The Sun
Stars Life Cycles
Measuring Stars
Stars Vocabulary
Groups of Stars
100
Dark spots on the surface of the photosphere

What are sunspots?

100

A protostar becomes a new star when what happens. 

What is when nuclear reactions begin and the object reaches hydrostatic equilibrium?

100

The power or energy output from the surface of a star per second

What is luminosity?

100

A cloud of interstellar gas and dust. 

What is a nebula?

100

Stars are assigned a spectral type, with M being the _______ stars. 

What is coolest?

200

The visible surface of the Sun

What is the photosphere?

200

When a star with a mass similar to the Sun uses up all the helium in its core, it becomes a _______ .

What is a white dwarf?

200

When estimating the distance of stars from Earth, astronomers use the fact that nearby stars shift in position as observed from Earth, which is called what?

What is a parallax?

200

A hot, condensed object at the center of a nebula that will become a new star when nuclear reactions begin.

What is a protostar?

200

A group of stars that are gravitationally bound together

What is a cluster?

300

Approximately 2500 km thick and has an average temperature of 15,000 K

What is the chromosphere?

300
A star with a mass 8 to 20 times that of the Sun's mass will what?

What is ending up with a core too massive to be supported by pressure and come to a violent end?

300

Scientists can learn what about a star by studying its spectral lines?

What is composition and temperature?

300

A massive explosion that occurs when the outer layers of a star are blown off.

What is a supernova?

300

Groups of stars named after animals, mythological creatures, or everyday objects. 

What are constellations?

400

An arc of gas ejected from the chromosphere

What is a prominence?

400

A star that starts with more than about 20 times the Sun's mass will what?

What is collapse forever and become a black hole?

400

Absolute magnitude takes distance into account when indicating the _______ of a star. 

What is brightness?

400

The collapsed, dense core of a star that forms quickly while its outer layers are falling inward, has a radius of about 10 km, a mass 1.4 to 3 times that of the Sun, and contains mostly neutrons?

What is a neutron star?

400

Two stars that are gravitationally bound together and orbit a common center of mass 

What are binary stars?

500

A wind of charged particles (ions) that flows throughout the solar system and begins as gas flowing outward from the Sun's corona at high speeds

What is solar wind?

500

What happens to a main-sequence star when it becomes a red giant.

What is beginning to fuse helium in its core and becoming cooler?

500

To estimate the distance to a nearby star, scientists _______ . 

What is measure the angle of the parallax shift?

500

A spinning neutron star that exhibits a pulsing pattern.

What is a pulsar?

500

Analyzing Doppler shifts in star's spectrums

How do astronomers tell if a star is one of a binary pair?