Final Study Guide

What is diurnal motion?

The daily motion of stars and other celestial bodies across the sky

In what part of the sky (**N, E, S, W**) do celestial objects set?

West

Where does the sun reach its highest part?

North the Tropic of Cancer

What causes the seasons?

The tilt of the Earth

What are the different **surfaces** on the **moon**?  How do they **appear** from Earth?

The highlands and the maria. We can’t see them because the moon looks dark

Does the moon **rotate**?  If yes, how often?

27\.3 days

Is there a **dark side** of the moon?  Where did this idea come from?

There is no dark side of the moon. The idea came from the fact that we never see the other side of the moon.

How **long** does it take for the **moon** to go through all of its **phases**?

29\.5 days

When does the moon appear **brightest**?

Full moon

**Solar eclipses** occur during which moon **phase**?

New Moon

**Lunar eclipses** occur during which moon **phase**?

Full Moon

How **long** do **solar eclipses** take compared to **lunar eclipses**?

Solar Eclipses are much faster than lunar eclipses

What can you **see** during a **total solar eclipse**?

Solar Corona

What **features** are common on the **moon’s** **far** **side**?

Impact Craters

Why can’t a **solar** **eclipse** be viewed from the **surface** of **Mars**?

Phobos is too small.

Do planets produce their own **light**?

No

What is nuclear fusion?

two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles

When did the planets, comets and asteroids form with respect to the Sun (before, after, or at the same time)?

Same time

How do the planets orbit the Sun?

Counterclockwise

What do Astronomical Units represent?

the mean distance between the center of the Earth and the center of the sun

How big is the Earth compared to the Moon?

Four times bigger

What is **strange** about the **orbit** of **Pluto**?

elliptical and tilted

Where is the **asteroid belt**?

Between Mars and Jupiter

Which **planet** has about the same **diameter** as **Earth**?

Venus

Arrange the objects in the solar system according to **mass** from the **largest** to **smallest**.

Universe, galaxy, solar system, star, planet, moon and asteroid

Name the inner planet that has no atmosphere.

Mercury

Name the inner planet that has liquid water? 

Earth

Name the largest inner planet.

Earth

Name the inner planet with the smallest orbit.

Mercury

What do the outer planets all have in common?

Longer orbits, faster spins, composition of gas and liquids (hydrogen and helium), numerous moons, and rings

What is a noteworthy feature of the planet Jupiter?... of Mars?

Jupiter's stripes and swirls and Mar's surface gravity of 37%, compared to Earth's and Olympus Mons (tallest volacanoe)

Approximately how long does it take Saturn to complete one orbit around the Sun?

29\.4 years

What are Phobos and Deimos?

Moons of Mars

Name Saturn’s most popular moon?

Titan

List the planets in order by their number of moons.

Earth, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter

What is interesting about Europa?

May contain water

How does the distance a planet is from the Sun relate to the speed of its orbit?

The farther you are from the Sun the slower your orbit is

What is Sedna? 

Dwarf planet

Name some objects that are similar to Sedna.

Pluto, Eris, Ceres

What kind of motion occurs when the planets appear to move westward against the background of the stars?

Retrograde Motion

What moons did Galileo discover?

Europa, Ganymede, Io, Callisto

What is on the surface of Venus?

dome-like volcanoes, rifts, and mountains, with expansive volcanic plains and vast, ridged plateaus

Name some of the reasons why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Small, erratic orbit, and it has not cleared the area around it

Name some of the other objects that have the same classification as Pluto.

Eris, Haumea

What is a meteor?

has entered Earth's atmosphere

What is a metorite?

**survived entry through Earth's atmosphere and strikes Earth's surface.**

What is a meteroid?

Traveling in space

Where are main belt asteroids located?

Between Mars and Jupiter

What is true about the tail of a comet? What makes the tail happen and what direction does it go

The tail points away from the Sun

Which comet has an orbital period of 76 years?

Halley’s Comet

Why do comets develop tails?

it happens because when it approaches the sun, the heat evaporates the comet's gases, causing it to emit dust and microparticles (electrons and ions)

What happens when Earth passes through the tail of a comet? 

Meteor shower

What are asteroids made of?

Metals and rocky material

Where are most comets found in the solar system?

Oort Cloud

Name the asteroid that came close to the Earth.

2023 BU

What is the main difference between asteroids and meteoroids?

Asteroids are smaller than a planet, but they are larger than the pebble-size objects we call meteoroids

Is it possible to see a shooting star while standing on the moon?

No because stars themselves are too faint

The main source of energy on Earth is ___________.

Sun

The Sun’s energy comes from ____________.

Nuclear fusion

The Sun has existed for about 5 billion years and will continue to shine for about another _____________ years.

4\.5 - 5.5 billion years

Explain the effect of radiation from the Sun.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation 

Charged particles coming from the Sun are part of what is called the _____________.

Solar Wind

Cool, dark areas on the surface of the Sun are known as _________________.

Sunspots

Charged particles from the Sun can strike the upper atmosphere, causing it to glow in a colorful display called the __________.

Aurora

The Sun is a huge ball of mostly what kind of gas?

Hydrogen

Does the Sun rotate?

Yes

What is the surface temperature of the Sun in degrees Celsius?

5,499°C

Describe what the Sun is like at the following location: corona

Dim and hot

Describe what the Sun is like at the following location: core

Hot enough to sustain nuclear fusion and creates outward fusion

Describe what the Sun is like at the following location: surface

hot

True or false.  Every high-energy flare that erupts on the Sun will have a negative effect on Earth.

True

The Sun and the solar system were formed from a swirling cloud of ___________ and _____________.

Interstellar gas and dust

What is maria?

smooth, flat, dark area on the Moon

What is the determining factor for a star’s fate?

Mass

Solar eclipses last this long

minutes

Planet with polar ice caps

Mars

Unit of distance used to measure the distance between stars

lightyears

What can be used to tell time at night?

Big Dipper

A satellite that astronomers can live on

International Space Station

How astronomers believe that the universe began

Big Bang

Graph used to classify stars

HR diagram

Evidence that the universe is expanding

Red Flight

Where is a star born?

nebula

The color of cool stars

Red

High concentration of galaxy clusters

superclusters

Possible candidates for dark matter

matter

Reason for continuous expansion of the universe

Dark energy

The closest star to the sun

alpha centauri

the ultimate fate of the Sun

White Dwarf

The ultimate fate if massive stars

Black holes

Radio waves to gamma rays

electromagnetic spectrum

Satelite that provides images of distant galaxies

hubble

The color of the hottest stars

blue

Stars that are close to celestial poles

circumpolar

Part of the comet that is vaporized by the Sun

Coma

Familiar band of constellations that the Sun, Moon, and planets pass through

Zodiac