Unit 4: Space Exploration & Cosmology Flashcards

Flyby

A space mission where a spacecraft passes close to a celestial body but doesn’t enter orbit.

Orbiter

A spacecraft that goes into orbit around a planet or moon to gather long-term data.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

An advanced infrared telescope designed to observe the earliest galaxies, stars, and exoplanets.

International Space Station (ISS)

A large spacecraft in low Earth orbit where astronauts live and conduct scientific research.

Venera Missions

Soviet missions that explored Venus, providing the first images of its surface.

Big Bang Theory

The leading explanation for the origin of the universe, stating it expanded from a very hot, dense point about 13.8 billion years ago.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

The faint glow of radiation left over from the early universe, providing evidence for the Big Bang.

Hubble’s Law

A principle stating that the farther away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away, demonstrating the universe's expansion.

Dark Energy

A mysterious force that accelerates the expansion of the universe.

Gravitational Lensing

The bending of light from distant objects by massive bodies like galaxies, confirming Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Flybys

Direct methods of space exploration that involve passing closely by celestial bodies.

Orbiters

Spacecraft designed to enter orbit around celestial bodies to collect long-term data.

Landers

Spacecraft that land on a celestial body to analyze its surface directly.

Sample-return missions

Missions designed to retrieve samples from celestial bodies and bring them back to Earth.

Wavelength observations

Indirect method involving the study of various wavelengths of light to analyze distant objects.

Cosmic ray/neutrino detection

An indirect method that detects high-energy particles from space to gather information about cosmic events.

High-precision imaging

An indirect method using advanced imaging techniques to study distant celestial phenomena.

Quasars

Extremely bright galactic cores powered by supermassive black holes.

Galaxy Cluster

A group of galaxies held together by gravity.

Observable Universe

The region of the universe we can observe, limited by the speed of light.

Dark Matter

Unseen mass via gravity that interacts primarily through gravitational force.

Neutrinos

Subatomic particles that are very difficult to detect, often used in cosmic ray detection.

Redshift

The phenomenon where light from distant galaxies is shifted to longer wavelengths due to their movement away from us.

Infrared Telescope

Telescopes that observe infrared spectrum to study celestial bodies not visible in ordinary light.

X-ray Telescope

Telescopes specialized in detecting X-rays emitted by high-energy objects in space.

Microgravity Research

Scientific research conducted in an environment where the force of gravity is greatly reduced.

Space Race

The competition between nations, particularly the USA and USSR, to achieve significant milestones in space exploration.

Apollo 11

The NASA mission that landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.

Sputnik 1

The first artificial satellite launched by the USSR in 1957.

Hubble Space Telescope

A space telescope that observes distant celestial objects beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Yuri Gagarin

The first human to travel into space, launched by the USSR in 1961.

Venus Missions

Space missions, particularly by the USSR, focused on exploring the planet Venus.