Stars, Galaxies And The Universe Guide

Front 1

telescope

Back 1

A device built to observe distant objects by making them appear closer

Front 2

visible light

Back 2

electromagnetic radiation that can be seen with the unaided eye

Front 3

wavelength

Back 3

the horizontal distance between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next wave

Front 4

spectrum

Back 4

the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic waves

Front 5

electromagnetic radiation

Back 5

energy that travels through space in the form of waves

Front 6

observatory

Back 6

a building that contains one or more telescopes

Front 7

constellation

Back 7

an imaginary pattern of stars in the sky

Front 8

spectrograph

Back 8

an instrument that separates light into colors and makes an image of the resulting spectrum

Front 9

light year

Back 9

the distance that light travels in a year, about 9.5 million million kilometers

Front 10

parallax

Back 10

the apparent change in position of an object when seen from different places

Front 11

nebula

Back 11

a large cloud of gas and dust in space, spread out in an immense volume

Front 12

protostar

Back 12

a contracting cloud of gas and dust with enough mass to form a star

Front 13

white dwarf

Back 13

a blue-white hot core of a star that is left behind after its outer layers have expanded and drifted into space

Front 14

supernova

Back 14

the brilliant explosion of a dying super giant star

Front 15

neutron star

Back 15

the small,dense remains of high mass star after a supernova

Front 16

pulsar

Back 16

a rapidly spinning neutron star that produces
radio waves

Front 17

black hole

Back 17

an object whose gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.

Front 18

open cluster

Back 18

a star cluster that has a loose, disorganized
appearance and contains no more than a few thousand stars

Front 19

globular cluster

Back 19

a large, round, densely-packed grouping of older stars

Front 20

galaxy

Back 20

a huge group of single stars, star systems, star clusters, dust, and gas bound together by gravity

Front 21

quasar

Back 21

an enormously bright, distant galaxy with a giant black hole at its center

Front 22

universe

Back 22

all of space and everything in it

Front 23

Big Bang

Back 23

the initial explosion that resulted in the
formation and expansion of the universe

Front 24

planetesimal

Back 24

one of the small asteroid-like bodies that formed the building blocks of the planets

Front 25

dark matter

Back 25

matter that does not give off electromagnetic radiation but appears to be a quite abundant in the universe

Front 26

dark energy

Back 26

a mysterious force that appears to be causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate.

Front 27

What are the main types of electromagnetic waves?

Back 27

radio
infrared visible light
ultraviolet
x-rays
gamma

Front 28

How are stars classified?

Back 28

by color
by temperature
by size
by composition
by brightness

Front 29

What will happen to the sun when it runs out of fuel?

Back 29

Its core will shrink and its outer portion will
expand, and due to its smaller size, will become a red giant.

Front 30

Describe the difference between an open cluster and a globular structure

Back 30

Open cluster is more spread out and has less stars,while a globular cluster has a lot more stars and is more densely packed

Front 31

What are the main types of galaxies?

Back 31

spiral
elliptical
irregular

Front 32

What type of galaxy is ours?

Back 32

spiral

Front 33

What is the name of our galaxy?

Back 33

The Milky Way

Front 34

What force caused the solar system to form?

Back 34

gravity

Front 35

How does the atmosphere affect
electromagnetic radiation?

Back 35

x-rays, gamma rays and most ultraviolet
radiation are blocked by earth's atmosphere.

Front 36

Is a light-year a unit of distance or time?

Back 36

It measure distance, because the distance between stars is so large that astronomers use a unit called a light-year to measure distance between stars.

Front 37

What is Hubble's Law?

Back 37

The farther away the galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from us.

Front 38

How does a stars mass affect its lifetime?

Back 38

The bigger the stars mass, the shorter the lifetime.

Front 39

How can astronomers detect dark matter if they cannot observe it directly?

Back 39

It presence can be affirmed by observing the effects of its gravity on visible objects.

Front 40

List the three main types of telescopes, how are they alike/different, are they used to see different things

Back 40

refracting - Uses convex lenses to gather focused light

reflecting - uses a curved mirror to collect and focus light

radio - use curved, reflecting surface which detects radio waves from objects in space

Front 41

Describe the life span of a star

Back 41

The life span depends on its mass. For a low/medium mass star - protostar, then mass star, then a red giant, then a plantary nebula, then a white dwarf, then a black dwarf. For a high mass - protostar, mass star, super giant, then a neutron star or a black hole

Front 42

What evidence has led scientists to predict that the universe will expand forever?

Back 42

Because the expansion of the universe keeps accelerating, which astronomers infer is due to a mysterious new force called dark energy.

Front 43

Make an argument for or against the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.

Back 43

There is evidence of water on Mars, which is a requirement for life as we know it. In the 1990's a meteorite from Mars was reported as possibly containing fossils.