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Astronomy Vocabulary: Space Terms and Definitions
Karten in diesem Stapel (50)
- 1Astronomythe scientific study of what is beyond Earth
- 2Celestial objectany object that exists in space
- 3Universeeverything that exists, including all energy, matter, and space
- 4Stara massive collection of gases, held together by its own gravity and emitting huge amounts of energy
- 5Luminousproducing and giving off light; shining
- 6Planeta large, round celestial object that travels around a star
- 7Solar systemthe sun and all the objects that travel around it
- 8Satellitea celestial object that travels around a plant or dwarf planet
- 9Orbitthe closed path of celestial object or satellite as it travels around another celestial object
- 10Galaxya huge, rotating collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars, planets, and other celestial objects
- 11Electromagnetic radiation (EM)energy emitted from matter consisting of electromagnetic waves that travel at the speed of light
- 12Electromagnetic (EM) spectrumthe range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, extending rom radio waves to gamma rays and including visible light
- 13Sunspotsdark spots appearing on the Sun's surface that are cooler than the area surrounding them
- 14Solar flaregases and charged particles expelled above an active sunspot
- 15Solar prominencelow-energy gas eruptions from the sun's surface that extend thousands of kilometers into space
- 16Aurora borealisa display of shifting colours in the northern sky caused by solar particles colliding with matter in Earth's upper atmosphere
- 17Astronomical unitapproximately 150 million kilometers; the average distance from earth to the Sun
- 18Dwarf planeta celestial object that orbits the sun and has a spherical shape but does not dominate its orbit
- 19Orbital radiusthe average distance between an object in the solar system and the sun
- 20Gravitational forcethe force of attraction between all masses in the Universe
- 21Precessionthe changing direction of Earth's axis
- 22Lunar cycleall of the phases of the moon
- 23Eclipsea darkening of a celestial object due to the position of another celestial object
- 24tidethe alternate rising and falling of surface of large bodies of water; caused by the interaction between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun
- 25Solar EclispeWhen the moon is aligned between the Earth and the Sun; during a total eclipse only a Sun's corona is visible (Happens somewhere one a Earth 2 times a year)
- 26Lunar EclipseOccurs when the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon
- 27Spring tidesOccur when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon are all aligned.
- 28Neap tidesOccur when the Sun and the Moon are perpendicular to each other
- 29Staying in OrbitA satellite must attain sufficient velocity to make sure that when Earth’s gravity pulls it down, it continuously falls around Earth’s curvature.
- 30Low Earth OrbitFrom 200 to 2000 km of altitude; Required to see every part of the planet as the orbit (Ex. RADARSAT, charts iceberg movement)
- 31Medium Earth OrbitFrom 2000 to 35 000 km of altitude;
The global positioning system (GPS) has it’s satellites at this height (20 000 km) so that at least 3 satellites can picked up by GPS receivers anywhere on Earth. - 32Geostationary OrbitDistance of about 36 000 km.
One revolution of the satellite = one rotation of Earth.
Communication satellites. (Ex. TV)
Orbit over the Equator - 33Light YearThe distance that light travels in vacuum in 1 year. (9.46 x 1015 m)
- 34Speed of Light3.0 x 108 m/s = 3.0 x 105 km/s
- 35Distance to Sun1.5 x 108 km
- 36NebulaA massive cloud of interstellar gas and dust; the beginning of a star
- 37ProtostarA massive concentration of gas and dust thought to eventually develop into a star after the nebula collapses
- 38Nuclear FusionGravity forces particles together. The energy that was keeping the particles apart release a tremendous amount of energy.
Once fusion stops, the star will collapse and the shock wave of all that energy meeting at one point will cause the star to become a supernova - 39Hertzsprung-Russell DiagramPlots the absolute magnitude of the star against its temperature
- 40Death of our SunIn about 5 billion years.
At the end of its life, our Sun will start burning its helium and will become larger and redder.
It will expand to the size of the Martian orbit.
It will shed its outer layer.
It will turn into a dense white dwarf. - 41Supernovaa stellar explosion that occurs at the end of a massive star's life
- 42Neutron StarAn extremely dense star made up of tightly packed neutrons.
When a star of over 10 solar masses collapses - 43Black HoleAn extremely dense quantity of matter in space from which not even light can escape.
When a star of over 30 solar masses collapses. - 44Red ShiftThe phenomena of light from galaxies shifting towards the red end of the visible spectrum, the object is moving away.
Edwin Hubble saw that most galaxies were experiencing red shift; therefore moving away from each other. - 45Dark MatterAstronomers have observed that stars in a galaxy are moving faster than they should be considering the amount of visible matter out there.
They’ve come to the conclusion that there should be 10 times the amount of matter to hold the galaxies together.
Since they can’t see this matter, it is called “dark matter.” - 46Big Bang TheoryThe theory that the Universe began in an incredibly hot, dense expansion approximately 13.7 billion years ago.
It is believed that the Big Bang began from a singularity, which is infinitely small.
After the singularity exploded and cooled hydrogen gas was formed which clumped to form the matter we see (and don’t see) today. - 47TelescopesRefracting Telescopes
An optical telescope that uses glass lenses to gather and focus light.
Galileo was the one to develop this kind of telescope. - 48Reflecting TelescopeAn optical telescope that uses mirrors to gather and focus light.
Isaac Newton was the first to build one - 49Radio TelescopesConsists of a large satellite dish (or an array of dishes) that collect radio waves from celestial bodies.
A computer then analyses the data - 50Hubble Space TelescopeNames after Edwin Hubble.
Can take very clear photos due to the absence of the atmosphere.
Has taken photos of a galaxy 13.8 billion light years away.
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