7.1 Space Flight To The Stars

How far away is the Sombrero Galaxy From Earth?

The Sombrero galaxy is situated 29 million light years away from Earth

Who catalogued it, when, and with what?

Charles Messier catalogued the Sombrero Galaxy 200 years ago with a 10 cm refracting telescope

How many stars in the Sombrero Galaxy?

100 billion + stars

Where are the oldest and youngest stars located?

The oldest stars are in the central bulge, and the youngest stars from in dust lanes.

How fast does light move?

2.99 x 10⁸ m per second

What disk do the planets revolve around?

The elliptic plane

What is a star?

A large, glowing ball of hot plasma that generates heat and light through nuclear fusion

What is nuclear fusion?

The process of combining lightweight nuclei to make heavier nuclei.

What are the terrestrial/inner planets?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

What do the inner planets have in common?

The inner planets are small and dense and have rocky surfaces. They have little to no moons.

What are the Jovian/outer planets?

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

How many astronauts have walked on the moon and when?

12 astronauts, from 1968-1972

What is the process in which the moon revolves around the Earth with the same side facing us?

Tidal Lock

Who is the CSNA and what did they do in 2018?

The CSNA is the Chinese Space Agency and they landed a rover on the far slide of the moon in 2018.

What is the name of the mission that aims to send astronauts back to the moon?

Lunar Gateway

What will Canadarm2 be used for in the Lunar Gateway Mission?

Canadarm2 will be used to help assemble and maintain the orbiting lunar station.

What is an astronomical unit? How big is it and what does it measure?

The average distance from Earth to the Sun, 150 million km. For measuring distances in our solar system.

What is a light year? How big is it has what does it measure?

A light year is the distance a beam of light travels and the unit used to measure distances outside of the solar system. It is equal to 63 000 AU or 9000 billion km.

What is the asteroid belt and where is it located?

An asteroid belt is a solace where small bodies, mostly metallic & rocky objects form a ring around the sun, at a distance of 3AU. It divides the inner and outer planets.

What are the four largest asteroids?

Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygeia (total max approx. 4% of Earth's moon)

What is the name of the asteroid belt beyond the gas giants? How far away is it from the Sun?

The Kuiper Belt, 50 AU away from the sun.

What is beyond the Kuiper Belt?

The Oort Cloud, which is a collection of icy debris

What is the name of the system that our closest star is a part of? How far away is it?

Centauri System, 4.2 light years away

What is a star system with two stars called?

Binary Star System

What is the name of the brightest star from Earth, how far away is it, and what is its mass?

Sirius, 8.6 light years away and twice the mass of the sun.

What is it called when a star explodes?

Supernova

How often do space telescopes detect a supernova

Around one supernova per week

What is created from a supernova

Nebula

What is a nebula? What are they often called?

A cloud of gas and dust in space. They are often called star nurseries.

What nebula was recorded in 1054?

The Crab Nebula

Where arm does the Crab Nebula lie? How far away is it from Earth?

It lies in the Perseus arm, 6500 light years away from earth.