Vocabulary
An imaginary point in the sky directly above an observer on Earth
Zenith
The line where the sky and the Earth appear to meet
Horizon
The is occurs when stars near the Earth appear to move relative to more distant stars as Earth revolves around the sun
Parallax
The classification of stars used for our sun and similar stars
Dwarf stars
***This constellation is visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It also includes the familiar Big Dipper.***
Ursa Major (p. 623)
A small, hot star near the end of its life; the leftover center of an old star
White dwarf
An instrument used to measure the angle between your horizon and a specific star, and thereby measuring the altitude of that star
Astrolabe
Spectrum
This tool is used for studying the nature of Stars because it shows how stars change as Earth revolves around the sun
H-R diagram
The sky is divided into _____ constellations by modern astronomers
88 (p. 623)
The angle between an object and the horizon
Altitude
The point at which the sun appears on the first day of spring
Vernal equinox
The type of spectrum given off by glowing wire in a lightbulb
Continuous spectrum
Hottest of all stars; the classification of stars that do not remain in the main sequence very long because they use up their hydrogen quickly, expand, cool ad turn into giants, supergiants or supernovas; most likely the youngest of stars
Blue stars
A sixteenth-century Polish astronomer who found through observation that stars must be very far away from plants
Nicolaus Copernicus (p. 627)
A star in which nearly all particles have become neutrons; the collapsed remains of a supernova
Neutron star
Sections of the sky that contain recognizable star patterns which astronomers use to track the movements of planets and stars
Constellations
What scientists study to find out what elements are in a star’s atmosphere; produced when light from a hot solid passes through a cooler gas
Absorption spectrum
The death of a large blue star by explosion; may result in the formation of black holes, neutron stars, and pulsars
Supernovas
In the early 1920’s, Edwin Hubble discovered the _____ confirming the belief that the universe is bigger than just the Milky Way Galaxy.
Andromeda (p. 627)
A spinning neutron star that emits rapid pulses of light
Pulsar
This surrounds the Earth and is what we look through when we observe the sky
Celestial sphere
This accounts for the differences in colors of the stars; and is used to classify stars
Temperature
The classification of stars that are fairly dim and cool; what our sun is predicted to become when the core runs out of hydrogen, the center shrinks, the outer parts expand and cool; among the coolest temperature stars
Red giants
This star has a red color and forms one of two corners of the constellation Orion.
Betelgeuse (p. 630)