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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
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