Star Vocabulary
Tools of Astronomy
Characteristics of Stars
The Sun
Vocabulary
100
What is the name of a small star?
dwarf star
100
A building that contains one or more telescopes?
observatory
100
The distance that light travels in one year, or about 9.5 million million kilometers.
light year
100
What is the name of the star closest to Earth? .
the sun
100
All of space and everything in it.
universe
200
What is an exploding star called?
supernova
200
A device used to study distant objects by making them appear closer.
telescope
200
Used to measure the distances to nearby stars, this is the apparent change in position of an object when you look at it from different places.
parallax
200
True or False: The sun looks so large because it is a very, very big star.
False
200
A pattern of stars in the sky know since ancient times.
constellation
300
If you left our galaxy, what galaxy is the closest to ours?
Andromeda Galaxy
300
Famous telescope orbiting the Earth whose images are seven times more detailed than the best images from telescopes on Earth.
Hubble Space Telescope
300
Which is hotter- a red or blue star?
blue star
300
True or False: Without the sun, the Earth would be dark, but still warm.
False
300
The remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small volume by the force of gravity.
black hole
400
What is a ball of hot, burning gas called?
star
400
Includes radio waves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-ras and gamma rays.
electromagnetic spectrum
400
The brightness of a star as seen from Earth.
apparent magnitude
400
True or False: Our sun is a star, just like the others stars in the sky.
True
400
What is the earliest stage in the life of a star?
nebula
500
What is the name of the cloud of stars in which Earth is located?
Milky Way
500
A device used to detect radio waves from outer space.
Radio telescope
500
What are the three main characteristics used to classify stars?
size, temperature and brightness
500
How long does it take light from the sun to reach Earth?
about 8 minutes
500
The sun's energy is produced by this process.
nuclear fusion
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