar, and what will it become?
A forming star before nuclear fusion begins.it will become a main sequence star.
What is the difference between a moon and a satellite?
Moons are natural; satellites can be artificial or natural.
What is revolution?
Orbiting around another object (like Earth around the Sun).
Why don’t eclipses happen every month?
The Moon’s orbit is tilted, so shadows don't always align in a perfect straight line.
Where is the asteroid belt located?
Between Mars and Jupiter.
Why do blue giants live shorter lives than red giants?
They burn their fuel faster due to higher temperatures.
What is the difference between a planet and a dwarf planet?
Dwarf planets don't clear their orbit.
What causes day and night?
Earth's rotation on its axis.
What is the Hubble Space Telescope?
A space telescope that observes stars and galaxies.
What is the Kuiper Belt?
A region beyond Neptune filled with icy bodies.
Describe how nuclear fusion begins in a star and explain how it powers the star for most of its life. What happens when fusion stops in small and massive stars?
Nuclear fusion starts in the core when gravity makes the temperature and pressure high enough to fuse hydrogen into helium. This releases energy and powers the star. When fusion stops, small stars become white dwarfs, and massive stars explode in supernovae and may become neutron stars or black holes.
What is an exoplanet?
A planet that orbits a star outside our solar system.
Why is Earth’s revolution important for life?
It gives us seasons, affecting weather and growth.
What is apparent magnitude?
How bright a star looks from Earth.
What is the Oort Cloud?
A spherical shell of icy objects surrounding the solar system.
Describe the life cycle of a Sun-like star and compare it to the life cycle of a massive star. Include at least three stages.
A Sun-like star forms from a nebula → becomes a main sequence star → expands into a red giant → ends as a white dwarf. A massive star also forms from a nebula → becomes a blue giant → ends in a supernova → then a neutron star or black hole
Which planets are gas giants and which are ice giants?
Gas giants: Jupiter & Saturn; Ice giants: Uranus & Neptune.
What causes the seasons?
Earth's tilted axis during its revolution around the Sun.
What is the difference between seasonal and circumpolar constellations?
Seasonal are only visible during part of the year; circumpolar are always visible.