Astronomy Unit

Terrestrial Planet
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Terms in this set (23)
Terrestrial Planet
A planet with a rocky surface like Earth, Venus,Mercury, and Mars.
Image: Terrestrial Planet
Jovian Planet
Jovian: Jupiter-like: gas giants: Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Low density. More moons.
Image: Jovian Planet
Nebula
a large cloud of dust and gas in interstellar space; a region in space where stars are born or where stars explode at the end of their lives
Image: Nebula
Asteroids
Small rocky objects that lie in a belt located between Mars and Jupiter
Image: Asteroids
Comet
A ball of frozen dust and rock that orbits the sun and has a tail that glows
Image: Comet
Meteoroid
a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space
Image: Meteoroid
Meteor
(astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere
Image: Meteor
Meteorite
a meteor that survives its passage through the earth's atmosphere such that part of it strikes the ground. More than 90 percent of meteorites are of rock, while the remainder consist wholly or partly of iron and nickel.
Image: Meteorite
Doppler Effect
an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the source and observer move toward (or away from) each other. The effect causes the sudden change in pitch noticeable in a passing siren, as well as the redshift seen by astronomers.
Image: Doppler Effect
Refracting Telescope
A telescope that uses a set of lenses to gather and focus light from distant objects
Image: Refracting Telescope
Reflecting TelescopeA telescope that uses a curved mirror to collect and focus lightPhotospherethe visible surface of the sunChromosphereA gaseous layer of the sun's atmosphere (extending from the photosphere to the corona) that is visible during a total eclipse of the sunCoronaThe outer layer of the sun's atmosphere.SunspotA dark area of gas on the sun's surface that is cooler than surrounding gases.Nuclear Fusion2 isotopes of light elements (H) forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus. Happens in the Sun, very difficult to accomplish on Earth, prohibitively expensive.Galaxylarge isolated system of stars, such as the Milky Way; collection of brilliant personalitiesProtostarhot, condensed object at the center of a nebula that will become a new star when nuclear fusion reactions beginBinary Starone of two stars revolving around a common center of mass under their mutual gravitational attractionBlack HoleAn object in space whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape.PulsarA rapidly spinning neutron star that produces radio wavesHubble's LawGalaxies appear to be moving away from us at speeds as proportional to their distanceBig Bang TheoryThe Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model for the universe from the earliest known periods through its subsequent large-scale evolution. It states that the universe was in a very high density state and then expanded.

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