ASTRONOMY CH 4 Stars, Galaxies & the Universe
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Created by:
jvaught on February 12, 2012
Classes:
Study group, homework help, Exam review, Exam Review Group
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20 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 constellation | A group of stars that form a pattern in the sky |
| spectrograph | an instrument that separates light into colors and makes an image of the resulting spectrum |
| apparent brightness | the brightness of a star as seen from earth |
| absolute brightness | the brightness a star would have if it were at a standard distance from earth |
| light year | The distance that light travels in one year |
| parallax | the apparent change in position of an object when seen from different places |
| nebula | a huge cloud of dust and gas in space |
| protostar | a contracting cloud of gas and dust; the earliest stage of a star's life |
| white dwarf | a faint star of enormous density |
| super nova | a star that suddenly gets very bright and explodes |
| neutron star | a star that has collapsed under its own gravity |
| black hole | a region of space resulting from the collapse of a star |
| binary star | a system of two stars that revolve around each other under their mutual gravitation |
| galaxy | (astronomy) a collection of star systems |
| quasar | a starlike object that may send out radio waves and other forms of energy |
| scientific notation | a method of writing very large or very small numbers by using powers of 10 |
| big bang | the initial explosion that resulted in the formation and expansion of the universe |
| Hubble's Law | The observation that the farther away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away. |
| universe | All matter and energy that exists in space |
| pulsar | a rapidly spinning neutron star that produces radio waves |
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