Keplers 1st Law (Orbital Motion) Planets travel in elliptical orbits with the sun as a focus Keplers 2nd Law (Orbital Motion) The line going from the Sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times *Explains relationship between planets around the sun Keplers 3rd Law (Orbital Motion) The Read more…
Luminosity how bright a star will be in relation to the sun if all star were the same distance from the observer Light Year the distance light travels in one year Ellipse A elongated circle, or oval shape, the shape of the planets orbit. Astronomical Unit The average distance between Read more…
Outline general structure of solar system Order of planets: (including order in mass and radius; smallest to largest.) Mercury; 1, 1 Venus; 3, 3 Earth;4, 4 Mars; 2, 2 Jupiter; 8,8 Saturn; 7,7 Uranus; 5, 6 Neptune; 6, Distinguish between stellar cluster and a constellation CONSTELLATIONS: Stars that look like Read more…
Star A planetary object bound by “self-gravity” and that “radiates energy” that is primarily created by “nuclear fusion within the core” Binary Star “two stars” orbiting a “common” center of mass Planet A object that (1) is in “orbit around the sun”, (2) has “sufficient mass” to “assume a round Read more…
RED GIANTS & WHITE DWARFS Parsec a unit of distance used in astronomy, equal to about 3.26 light years 3.086 × 1013 kilometers Star’s proper motion A proper motion of 1 arcsec per year at a distance of 1 light-year corresponds to a relative transverse speed of 1.45 km/s Apparent Read more…
Outline the likely evolution of the star Khad after it leaves the main sequence Since it has a mass greater than 1.3 Ms, it will go through a super red giant, onto a supernova to a neutron star or black hole. Red supergiant star: • Large luminosity • Red color Read more…
Gravitational Contraction The process in which gravity causes an object to contract, thereby converting gravitational potential energy into thermal energy. This was a hypothesis proposed in the late 1800’s suggesting the Sun generates energy by contracting in size. However, geologists proved this wrong since the Earth was older than the Read more…
What element is the sun most made from? Hydrogen Where do most stars go, when plotted into a graph of colour and brightness? Main sequence What is the final stage for massive stars? A supenova or black hole What is the largest planet? Jupiter What is cosmology? The study of Read more…
milky way galaxy – one out of billions/trillions – named by the greeks; galaxies kuklos, milky circle – Romans; via lactea= milky way – andromeda (closest galaxy to us) 2.3 million LY away – 400 billion solar masses galileo – 1st resolved milky way into stars – telescope william and Read more…
Binary star Two stars orbiting around a common center Black dwarf The remnant of a white dwarf after it has cooled down. It has a low luminosity. Black hole A singularity in space- time; the end result in the evolution of a massive star. Brown dwarf Gas and dust that Read more…
The Universe A large collection of billions of galaxies Galaxy Large collection of billions of stars Our sun A star in the milky way galaxy Planets Orbit a star dwarf planet Small planets Moons orbit planets artificial satellite Orbit earth, built by humans Asteroids Lumps of rock and metal, found Read more…
Kepler’s Third Law Square of the period of any planet is proportional to the cube of the semi major axis of its orbit Stellar Parallax Created by orbital position. Max shift is when the earth is at opposite sides of the sun. Once angle found, distance is calculated via trigonometry. Read more…
Fusion the main energy source of stars How stars are formed Stars are formed by interstellar dust coming together through mutual gravitational attraction. Loss in potential energy as this happens can (if the initial mass of the dust collection is sufficient) produce high temperatures necessary for fusion. The fusion process Read more…
Define a planet. •Celestial body that orbits around the sun •has sufficient mass for its self gravity •has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit Define astroids. Between orbits of Mars and Jupiter, smaller orbiting bodies Define comets. •small orbiting body •loose particles of ice and rock that are blown off Read more…
Solar system Mercury, venus, earth, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus and neptune. Stellar clusters Groupings of a large number of stars bound by gravity. 1. Globular clusters: large number of mainly old stars. 2. Open clusters: small number of young stars that are farther apart. Galaxy A huge assembly of stars Read more…
Absolute magnitude (M) The apparent magnitude a star would have if it were placed at a standard distance of 10 pc from Earth. m – M = 5 log(d/10) where d is the distance in parsecs. Activity (A) The number of emissions per second, measured in Becquerels. Airy disc The Read more…
Binary star Two stars orbiting a common centre Black dwarf The remnant of a white dwarf after it has cooled down. It has very low luminosity. Black hole A singularity in space time; the end result of the evolution of a very massive star Brown dwarf Gas and dust that Read more…
Sun 99% of the mass of the solar system made mostly of H/He gas (plasma) converts 4 million tons Mercury Made out of metal and rock, large iron core cratered, desolate, long, tall, steep cliffs Venus Earth’s twin because size surface hidden by clouds 1 day Venus 243 days earth Read more…
Convex lens A lens that causes light to be focused towards a point, an image formed is real, inverted Concave lens A lens that causes light to spread out, an image formed is vertual and diminished Focal point The point at which several light rays converge Magnifying power The ratio Read more…
chapter 12 … what dust is emitted into to create galaxies interstellar medium giant molecular clouds which are cool and dense collapse into cluster of stars if temp reaches 10,000,000K what happens nuclear fusion into a protostar high mass stars have higher luminosity than low mass stars (t or f) Read more…