Astrophysics
A branch of astronomy exploring the origin and evolution of the universe.
What is cosmology?
This man is considered the father of theoretical astrophysics.
Who is Isaac Newton?
In the early 1920s, Cecilia Payne discovered using spectroscopy that stars are primarily made up of this gas.
What is hydrogen?
The constellation Cygnus is named after the Latin name for this animal.
What is the swan?
A unit of length which is the approximate distance between the centers of the Sun and the Earth.
What is an Astronomical Unit (AU)?
Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity in this year, ten years after his theory of special relativity.
What is 1915?
This is the easiest way to find the North Star.
Using the two "pointer stars" located in the Big Dipper.
The brightest stars in the sky can be found in this constellation.
What is Orion?
This astronomer initially hypothesized the expansion of the universe.
Who is Edwin Hubble?
Einstein predicted that violent events, such as the collision of two black holes, create ripples in space-time known as...
What are gravitational waves?
How many constellations have been identified by astronomers?
What is 88?
What is winter?
A measurement of stellar distance that corresponds to approximately 3 light-years.
What is a parsec?
What is gravitational lensing?
What is light bending around a massive object, such as a black hole, which acts as a lens for the things that lie behind it.
The heaviest element that a star can fuse up to.
What is iron?
This is the largest constellation.
What is Hydra?
What is hypothesized to be the cause of the expansion of the universe?
Dark Energy
What is gravitational redshift?
The phenomenon that electromagnetic waves or photons travelling out of a gravitational well (seem to) lose energy. This loss of energy corresponds to a decrease in the wave frequency and increase in the wavelength.
Name at least three examples of asterisms.
Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Summer Triangle, Winter Circle, Winter Triangle, Teapot
Classic constellations were recorded in this book written by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy.
What is the Almagest?