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83 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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4 major subfields of Earth Science
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geology, oceanology, meterology, astronomy
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Height of Mt Everest (feet and miles)
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29,028ft and 5.5 miles
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Elevation of Hawaii
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2.6 miles above sea level
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Average depth of the ocean (in miles)
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2.3 miles
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Deepest part of the ocean (name, feet, miles)
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Maryana Trench 36,204 feet and 6.8 miles
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Earth's 4 "Spheres"
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Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Geosphere, Biosphere
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Fact
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a repeatable observation or measurement
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Scientific Law
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a regular pattern of behavior in nature, law of gravity...for example
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Hypothesis
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a possible explanation of related facts
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Theory
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a hypothesis that has withstood critical testing; a theory is the best known explanation of certain facts. But theories are more than just successful hypotheses. They are larger, comprehensive explanations of much data. Theories answer not one, but many questions.
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3 major philosophical assumptions of science
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nature is intelligible, nature is uniform, methodological naturalism
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What is the science of cosmology?
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eternal universe or created universe
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When did the Big Bang supposedly occur (in billion years ago)?
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12-13 billion years ago
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The 3 primary lines of evidence for the Big Bang theory?
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1. Red shift
2. Background radiation 3. Abundance of H&He in the universe |
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What does Red Shift tell us?
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That planets are moving away because the wavelengths are longer.
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Solar Nebula Hypothesis
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1. Gravitational collapse of nebula, 2. Protosun/Protostar 3. Main sequence star nuclear fushion beings 4. Gravitational collection of debris in nebular disk to form protoplanets-planet.
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When did the Solar Nebula Hypothesis supposesedly take place?
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5.0 billion years ago
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Ecliptic
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The yearly path of the Sun plotted against the background of stars.
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Zodiac
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A band along the ecliptic containing the 12 constellations of zodiac
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Polaris
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North Star, end of the little dipper.
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7 Wanderers
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did not follow their own path. Were planets (7 originally) Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiters, Saturn, Sun, Moon.
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Geocentric Cosmos
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The concept of an Earth-centered universe
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Heliocentric Cosmos
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The concept of a sun-centered universe
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How many constellations are currently reconized by astronomers?
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88
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What was Copernicus the first to propose?
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Heliocentric Cosmos/Universe
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Kepler gave us the 3 Laws of what?
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Planetary Motion
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Two observations that Galileo made that essentially proved the heliocentric view of the cosmos?
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1. Phases of Venus
2. Moons of Jupiter |
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Newton is most famous for his Law of Universal Gravitation, which explains why planets _____ the Sun.
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Orbit
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What is a light year?
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measuring stick of space. Distance light travels in one year nearest star.
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Distance in light years to Proxima Centauri, what is Promixma Centauri?
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4.2 light years: nearest star (besides the sun)
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4 types of galaxies
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spiral, elliptical, irregular, barred spiral
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Two methods used to judge the distance to stars.
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Stellar Parallax & Cepheid Variable
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Protostar
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Large red object is not hot enough to engage in nuclear fusion, is is not yet a star.
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Main-sequence star
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when nuclear fusion begins
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White dwarf
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collapse of star ejection of "smoke ring" of energy.
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Red giant
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a large red mass
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Planetary nebula
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Beautiful, gleaminf, spherical clouds
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Supernova
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Stars exceeding three solar masses have relatively short life spans and terminate in a brilliant explosion
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Neutron star
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These objects are thought to be the remnants of supernova events
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Black hole
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A massive star that has collapsed to such a small volume that its gravity prevents the excape of all radiation.
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What does the solar system consist of?
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Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets
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Terrestiral (inner planets)
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Hard ground-Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
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Jovian (outer planets)
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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
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Sun is composed of, what two gases?
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Hydrogen and Helium
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Why does the Sun shine?
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Nuclear fusion
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Core
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Sight of nuclear fusion
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Convective Zone
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energy moves towards sun's surface
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Photosphere
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Sun's "Surface" (300 miles thick), nearly all visable ligh originates
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Chromosphere
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Cloud around the sun. Spicules- spike hoping off the sun.
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Corona
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"Sun's atmosphere" halo of light around the sun. Seen during an ecclipse-source of solar wind.
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Sunspots
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ll year cycles one appears-magnetic disturbance
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Solar Flares
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eruptions of x ray's, gamma rays, UV rays
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Solar Prominences
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large "flames" or "fountains" of hot gas.
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Distance from the Earth to the Sun
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93 million miles AU
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Mercury: greatest extremes in temp, no atmosphere and no moons.
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800 degrees F
280 degrees F |
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Venus: atmosphere of CO2, day longer than year.
Why is it so hot? Number of moons? |
So hot because of the greenhouse effect.
Has no moons |
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Mars: thin atmosphere of CO2.
What kind of water is on Mars? What are the names of the moons? |
Perma frost and ice, 2 moons named Phobos and Deimos
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Why does Mars exhibit "retrograde motion"?
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Results from the combination of the Earth and the planet's own motion around the Sun.
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What is Mons Olympus? What is it's height?
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Largest known volcano, located on Mars. Is 75,000 ft.
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Moon: When did we first step on the moon? Who was the first man to step on the moon?
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June 20, 1969-Neill Armstrong
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Name the three surfaces of the moon
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Terrae or Lunar highlands
Mare, Maria "seas"- large-lava filled |
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What is lunar regolith composed of?
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ejecto and micrometeorites
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What happened during the four stages of lunar history?
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1. Orgin of the moon >4.6bill years ago
2. Pre-Imbiran Period 4.5-4.0 billion years ago-formation of lunar crust (terrae), extensive meteorite bombardment. 3. Imbrian Period-4.0-2.0 billion years-formation of the Maria basins, 2nd period of heavy meteorite bombardment. 4. Eratosthenian Period- 2.0-1.0 Billion years ago-formation of non-rayed craters 5. Copernican Period- 1 billion years ago to Present-formation of rayed craters |
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Gravitation field of the moon
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1/6th of the Earth's
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Jupiter is 1/10th the size of the sun and is the largest planet in our solar system. It is reconized by it's Great Red Spot. What are the four moons of Jupiter?
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Io, Europa (has water and ice), Ganymede, Callisto
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What are the rings of Saturn composed of?
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Rock and Ice
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What is unique about the spin of Uranus?
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It spins on it's side
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What's unique about Neptune's moon Triton?
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is thought to be a Kuiper Belt object that was captured
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Neptune is known as a very turbulent planet. What mark defines Neptune?
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The Great DARK spot (a large hurricane)
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Pluto's Moon
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Charon
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Pluto may be...
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a large object from the Kuiper belt
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Where is the astroid belt located?
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between Mars and Jupiter
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Ceres
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orbits the sun every 4.6 years, largest asteroid
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Basic types of Meteroites
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iron, stoney irons, and stoney
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What is the probably origin of asteroids?
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fragments of broken planets that once orbited between Mars and Jupiter
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What is a "shooting star"?
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A meteor that comes into Earth's atmosphere and is burned up by the atmosphere
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Why are so few craters found on Earth's surface?
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weathering and erosion, landing in the water
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What are comets?
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ice and rock
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Why do comets glow with a coma and tail when they approach the Sun?
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ice particles melting
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Kuiper belt
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A region outside the orbit of Neptune nuture most short-period comets are though to originate.
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Oort cloud
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a spherical shell composed of comets that orbit the Sun at distances generally greater that 10,000 times the Earth-Sun distance.
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Other intelligent life in the universe?
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Limited travel, distance
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From what kind of exploding star to the heavy elements (like carbon, iron, gold, etc.) come from?
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Super Nova
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