Earth Science Vocabulary Flashcards: Jumbled Words, Big Bang Epochs, Redshift, and Stellar Evolution

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering jumbled astronomy terms, Big Bang epochs, expansion concepts, redshift, and key stellar-evolution stages based on the lecture notes.

GALAXY

A vast system containing billions of stars, along with gas and dust, bound together by gravity.

STARS

Luminous celestial bodies powered by nuclear fusion in their cores, emitting light and heat.

PLANETS

Celestial bodies that orbit a star, are large enough for gravity to shape them, and do not generate their own light.

SPACE

The boundless 3-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur; the cosmos beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

TIME

A dimension in which events occur in sequence from past to future.

PLANCK EPOCH

The earliest period in the Big Bang timeline, governed by quantum gravity; current physics cannot fully describe it.

GRAND UNIFIED EPOCH

An early epoch when the fundamental forces (including the strong force) are thought to be unified; the strong force separates during this era.

ELECTROWEAK EPOCH

Epoch after the Grand Unified Epoch when the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces separate.

QUARK EPOCH

Epoch when quarks exist freely before combining into hadrons.

HADRON EPOCH

Epoch when quarks combine to form hadrons, such as protons and neutrons.

LEPTON EPOCH

Epoch dominated by leptons; as the universe cools, leptons and anti-leptons annihilate.

NUCLEAR EPOCH

Period of Big Bang nucleosynthesis when light nuclei (like hydrogen and helium) form.

ATOMIC EPOCH

Era when electrons combined with nuclei to form neutral atoms (recombination).

INFLATIONARY EPOCH

Brief, exponential expansion of space in the early universe.

GALACTIC EPOCH

Era when galaxies begin forming and assembling.

STELLAR EPOCH

Era when stars form and evolve, leading to various stellar life cycles.

PROTONS

Positively charged baryons found in atomic nuclei; essential building blocks of atoms.

NEUTRONS

Electrically neutral baryons found in atomic nuclei; together with protons form most nuclei.

HYDROGEN ATOM

The first neutral atom, consisting of a single proton nucleus with one orbiting electron.

HELIUM ATOM

Second most abundant neutral atom; nucleus has two protons and two neutrons, with two electrons.

LEPTONS

Light elementary particles (e.g., electrons, muons, neutrinos) that do not participate in strong interactions.

QUARKS

Fundamental constituents of matter that combine to form hadrons (such as protons and neutrons).

REDSHIFT

Shift of spectral lines toward longer wavelengths, indicating an object moving away from the observer.

BLUE SHIFT

Shift of spectral lines toward shorter wavelengths, indicating an object moving toward the observer.

EXPANDING UNIVERSE

The observation that galaxies are moving away from each other, making space itself grow larger over time.

BIG BANG

The event marking the origin of the universe's expansion, from a hot, dense state, about 13.7 billion years ago.

AGE OF THE UNIVERSE

Estimated time since the Big Bang, about 13.7 billion years.

STELLAR NEBULA

A cloud of gas and dust where stars begin to form.

AVERAGE STAR

A star in the main sequence phase that fuses hydrogen in its core (e.g., Sun-like stars).

RED GIANT

A late stage in stellar evolution where the star expands and cools after exhausting core hydrogen.

PLANETARY NEBULA

An expanding shell of ionized gas ejected from a red giant star.

WHITE DWARF

A dense, hot remnant of a low- to medium-mass star after shedding outer layers.

NEUTRON STAR

A extremely dense stellar remnant formed after a supernova of a massive star.

MASSIVE STAR

A high-mass star that ends its life in a supernova, often leaving neutron star or black hole remnants.

RED SUPERGIANT

A very large, cool star stage preceding a possible supernova in massive stars.

SUPERNOVA

The explosive death of a massive star, releasing vast amounts of energy.

BLACK HOLE

A region of space with gravity so strong that nothing can escape from it, not even light.