Study-Earth Science Midterm

Front 1

Define astronomy

Back 1

study of objects beyond Earth's atmosphere

Front 2

Define meteorology

Back 2

studies the air that surrounds our planet

Front 3

Define geology

Back 3

the materials that make up Earth and the processes that form and change these materials

Front 4

Define oceanograpy

Back 4

the study of Earth's oceans, which cover three fourths of the planet

Front 5

Define scientific law

Back 5

1. A natural phenomenon that has been proven to occur invariably whenever certain conditions are met. 2. A formal statement describing such a phenomenon and the conditions under which it occurs. Also called law.

Front 6

Define scientific theory

Back 6

a statement that postulates ordered relationships among natural phenomena.

Front 7

Define hypothesis

Back 7

a suggested explanation for an observation often stated in the form of a question that can be answered by the results of an experiment

Front 8

Define IV and DV amd control

Back 8

IV- the factor that is manipulated in the experiment
DV- the factor that can change if the IV is changed
Control-standard for comparison in an experiment.

Front 9

Name all SI (Syteme International)

Back 9

Modern version of metric system based on a decimal system using the number 10 as the base unit; includes the meter (m), liter (L), second (s), and kilogram (kg).

Front 10

Define scientific notation

Back 10

a shorthand writing of a number in which a number is expressed as a multiplier and a power of 10

Front 11

Define cartography

Back 11

science of mapmaking

Front 12

Define equator

Back 12

imaginary line that lies at 0 degrees latitude and circle Earth midway between the NORTH and SOUTH poles,divides the Earth in the North and South hemispheres

Front 13

Describe the difference between lattitude and longitude

Back 13

lat-distance in degrees north and south
long- distance in degrees east and west of the prime meridian

Front 14

Define prime meridian

Back 14

imagery line representing 0 degrees longitude, running from the north pole, through Greenwich, England, to the south pole

Front 15

Define International date line

Back 15

The 180 degree meridian, which serves as a transition line for calender days

Front 16

Define mercator production

Back 16

map with parallel lines of latitude and longitude that shows true direction and the correct shapes of landmasses but distorts areas near the poles

Front 17

conic projection

Back 17

Map that is highly accurate for small areas, made by projecting points and lines form a globe onto a cone

Front 18

gnomic projection

Back 18

map useful in plotting long distance trips by boat or by plane that is made by projecting points and lines form a globe onto a piece of paper that touches the globe at a single point

Front 19

topographic map

Back 19

map that uses contour lines, symbols, and color to show changes in the elevation of Earth's surface and features such as mountains, bridges, and rivers

Front 20

contour line

Back 20

a line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation

Front 21

contour interval

Back 21

difference in elvation between two side by side contour line on a topographic map

Front 22

map legend

Back 22

key that explains what the symbols mean

Front 23

map scale

Back 23

ratio between the distances shown on a map and the actual distances on Earth's surface

Front 24

remote sensing

Back 24

procerss of gatering data about earth from far above the planet's surface

Front 25

frequency

Back 25

number of waves that pass a given point

Front 26

topex/poseidon satellite

Back 26

Data-gathering satellite that uses radar to map features on the ocean floor

Front 27

GPS

Back 27

Global Positioning System is a satellite based system thatpermits a user to pinpoint his or her exact location on the Earth

Front 28

Landsat satellite

Back 28

information gathering satellite that uses visible light and infrared radiation to map Earth's surface

Front 29

retrograde motion

Back 29

a planet's backward motioin in the sky

Front 30

astronomical unit

Back 30

(AU) A planet's average distance to the Sun; for the Sun and Earth, is 1.496 X 10^8 km, or 1 AU

Front 31

perihelion

Back 31

point in a planet's orbit where it is closest to the sun

Front 32

perihelion

Back 32

point in a planet's orbit where it is closest to the sun

Front 33

aphelion

Back 33

point in a planet's orbit where it is farthest form the Sun

Front 34

aphelion

Back 34

point in a planet's orbit where it is farthest form the Sun

Front 35

eccentricity

Back 35

rario of the distance between the foci to the lengh of the major axis; defines the shape of a planet's elliptical orbit.

