space, astronomy 🪐

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photosphere

LAYERS OF THE SUN:

this is what we see

core

LAYERS OF THE SUN:

this is the site of nuclear fusion

solar wind

ACTIVITIES ON THE SUN:

stream of high-energy particles sent into space; causes the light displays aurora borealis (Northern lights) and aurora australis (Southern lights)

prominences

ACTIVITIES ON THE SUN:

storms that look like huge arches; may last several days

solar flares

ACTIVITIES ON THE SUN:

more intense than prominences; lasts only about 15 minutes

sunspots

ACTIVITIES ON THE SUN:

cool black storm areas

comets

CELESTIAL OBJECTS:

"dirty snowballs";

heads of ice and rock, tails of dust and gases forced from the head by solar radiation;

tail always points away from the Sun

meteoroid

CELESTIAL OBJECTS:

chunk of rock or metal smaller than an asteroid

meteor

CELESTIAL OBJECTS:

a meteroid as it burns up in the atmosphere;

“shooting star”

meteorite

CELESTIAL OBJECTS:

a meteoroid that does NOT completely burn up

Polaris

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

North Star & tip of Little Dipper's "handle";

can be used for navigation

Sirius

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

brightest star in the night sky & "Dog Star"

Ursa Major

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

Big Bear; contains the Big Dipper;

circumpolar constellation in the Northern Hemisphere (never set below the horizon & can be seen in the night sky all throughout the year)

Ursa Minor

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

Little Bear & contains the Little Dipper;

has Polaris;

in the Northern hemisphere

Canis Major

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

Big Dog; contains Sirius

Canis Minor

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

Little dog (one of Orion’s hunting dogs);

known for its two brightest stars, Procyon and Gomeisa

Orion

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

The Hunter;

visible during winter in the northern hemisphere;

contains Betelgeuse & Rigel

Alpha Centauri

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

closest star to Earth that is visible in the night sky

Proxima Centauri

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

closest star to Earth but is too small to be visible in the night sky;

red dwarf star (most common)

Pegasus

COMMON STARS & CONSTELLATIONS:

The Winged Horse

light year

OTHER TERMS:

the distance that light travels in one year;

light travels through space at 300 000 km/s & 9.46 trillion kms per year

Milky Way

OTHER TERMS:

a large barred spiral galaxy;

where the solar system is located

supernova

OTHER TERMS:

the explosion of a big star

black hole

OTHER TERMS:

remains of a supernova explosion with very strong gravity from which nothing can escape

Andromeda

OTHER TERMS:

a barred spiral galaxy & is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way