Vocabulary
What is rotation?
spinning
What is a nebula?
A cloud of gas and dust.
What object holds more than 99 % of the mass in the solar system.
The Sun
What two movements does Earth do in the solar system?
rotation and revolution
What is luminosity?
The amount of light made by a source
What are the phases of the Moon?
Different apparent shapes we see at different times.
What is revolution?
On object going around another
What causes a nebula to collapse?
Gravity
What process do stars use to release energy?
Nuclear fusion
What causes the cycle of day and night on Earth?
Earth's rotation
What 2 things determine the apparent brightness of a star?
Luminosity an distance
What causes the phases of the Moon?
The angle at which we see the lit portion of the Moon.
Name 3 things that have luminosity?
stars
fire
electric lights
glow sticks
What happens to most of the matter in a collapsed nebula?
It becomes a star or a failed star.
What does gravity do to large objects like planets?
It forces them into a sphere.
What causes the seasons on Earth?
The tilt of Earth's axis.
What does the apparent motion of the Sun look like?
The Sun appears to move in an arc across the sky during the day.
What happens during a solar eclipse?
The Moon comes between the Sun and Earth, and it casts a shadow on a small part of Earth.
Use apparent brightness and luminosity together in a sentence.
The apparent brightness of a star depends on its luminosity and distance from Earth.
What happens to the matter in a collapsed nebula that does not become a part of the star?
It becomes the planets and other objects in a planetary system.
What is the difference between an asteroid and a comet?
Comets have ice.
What does Earth's rotation cause us to see each day?
The apparent motion of the sun and other stars
What does the apparent motion of the other stars look like?
They move together in an arc across the sky during the night.
What happens during a lunar eclipse?
The Earth casts a shadow on the Moon.
Use the words star, planet, and moon in a single sentence.
A planet orbits a star, but a moon orbits a planet.
Why do scientists believe the solar system was formed by a collapsing nebula?
The can see other nebulas in different stages of becoming planetary systems with powerful telescopes.
What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?
Meteors burn up completely in the atmosphere, and meteors hit the surface.
What does the revolution of Earth cause us to see over months and years?
Different stars and constellations and the apparent motion of other planets.
How is the apparent motion of planets different from the apparent motion of stars?
They move alone, and they sometimes appear to change direcction.
Why does the Moon look red during a total lunar eclipse?
The Earth's atmosphere refracts the light of the Sun, sending only the long red waves towards the Moon.