Front 36

eccentricity

Back 36

rario of the distance between the foci to the lengh of the major axis; defines the shape of a planet's elliptical orbit.

Front 37

Kepler's Laws

Back 37

each planet orbit around the sun as an ellipse rather than a circle
The path of the planets about the sun are elliptical in shape, with the center of the sun being located at one focus. (The Law of Ellipses)
An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time. (The Law of Equal Areas)
The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun. (The Law of Harmonies)

Front 38

Kepler's Laws

Back 38

each planet orbit around the sun as an ellipse rather than a circle
The path of the planets about the sun are elliptical in shape, with the center of the sun being located at one focus. (The Law of Ellipses)
An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time. (The Law of Equal Areas)
The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun. (The Law of Harmonies)

Front 39

terrestrial planets

Back 39

the four inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars- close to the size of Earth with solid rocky surfaces

Front 40

terrestrial planets

Back 40

the four inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars- close to the size of Earth with solid rocky surfaces

Front 41

precession

Back 41

wobble in Earth's rotational axis

Front 42

precession

Back 42

wobble in Earth's rotational axis

Front 43

gas giant planets

Back 43

large, gaseous planets that are very cold at their surfaces, have ring systems, many moons, and lack solid surfaces Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus, and Neptune

Front 44

asteroid

Back 44

rocky remnant of the early solar system found mostly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt

Front 45

belt

Back 45

low, warm, dark-colored cloud that sinks and flows rapidly in the Jovian atmosphere

Front 46

comet

Back 46

small, eccentrically orbiting body made of rock and ice that consists of a nucleus, a coma, and one or more tails that point away from the Sun

Front 47

meteor

Back 47

streak of light produced when a meteoroid falls toward Earth and burns up in Earth's atmosphere

Front 48

meteorite

Back 48

meteoroid that does not completely burn up in Earth's atmosphere and strikes Earth's surface, sometimes causing an impact crater

Front 49

meteoroid

Back 49

piece of interplanetary material that falls toward Earth and enters its atmosphere

Front 50

meteor shower

Back 50

occurs when Earth intersects a cometary orbit and comet particles burn up as they enter Earth's upper atmosphere

Front 51

planetesimal

Back 51

space object built of solid particles that can form planets through collisions and mergers

Front 52

fission

Back 52

process in which heavy atomic nuclei split into smaller, lighter nuclei

Front 53

fusion

Back 53

process in a star's core in which lightweight hydrogen nuclei combine into heavier helium nuclei

Front 54

zone

Back 54

high, cool, light-colored cloud that rises and flows rapidly in the Jovian atsmosphere

Front 55

photosphere

Back 55

lowest layer of the Sun's atmosphere that is also its visible surface, has an average temperature of 5800 K, and is about 400 km thick

Front 56

chromosphere

Back 56

layer of the Sun's atmosphere above the photosphere and below the corona that is about 2500 km thick and has a temperature around 30 000 K at its top

Front 57

corona

Back 57

top layer of the Sun's atmosphere that extends from the top of the chromosphere and ranges in temperature from 1 million to 2 million K

Front 58

solar wind

Back 58

wind of charged particles that flows throughout the solar system and begins as gas flowing outward from the Sun's corona at high speeds

Front 59

protostar

Back 59

hot, condensed object at the center of a nebula that will become a new star when nuclear fusion reactions begin

Front 60

solar flare

Back 60

violent eruption of radiation and particles from the Sun's surface that is associated with sunspots

Front 61

sunspot

Back 61

dark spot on the surface of the photosphere that typically lasts two months, occurs in pairs, and has a penumbra and an umbra

Front 62

prominence

Back 62

arc of gas ejected from the chromosphere, or gas that condenses in the Sun's inner corona and rains back to the surface, that can reach temperatures over 50 000 K and is associated with sunspots

Front 63

nebula

Back 63

large cloud of interstellar gas and dust that collapses on itself, due to its own gravity, and forms a hot, condensed object that will become a new star

Front 64

apogee and perigee

Back 64

a-farthest point in the Moon's elliptical orbit to Earth
p-closest point to the Moon's elliptical orbit to Earth

