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Exam Study
Terms
88
Astronomy
12th Grade
01/15/2009

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Term
Nebula
Definition
A large cloud of interstellar gas and dust that will eventually form a star.
Term
Solar Activity
Definition
The sum of all variable and short-lived disturbances on the sun, as sunspots, prominences, and solar flares.
Term
Red Giants
Definition
A star in an intermediate stage of evolution, characterized by a large volume, low surface temperature, and reddish hue.
Term
Sunspots
Definition
Dark spots on the surface of the photosphere, will last typically for a few months. Are much cooler that bright surface.
Term
Absolute Magnitude
Definition
The brightness an object would have if it were at a distance of 10 p.c.
Term
Wavelength
Definition
Length from crest to crest/trough to trough.
Term
Doppler Effect
Definition
Change in the wavelength/frequency that occurs in sound and light.
Term
Visible Light
Definition
A small portion of the EMS which is visible to humans and other lifeforms.
Term
Reflecting Telescope
Definition
Has a concave mirror that gathers light from the object and focuses it into an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses through which the reflection of the object is enlarged and viewed.
Term
Summer Solstice
Definition
The solstice on or about June 21st that marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
Term
Meteorite
Definition
Mass of rock and mineral which has collided with earth.
Term
Gas Giants
Definition
Huge planets made of gas, first to form. Have no solid surface.
Term
Perigee
Definition
The point in the orbit of a heavenly body, esp. the moon, or of an artificial satellite at which it is nearest to the earth.
Term
Supernova
Definition
The huge explosion of a gigantic star.
Term
Parallax
Definition
The apparent displacement of an observed object due to a change in the position of the observer.
Term
Matter
Definition
Something that occupies space and has mass.
Term
Force Carriers
Definition
The particles which carry one of the four forces. i.e. graviton, gluon, Higgs Boson.
Term
Bosons
Definition
Class of particles, that have zero or integral spin.
Term
H-R Diagram
Definition
Show the star types and their characteristics.
Term
Moon Formation Theories
Definition
1. The moon spun off of the Earth when it was still a liquid mass.
2. The moon was captured by the Earth's gravity.
3. A mass the size of Mars hit and the dust coalesced into the present moon.
Term
Strong Force
Definition
Strongest of the four forces. n. A fundamental interaction between elementary particles that causes protons and neutrons to bind together in the atomic nucleus.
Term
Photosphere
Definition
The luminous visible surface of the sun, being a shallow layer of strongly ionized gases.
Term
Protons
Definition
Positively charged nucleons
Term
Positron
Definition
Positively charged antiparticle of the e- (electron).
Term
Flat Universe
Definition
The theory that the Universe will expand to a certain point and then stop and stay that way forever.
Term
Dark Energy
Definition
In physics, a hypothetical force that affects the behavior of photons, counteracts gravity, and causes the universe to expand at an ever-increasing rate
Term
Highlands
Definition
The white highlands of the moon.
Term
Autumnal Equinox
Definition
The time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth occurring about September 22
Term
Lunar Eclipse
Definition
The obscuration of the light of the moon by the intervention of the earth between it and the sun
Term
Perihelion
Definition
The point in the orbit of a planet or comet at which it is nearest to the sun.
Term
Precession
Definition
The slow, conical motion of the earth's axis of rotation, caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon, and, to a smaller extent, of the planets, on the equatorial bulge of the earth.
Term
Protostar
Definition
Any early stage in the formation of a star when an interstellar cloud of gas and dust starts to collapse but before nuclear synthesis has begun at its core
Term
Black Hole
Definition
An imaginably large amount of mass in an imaginably small amount of room.
Term
Constellations
Definition
Stars that appear to be in an arrangement that looks like an animal etc...
Term
White Dwarfs
Definition
Small stars with very hot cores
Term
Prominence
Definition
An eruption of a flamelike tongue of relatively cool, high-density gas from the solar chromosphere into the corona where it can be seen during a solar eclipse or by observing strong spectral lines in its emission spectrum.
Term
Apparent Magnitude
Definition
The magnitude of a star as it appears to an observer on the earth.
Term
Speed
Definition
Rapidity in moving, going, traveling, proceeding, or performing; swiftness; celerity: the speed of light; the speed of sound.
Term
Red Shift
Definition
The wavelengths being stretched in the back of an object. This is observed during The Doppler Effect.
