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104 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How far is Mercury from the sun (AU)?
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0.39 AU
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How far is Venus from the sun (AU)?
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0.7 AU
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How far is Mars from the sun (AU)?
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1.5 AU
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Blue giants created all elements up to...
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...iron
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What is the life span of our sun?
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10 billion years
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How old is our solar system
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4 billion years old
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Why do we use scientific notation?
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Simplify calculations
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What is an Astronomical Unit?
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The average distance between Earth and the sun (93,000,000 miles)
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What are the three forces in the universe? (from strongest to weakest)
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1. Nuclear force, 2. Electrical force, 3. Gravity
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What is the distance from one end to the other of the milky way galaxy
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100,000 LY
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What force holds the entire universe together?
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Gravity
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What is a light year?
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The distance that light travels in one year
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What is the next nearest star to the sun? How far away is it?
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Proxima Centauri; 4.2 LY away
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What is the speed of light?
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300,000 km per second
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1 mile = ? km
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1.609 km
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1 km = ? miles
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0.6214 miles
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What are the basic building blocks of life?
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Amino acids, nucleotides
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What is DNA?
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The largest molecule known; determines which proteins will be assembled adn how they will be put together - BLUEPRINT.
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What special qualities does DNA have?
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Ability to change and copy itself
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What is the only thing that can have the same DNA?
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identical twins
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What is the job of a nucleotide?
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it holds together amino acids
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Amino acids consist of what two things?
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proteins (structure) and enzymes (controls chemical reactions)
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What was the purpose of the Miller & Urey experiment in the 1950s?
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Attempted to replicate teh early universe in a lab
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What 5 elements were used in the experiement?
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amonia, methane, water vapor, hydrogen, and electricity as a catalyst
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What was the result of the experiment?
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Amino acids and nucleotides - the building blocks of life
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With time and a liquid environment, what can appear and evolve spontaneously?
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Life
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What did the first organisms look like?
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single celled, algea, bacteria
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How many stars are in the Milky Way?
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100 billions
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Are there other earth like planets?
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yes
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What is the LIFE ZONE
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the distance away from a star at which water can exist in a liquid form
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What is natural selection and who is the ideas's founder?
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Survival of the fittest, Charles Darwin
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The Zodiac is also known as
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the ecliptic
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What are the pseudosciences?
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Astrology, UFOs, Natural phenomenon, honest report, psychological experience, government/scientific coverup
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What does SETI stand for?
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search for extraterrestrial intelligence
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Ocham's Razor
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All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one.
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Current atmosphere makeup
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Oxygen and nitrogen
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Limitations in space travel
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distance, time, speed
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What do we use to listen for extraterrestrial life?
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Radiotelescope
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What is mass?
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Mass is how much there is of an object
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What is weight?
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Weight is gravity acting on a mass.
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What are the five different units of measurement in the metric system?
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Length, mass, time, density, and force.
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What TWO SI units do we use frequently in astronomy?
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newton, joule
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What is a newton
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unit of force; force necessary to accelerate 1kg mass 1m per/second
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What is a joule
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unit of energy; energy produced by force of 1 newton acting through a distance of 1 meter.
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What is a Kelvin?
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temperature measured from absolute zero
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What is absolute zero?
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an object that cannot have any more heat extracted (one millionth of a degree)
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Why did we keep latin names for constellations
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Because Latin is a dead language
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Greek letters and stars - how are they assigned?
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brightest star, alpha, and so on
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Who developed the magnitude scale
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Hipp
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Do constellations change over time/seasons?
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Yes
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How do you calculate magnitude?
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Difference is 2.512, multiplies itself, not times 2
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Asterism
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a group of stars that are a part of a constellation; ie the big dipper (ursa major) the teapot (scorpio)
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Where are Mizar and Alcor located
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In the constellation the Big Dipper
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How far are we from the center of the galazy?
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3/5 out
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What is the ecliptic?
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The apparent path of sun, moon, planets across the sky
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How many degrees are we tilted on our axis?
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23.5
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Why do we have seasons?
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Because of the tilt of the earth
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Precession is what?
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The spinning top like movement of the Earth through space
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we rotate on our...
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axis
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We revolve around...
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the sun
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Zenith
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the point directly above our head
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What is the nadir?
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Point directly below feet
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What is the meridian?
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NS line thru zenith and nadir
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What is declination?
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celestial equator N - celestial equator S (like LATITUDE on earth)
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What is right ascension?
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measured in hours, like LONGITUDE on earth. 1 hour = 15 degrees
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Ciderial day
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time based on movement of the stars, shorter by 4 min each day, based on 12pm-12am (sun - no sun)
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Sun Dial Time (local apparent)
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based on true location of sun in sky
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When are the vernal and autumnal equinoxes?
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march 21 and sep 21
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What is the calendar of the moon?
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29.5 days from new moon to new moon
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Who introduced the leap year?
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Julius Caesar
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What is weather?
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What is happening right now
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What is climate?
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What happens w/ weather over time
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How often do ice ages come?
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every 250 million years
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What is different about the atmosphere in winter?
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It is drier
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What is the gravity on the moon like?
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1/6 of gravity on earth
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What is the escape velocity from the moon?
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1.48 miles/second
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Is our moon a perfect circle?
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No, it is egg shaped
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What are the dark regions on the moon called?
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Maria (seas)
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What are the lighter regions on the moon called/
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lunar highlands
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Why do we only see one side of the moon?
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Because it rotates and revolves at the same speed
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How often does the moon orbit earth?
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Every 27.5 days
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How old are the oldest rocks on the moon?
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4.42 billion years old
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What is the term for th edge of the apparent disc of the moon?
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Limb
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What is the line that separates day/night on the moon?
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Terminator
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Why do we have tides?
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Because the moon acts like a break on the spinning earth - gravity between the sun moon and earth
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How long does a lunar eclipse last?
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3 hours, 40 minutes
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How long does a solar eclipse last?
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2 - 7 minutes
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What is archeoastronomy?
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The study of astronomy of ancient primitive people
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John Aubrey
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mid 16th century, rings of stonehenge assoicated w/ Druids
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William Stuckley
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1740 - pointed toward rising sun at summer solstice, druids enter for rituals on this day, lines point to n/s rising of moon
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What are Aubrey holes?
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holes in stonehenge believed to predict eclipses
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Did the Druids build stonehenge?
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NO
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What is so special about the solstices?
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Ritualistic, connection to the heavens, still celebrated today
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What kinds of practical purposes is the sky used for?
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life, death, seasons, time, hunting
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What did the earliest Greeks believe about the universe?
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Earth at center, harmony, stars attached to a sphere (orbited), ochams's razor
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What did Pythagorus believe?
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Universe is governed by mathematics
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What did Plato contribute to astronomy?
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teaching influenced astronomy, perfect form = sphere, uniform circular motion, 27 nested spheres
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Aristotle
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heavens are perfect, geocentric universe
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Heracledes
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ridiculed, stars are fixed and Earth turns on axis
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Aristocris
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Revived Heracledes theory about axis turning, earth moon on orbit around sun - still no one believed
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What was missing from early studies of the universe?
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Gravity
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Aritostanes
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Radius and circumference of Earth, summer solst. sun falls thru a well. Was only off by 4%
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Ptolemy
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did the best job of fitting movements to patterns, 40 wheels, was unchallenged for 1400 years - earth still center
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Copernicus
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2,000 yrs after Ptolemy suggested that the earth moves around the sun every year and turns on axis every day
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