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13 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Order of planets in solar system |
Terrestrial Planets: Mercury Venus Earth Mars - Gas Giants: Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune |
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What are: moons, asteroids, and comets |
Moons: celestial objects that orbit a planet Asteroids: Small celestial objects composed of rock and metal. they orbit the sun and are too small to be considered planets. most are situated in the asteroid belt which separates the inner planets from the outer ones Comets: large chunks of ice, dust, and rock that orbit the sun. |
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The structure and characteristics of the sun |
Core: innermost and hottest layer were energy is produced. Radiation zone: layer that surrounds the core and moves energy outward through it. Convection zone: layer of bubbling gases circulating in this layer that surrounds the radiation zone. this circulation transfers the heat generated inside the sun at the Suns surface. Photosphere: the part of the sun that we see. Chromosphere and Corona: parts of the atmosphere; cannot be seen because it is too bright. but is seen during a solar eclipse. Sunspots: dark patches of gases in the photosphere. they are darker because they are cooler. Solar flares: tremendous explosions of solar gases at the peak of a sunspot cycle. |
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Astronomical Units |
The distance between the Earth and the sun= 1 au 1 au= 150, 000, 000km to calculate: divide the distance of a planet to the sun by 150, 000, 000km |
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What is a light year? |
Light year: the distance that light travels in one year. is equal to about 9 460, 000, 000, 000km! |
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4 Characteristics of stars! |
•Star Brightness: -temperature -size -distance -luminosity •Star Colour •Composition •Mass |
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Formation of stars! Beginning |
Beginning: -begins with a nebula (a massive cloud of gas and dust) -the nebula collapses -gases are unevenly distributed and extends over vast distances -the nebula reaches a certain density -gravity around the nebula pulls gas and dust particles together -creates clumps in the nebula -clumps get larger with more gas and dust particles pulled in by gravity -nebula gets very dense and forms a protostar -protostar becomes a tightly packed sphere of matter -pressure and temperature rise until temp. of 15 million degrees Celsius (a protostar is a massive collection of gas and dust thought to eventually develop into a star after the nebula collapses)
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Formation of stars-middle |
(most stars spend the bulk of their existence as a main sequence star) -nuclear fusion begins: Hydrogen atoms within the protostar fuse to form helium -produces an enormous amount of energy -energy rushes out of the core of the star -counteracts the gravitational forces that cause the protostar to form -the star emits radiation in forms of heat, x-Ray, light at the photosphere of the star -the star stabilizes itself and generally stays in one position |
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The more massive the star=faster fusion rate=shorter life!!! |
The more massive the star=faster fusion rate=shorter life!!! |
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Formation of stars-end |
•small-medium stars become large, cool, red giants. the outer layers of gas drift away and the core shrinks to become a small, hot, dense white dwarf star. it eventually cools and fades. •large stars become red supergiants. the core collapses inwards sending the outer layers exploding as a supernova. the core material packs together as a neutron star. gases drift off as a nebula to be recycled. •Extremely large stars become red supergiants. the core collapses sending the outer layers exploding as a supernova. the core material packs together as a black hole. gases drift off as a nebula to be recycled. |
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Names of different stars |
Red Giants-equal to or smaller than the sun Red Supergiants-10+ times larger than the sun White Dwarf-small, hot, dim star Supernova-a stellar explosion at the end of a massive stars life Neutron star-extremely dense made up of tightly packed neutrons |
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Galaxies |
Elliptical galaxies-spherical to flattened oval, older Galaxy, gas, dust, young stars Spiral Galaxies-milky way is an example, spinning pinwheel-flat disc with a central bulge and 2 to 4 spiral arms which contain young stars Lenticular galaxies-have a central bulge surrounded by a flattened disc with no arms, composed of red stars Irregular galaxies-no definite shape, no spiral arms or central nucleus, contain more gas, dust than spiral galaxies. |
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Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites |
Meteoroids: small bits of rock scattered throughout the solar system Meteors: when a meteoroid enters the earths atmosphere and starts of glow brightly and is "burning up" Meteorites: The meteors that reached the earths surface. |
