Astronomy

1. asteroid belt

1.1. A region of rocky debris that forms a ring all the way around the sun and the inner planets at a  distance of about 3 AU. The asteroid  contains billions of pieces of rock of all sizes

2. supernova

2.1. is when a star explodes, the  gradual build up of heavy elements in the  stars center cause the core to collapse

3. light year

3.1. (LY) It equals the distance that a  beam of light can travel through space in one year. It is equivalent to 63  billion Km

4. nebula

4.1. is a large cloud of dust and gas.  Nebula are often called star nurseries,  because it is form their dust and  develop in

5. astronomical unit

5.1. (AU) equals the average distance between the sun and the earth in millions of km

6. black hole

6.1. A region of space where Gravity is so strong the nothing, not even light can escape.

6.2. The gravity also pulls in stars destroying them, and adds mass to the black hole increasing its size

6.3. Also centre of all galaxies

7. nuclear fusion

7.1. process in which the nuclei of  atoms fuse together and form larger atoms

8. microgravity

8.1. Affects can be reduced by exercising

8.2. Condition in which the gravitational forces that act on mass are greatly reduced

8.2.1. heart weakens

8.2.2. immune system weakens

8.2.3. muscle mass goes down

9. the sun

9.1. The sun first began shining about 5 billion years ago and is expected to continue shining for about 5 billion years more

9.2. The two layers we can only see during a solar eclipse is the chromosphere And corona

9.3. The layer that is considered to be the boundary of the sun is the photosphere

9.3.1. Which we see from earth

9.4. Nuclear fusion occurs in the core of the sun

9.4.1. This is the process in which light atoms fuse and become very hot and very bright

9.5. Two elements that make up 99% of the sun.

9.5.1. hydrogen and helium

9.6. Solar flare: Is a massive explosion at the surface of the sun

9.6.1. Coronal mass ejection: when this occurs a large amount of plasma is thrown out through the corona

9.6.2. The earth is protected by solar flares and coronal ejection reaching our planet is by earths magnetic field diverting much of the plasma away from the planet

10. dark matter

10.1. Refers to matter in the universe  that is invisible

10.2. 27% of the universe is filled with dark matter

11. 3 general mass categories used to describe stars

11.1. Low mass: Use their nuclear fuel much slower  so they last longer

11.1.1. most stars in the universe are low mass

11.2. Medium mass: Burn their fuel faster than low mass. The sun is a medium mass dwarf star

11.3. High mass: Are 10 times the mass of the sun. As gravity pulls matter into the center of the star, the star is hotter, brighter, and bluer than other stars.

12. 4 main types of spacecrafts

12.1. rocket

12.2. Spacestation

12.2.1. the international space station (ISS) is the biggest space station ever built

12.3. space probe

12.4. space shuttle

13. 3 characteristics stars are arranged by

13.1. Surface temperature: The hottest stars are plotted on the  left, and the coolest stars are plotted on the right.

13.2. Colour- Red stars are plotted on the right, and blue plotted on the left. Other stars, such as the yellow sun are plotted in between

13.3. Luminosity: The brightest stars are plotted at the top and  dimmest stars are plotted at the bottom

13.4. Groups of stars that DO NOT appear in the sequence often at the end of their lives

13.4.1. White dwarfs: Are white because they are hot but dim because they are small. White dwarfs are cooling eventually become black

13.4.1.1. Red Giants: The outer layer of these stars are cool and appear red, but they are bright because they are so large. All of these giants will eventually explode

14. geostationary orbit

14.1. A satellite that orbits earth at the same rate as the earths rotates, making it look stationary (in one place)

15. 3 different shapes galaxies can have

15.1. Elliptical: Is a shape like a flatted sphere. Elliptical galaxies are those whose shape ranges. This happens when galaxies merge

15.2. Spiral and Barred spiral galaxy: spiral is named for its spiral arms and if it also has what looks like bars across them, they are called a barred spiral galaxy.

15.2.1. the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy

15.3. Irregular: If a galaxy isn't like a spiral or Elliptical or  without a shape, it is a irregular Galaxy

16. star

16.1. is a hot ball of plasma and it shines  because nuclear fusion is taking pace in its  core

17. satellite

17.1. A device placed in orbit around earth or another celestial object

17.2. Artificial satellite is an artificial body placed in orbit to collect information or for communication

18. All galaxies have stars, planets and dust

19. Hertzsprung-Russel diagram: created by Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russel

19.1. they wanted to find out whether any pattern might emerge that would tell us more about the nature of stars, there was and this diagram was made

20. gps

20.1. stands for global positioning system and uses at least 3 satellites to pin point your location using low energy microwave signals.

21. spinoff

21.1. A secondary beneficial effect or product of a thing or activity in this case from the technology they use in space like a smoke dectector

22. solar system

22.1. is the sun together with all the  planets held by the suns gravitational pull and  orbit around it

23. prostar

23.1. A star in its first formation

23.2. The star draws in material falling inward to the core that has excess energy.

24. Planets

24.1. four inner planets (rocky planets)

24.1.1. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

24.2. four outer planets (gas and ice)

24.2.1. Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus, Neptune

24.3. the asteroid belt divides the rocky and gaseous planets

24.4. one minor or dwarf planets

24.4.1. Pluto