| Term | Definition |
|---|
| How long would it take to reach even the nearest stars? | at the speed of light - many years |
| What has been used to see far into space? | Hubble Telescope |
| How long does it take for light to reach Earth? | millions of years |
| What is known as energy that is transmitted from one place to another by electromagnetic waves? | radiation |
| What type of waves travel through space and the earth's atmosphere allowing astronauts to speak into a microphone to people on earth? | radio |
| What are some types of electromagnetic radiation? | radio waves and visible light from the sun, gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet waves, infrared waves, and microwaves |
| What is the electromagnetic spectrum? | the arrangement of electromatic radiation |
| What is frequency? | the number of wave crests that pass a given point per unit of time |
| How fast do electromagnetic waves travel in a vacuum? | 300,000 km/s |
| What is the speed of light? | traveling at 300,000 km/s |
| What can travel at the speed of light? | visible light |
| What uses light to produce magnified images of objects? | optical telescopes |
| Where is light collected in an optical telescope? | the objective lens or mirror |
| What magnifies an image when using an optical telescope? | the eyepiece lens |
| What type of telescope uses convex lenses? | refracting |
| What is a convex lens? | one which has a curved outward surface like a ball |
| When using a refracting telescope, what is bent to form an image at the focal point? | light |
| What does concave mean? | curved inward like a bowl |
| Where are most optical telescopes housed? | in observatories |
| What type of roof do most observatories have? | dome-shaped roofs |
| What was launched in 1990 by the space shuttle Discovery? | the Hubble-Space Telescope |
| When did a team of astronauts repair the Hubble Space Telescope? | 1993 |
| What did the Hubble Space Telescope repair? | installed a set of small mirrors to correct images obtained by the faulty mirror |
| What was viewed by the Hubble after the telescope was repaired in 1999? | a large cluster of galaxies known as Abell 2218 |
| What is Abell 2218? | a large cluster of galaxies |
| Which telescope has segmented mirrors 10 m wide? | Twin Keck |
| What were the largest reflectors ever used until 2000? | the mirrors on the Twin Keck |
| Where is the European Southern Observatory located? | Chile |
| Which Observatory has the largest optical telescope in use? | the European Southern Observatory |
| What happens with active optics? | a computer corrects for changes in temperature, mirror distortions, and bad viewing conditions |
| What happens with adaptive optics? | a laser is used to probe the atmosphere and relay information to a computer |
| What is used to study radio waves traveling through space? | radio telescope |
| What can pass freely through the Earth's atmosphere? | radio waves |
| What is useful 24 hours a day under most weather conditions? | radio telescopes |
| Which type of telescope uses convex lenses to form images? | refracting |
| What is meant by active optics? | the use of computers to correct for changes in temperature and distortions, improving telescope images |
| What length of waves do Radio telescopes study? | 105 m - longwavelength electromagnetic waves |
| How fast must a spacecraft travel to break free of gravity and enter the Earth's orbit? | faster than 11 km/s |
| What are spacecrafts equipped with? | special engines that carry their own fuel |
| What are rockets? | engines that have everything they need for the burning of fuel |
| Why can rockets work in spaces that don't even have air? | they don't require air to carry out any of the processes |
| What types of rockets are there? | solid-propellant and liquid-propellant |
| What are solid-propellant rockets like? | are generally simpler - can't be shut down after they are ignited |
| What are liquid-propellant rockets like? | they can be shut down after they are ignited and can be restarted |
| Which rockets use rubberlike fuel that contains its own oxidizer? | solid-propellant |
| Which rockets use a liquid fuel and an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen stored in separate tanks? | liquid-propellant |
| What is a satellite? | any object that revolves around another object |
| What pulls a satellite toward Earth? | gravity |
| What is an orbit? | the result of a satellite traveling forward while at the same time being pulled toward Earth in a curved path |
| What transmits radio and television programs to locations around the world? | communication satellites |
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