Module 1 - The Universe
What is the non-observable matter that affects gravitational forces called?
Dark matter
What type of star is the Sun?
Yellow Dwarf
What separates the inner planets from the outer planets?
What are the most abundant elements on Earth?
Iron, Oxygen, Silicon, Magnesium
What are the two main effects of Earth's rotation?
The succession of day and night
The apparent movement of the Sun and other celestial bodies that we see from Earth
What is one piece of evidence that supports the Big Bang Theory?
The expansion of the universe, Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), The composition of the universe
What is the name of our galaxy and the cluster it belongs to?
The Milky Way and the Local Group
Where do most comets come from?
The Kuiper belt
How does the moon emit light?
What are the two main effects of Earth's orbit?
The succession of the seasons
The length of the day
Who first proposed the heliocentric model of the cosmos in the 16th century?
Copernicus
Fill in the blank for the definition of galaxies:
Galaxies are enormous collections of ______, ______, _____, and _____ spinning in space.
stars, other celestial bodies, gas, cosmic dust
Which two planets do not have satellites?
Venus and Mercury
How long is the moon's orbits and rotation?
27.3 days
What are the names of the points in Earth's orbit that are furthest from and closest to the sun?
closest: Perihelion
How did Newton's law of universal gravitation change the heliocentric model of the universe to the model we use today?
It showed that our sun is one of many stars in the universe, not the center of the universe
The color of a star depends on its temperature - what are the colors of a young hot star, a middle-aged warm star, and an old cold star?
young - blue
middle-aged - yellow
old - red
Wat are the five dwarf planets we have discovered?
Eris, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, Ceres
What are the four phases of the moon in order?
New, Waxing, Full, Waning
What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?
Solar: when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun (moon projects shadow onto Earth)
Lunar: when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon (prevents the Moon from reflecting sunlight)
What are the six phases included in the Big Bang Theory?
List them in order
The Big Bang, The Planck epoch, The birth of atoms, The era of stars, The universe of today, The future of the universe
How does a star form?
Gravity causes the gas and dust in a nebula (a huge cloud of gas and cosmic dust) to become concentrated into a large sphere, which heats up until nuclear reactions start
What are the differences between the inner planets and outer planets, and which planets belong to each group?
Inner: small, solid, mainly made of rock, few satellites, spin slowly, don't have rings; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Outer: large, mainly made of gas, many satellites, spin quickly, have rings; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
What causes craters on the moon and why haven't they eroded?
The moon doesn't have an atmosphere or water on the surface
When in the moon's orbit do high tides and low tides occur?
High: when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned, the Sun and the Moon's gravitational forces combine and cause large fluctuations in the sea level
Low: when the positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth form a 90 degree angle, the Sun's gravity weakens the effect of the Moon's gravity, so sea levels have less variation