Flashcards
Astronomy
Cards in this deck (27)
- 1What is the difference between heliocentric and geocentric?Heliocentric is a model of the solar system that puts the sun in the centre, geocentric puts the Earth in the centre
- 2Who was the first person to propose the heliocentric model?Copernicus
- 3What is the difference between a reflector telescope and a refractor telescope?A reflector telescope uses mirrors and a refractor telescope uses lenses
- 4List the planets in order from the sunMercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune
- 5Why is a telescope needed in space?The atmosphere interferes with the stars' light
- 6Which planets are called gas giants?Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune
- 7What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?A meteorite is a small rock or rocky grain that has hit the Earth's surface, a meteor is still in space
- 8What causes years on Earth?Earth orbiting the sun
- 9What causes seasons?The Earth's tilt - when it is tilted away from the sun it is winter, when it is tilted toward it is summer
- 10What is a solar eclipse?When the moon blocks the sunlight to the Earth
- 11What is a lunar eclipse?When the Earth blocks the sunlight to the moon
- 12What is an elliptical orbit?When a satellite orbits in an oval or irregular circle
- 13What is a natural satellite?A moon, planet, asteroid or other naturally occurring object orbiting something else
- 14What causes spring tides?The moon and the sun being aligned on opposite sides of the Earth, and their combined gravitational pull causes larger tides
- 15What is gravity?The force that attracts things together
- 16Who suggested the geocentric model?Ptolemy
- 17What did Brahe do?Made careful astronomical measurements
- 18Who proposed the elliptical orbit?Kepler
- 19What did Galileo do?Looked at stars through a refractor telescope
- 20Who discovered gravity?Sir Isaac Newton
- 21What do optical telescopes do?Gathers and focuses light from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum
- 22Why do radio telescopes need to be so large?Radio waves are very big, they can be up to a kilometre wide
- 23True or false: Isaac Newton used a reflector telescopeTrue
- 24What makes day and night?The Earth spinning on its axis
- 25How does mass change throughout the solar system?The mass increases then decreases with distance
- 26What are the differences between a comet and an asteroid?A comet has a long narrow orbit, forms far from the sun, and is fiery and looks like a dirty snowball, an asteroid is a lifeless rock that forms closer to the sun, has a rounded orbit and has no fiery tail
- 27What is a nebula?A cloud of gas (hydrogen), light and dust in space, and is only one degree above absolute zero (-272 degrees Celsius)