Solar System Astronomy Exam Review

These flashcards encompass key vocabulary and concepts from the Solar System Astronomy lecture notes, useful for exam preparation.

TopHat Test

An online platform used for conducting exams without requiring a webcam.

Scientific Notation

A mathematical expression to represent numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10.

Astronomical Unit (AU)

A unit of measurement equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, approximately 93 million miles.

Light Year

A unit of distance that light travels in one year, approximately 5.88 trillion miles.

Electromagnetic Radiation (EM)

A form of energy that travels through space and includes visible light, radio waves, X-rays, and more.

Doppler Effect

The change in frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to an observer moving relative to the wave source.

Ellipses

Geometric shapes that represent the orbits of planets, with two focal points.

Greenhouse Effect

The trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the presence of gases that absorb and emit radiation.

Proton-Proton Chain

A series of nuclear reactions by which hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium, releasing energy in the process.

Solar Nebula Theory

A model explaining the formation of the solar system from a rotating cloud of gas and dust.

Precession

The gradual shift in the orientation of an astronomical body’s rotational axis, often affecting the position of stars over time.