Front 65

lunar eclipse

Back 65

occurs only during a full moon, when Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, and Earth's shadow falls on the Moon

Front 66

solar eclipse

Back 66

occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun and the Moon casts a shadow on Earth, blocking Earth's view of the Sun; can be partial or total

Front 67

summer solstice

Back 67

occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at 23.5° north latitude, around June 21, and results in the maximum number of daylight hours for the northern hemisphere and the minimum number for the southern hemisphere

Front 68

Synchronous rotation

Back 68

describes the state at which the Moon's orbital and rotational periods are equal

Front 69

vernal equinox

Back 69

occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and results in day and night of equal length for both northern and southern hemispheres

Front 70

autumnal equinox

Back 70

occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and results in day and night of equal length for both northern and southern hemispheres

Front 71

ecliptic

Back 71

plane that contains Earth's orbit around the Sun

Front 72

ejecta

Back 72

material that falls back to the lunar surface after being blasted out by the impact of a space object

Front 73

highlands

Back 73

light-colored, mountainous, heavily cratered areas of the Moon, composed mostly of lunar breccias

Front 74

interferometry

Back 74

process that links separate telescopes so they act as one telescope, producing more detailed images as the distance between them increases

Front 75

mare

Back 75

dark-colored, basaltic, smooth plain on the Moon, between 3.1 and 3.8 billion years old, that formed from lava welling up and filling in large impact basins

Front 76

reflecting telescope

Back 76

a type of telescope that uses mirrors to focus visible light

Front 77

refracting telescope

Back 77

a type of telescope that uses lenses to focus visible light

Front 78

spinoff

Back 78

NASA technology that has been passed to commercial industries for common use

Front 79

black hole

Back 79

small, extremely dense remnant of a star whose gravity is so immense that not even light can escape its gravity field

Front 80

Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (H-R diagram)

Back 80

graph that relates stellar characteristics -- class, mass, temperature, magnitude, diameter, and luminosity

Front 81

nebula

Back 81

large cloud of interstellar gas and dust that collapses on itself, due to its own gravity, and forms a hot, condensed object that will become a new star

Front 82

neutron star

Back 82

collapsed, dense core of a star that forms quickly while its outer layers are falling inward, has a radius of about 10 km, a mass 1.5 to 3 times that of the Sun, and contains only neutrons

Front 83

Big Bang Theory

Back 83

proposes that the universe began as a single point and has been expanding ever since

Front 84

halo

Back 84

spherical region that surrounds the Milky Way's nuclear bulge and disk

Front 85

inflationary universe

Back 85

model predicting that the universe if flat; can explain the walls and voids in the distribution of galaxies

Front 86

steady-state theory

Back 86

proposes that the universe is the same as it has always been

Front 87

seasons and tides

Back 87

Seasons are created by the Earth's 23.5 degree tilt and motion around the sun
The tide is the regular rising and falling of the ocean's surface caused by changes in gravitational forces external to the Earth. The primary changing gravitational field is due to the Moon while the secondary field is caused by the Sun.

Front 88

Impact Theory

Back 88

moon had been bombarded by many craters, however the traces were not eliminated because there was no erosion or water on the moon therefore the impact has been preserved

Front 89

spiral arm

Back 89

Spiral arms are regions of stars that extend from the center of spiral and barred spiral galaxies. These long, thin regions resemble a spiral and thus give spiral galaxies their name.

Front 90

The sun is located in the minor arm ____ at a distance of avout 28 00 ly from the galacentic center

Back 90

Orion

Front 91

spiral galaxy

Back 91

a galaxy having a spiral structure; arms containing younger stars spiral out from old stars at the center

Front 92

elliptical galaxy

Back 92

An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy in the Hubble sequence characterized by the following physical properties: * No or at most inconsiderable amount of angular momentum.* No or at most inconsiderable amount of interstellar matter, no young stars, no open star clusters* Consisted of old, so-called Population II stars* Larger elliptical galaxies typically have a system of globular clusters

Front 93

irregular galaxy

Back 93

An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not fall into the Hubble classification for galaxies. These are galaxies that feature neither spiral nor elliptical morphology.