Term
Interferometry
Definition
An instrument for measuring the angular separation of double stars or the diameter of giant stars by means of the interference phenomena of light emitted by these stars.
Term
Refracting Telescope
Definition
Consists essentially of an objective lens set into one end of a tube and an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses set into the other end of a tube that slides into the first and through which the enlarged object is viewed directly
Term
Asteroids
Definition
Leftovers from the formation of the Solar System.
Term
Meteoroid
Definition
A solid rocky thing flying through space.
Term
Terrestrial Planets
Definition
Planets made from solid material.
Term
Phases of the Moon
Definition
The different stages the moon appears to go through as it orbits the Earth.
Term
Circumpolar
Definition
A star or constellation that circles the Earth's pole and can be seen year round.
Term
Nuclear Fusion
Definition
The process by which smaller atoms join together under extreme conditions to form larger elements.
Term
Antimatter
Definition
The exact opposite of "main-stream" particles. i.e. opposite spin and charge.
Term
Graviton
Definition
The force carrier of the force gravity.
Term
Photons
Definition
The force carrier of the force electromagnetism.
Term
Cepheid Variable Star
Definition
A member of a particular class of variable stars, notable for a fairly tight correlation between their period of variability and absolute luminosity.
Term
Gravity
Definition
The weakest of all the four forces who's carrier is the graviton.
Term
Corona
Definition
A white or colored circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, esp. around the sun or moon.
Term
Milky Way
Definition
Our Galaxy.
Term
Antiproton
Definition
The antiparticle of a proton which has a negative charge.
Term
Open Universe
Definition
The theory that the Universe will continue to expand forever.
Term
Big Bang
Definition
The first recorded event, also thought to be the beginning of the Universe.
Term
Regolith
Definition
The layer of loose rock resting on bedrock, constituting the surface of most land. Also called mantle rock.
Term
Albedo
Definition
The ratio of the light reflected by a planet or satellite to that received by it.
Term
Vernal Equinox
Definition
Same as atumnal except it starts in march.
Term
AU
Definition
Astronautical Unit
Term
Aphelion
Definition
The point in the orbit of a planet or a comet at which it is farthest from the sun.
Term
Planetesimals
Definition
Small planet-like things at least 100 miles in size.
Term
CMB
Definition
The cooled remnant of the hot big bang that fills the entire universe and can be observed today with an average temperature of about 2.725 kelvin
Term
Luminosity
Definition
The Measurement of light.
Term
Star Classification
Definition
O,B,A,F,G,K,M
Term
Solar Flares
Definition
An explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released.
Term
Frequency
Definition
The number of cycles or completed alternations per unit time of a wave or oscillation.
Term
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Definition
The chart that shows the distinction between waves.
Term
Blue Shift
Definition
When the wavelength in shortened in the front of the object.
Term
Solar Eclipse
Definition
The obscuration of the light of the sun by the intervention of the moon between it and a point on the earth.
Term
Winter Solstice
Definition
Opposite of summer solstice
Term
Meteor
Definition
When a meteoroid flies through the atmosphere and makes a light.
Term
Comet
Definition
A solid mass of ice and dust.
Term
Apogee
Definition
The point in the orbit of a heavenly body, esp. the moon, or of a man-made satellite at which it is farthest from the earth.
Term
Gluon
Definition
Force carrier for the strong force
Term
Cosmic Rays
Definition
Bare nuclei moving extremely fast.
Term
Radiation
Definition
The spontaneous emission of particles from a source.
Term
Weak Force
Definition
The force which governs beta decay.
Term
Quarks
Definition
Fundamental particles, make up nucleons.
Term
Neutron
Definition
Neutral particle in the nucleus.
Term
Closed Universe
Definition
The theory that the universe will expand to a point and then collapse on itself.
Term
Dark Matter
Definition
A hypothetical form of matter invisible to electromagnetic radiation, postulated to account for gravitational forces observed in the universe.
Term
Maria
Definition
The dark trench-like formations on the moons surface.
Term
Ecliptic
Definition
The oval shaped orbit.
Term
Synchronous Rotation
Definition
The example of us and the Moon, we only see one side.
Term
Solar Wind
Definition
Smelly Discharge emitted from the sun, composed of particles.
Term
Cosmology
Definition
The study of the Cosmos.
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