astronomy chap 3
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25 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 absolute magnitude | The brightness of a star if it were a standard distance from Earth |
| apparent magnitude | The brightness of a star as seen from Earth |
| big bang | The initial explosion that resulted in the formation and expansion of the universe |
| binary star | A star system that contains two stars |
| black hole | The remains of an extremely massive star pulled into a small volume by the force of gravity |
| eclipsing binary | A star system in which one star periodically blocks the light from another |
| elliptical galaxy | A galaxy shaped like a flattened ball, containing only old stars |
| galaxy | A giant structure that contains hundreds of billions of stars |
| giant star | A very large star, much larger than the sun |
| Hertzsprung-Russell diagram | A graph relating the temperature and brightness of stars |
| irregular galaxy | A galaxy that does not have a regular shape |
| light year | The distance that light travels in one year |
| main sequence | An area on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram that runs from the upper left to the lower right and includes more than 90% of all stars |
| nebula | A large amount of gas and dust in space, spread out in an immense volume |
| neutron star | A tiny star that remains after a supernova explosion |
| parallax | The apparent change in position of an object when seen from different places |
| protostar | A contracting cloud of gas and dust; the earliest stage of a star's life |
| pulsar | A neutron star that produces radio waves |
| quasar | A distant galaxy with a black hole at its center |
| spiral galaxy | A galaxy whose arms curve outward in a pinwheel pattern |
| supernova | The explosion of a dying giant or supergiant star |
| universe | All of space and everything in it |
| white dwarf | The reamining hot core of a star after its outer layers have expanded and drifted out into space |
| costellation | The pattern of stars in the sky |
| observatory | A building that contains one or more telescopes |
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