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Qualities of a Planet
A planet is spherical, has enough mass and gravitational force to be round, orbits a star, and has cleared its orbit of space debris.
Qualities of moons
Natural satellites of planets.
Qualities of a Dwarf Planet
Similar to planets but smaller, almost spherical but lacking orbital dominance (clearing other objects out an orbital path via gravity)
Qualities of an Exoplanet
A planet outside our direct solar system
Qualities of a Rogue Planet
A planet that wanders freely through space without orbiting a star
Pluto
Icy former “planet” in our solar system now classified as a dwarf planet due to small size
Europa
One of Jupiter’s moons with a water-ice surface that could be potentially harboring extraterrestrial life
Luna
The formal name for our moon
Proxima B
A planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun only 4 light years away
Laniakea
Hawaiian for “immeasurable heaven,” The supercluster we belong to, contains the Milky Way and roughly 100,000 other galaxies
Sirius
the brightest star visible from Earth
Galaxy Cluster
A large group of galaxies held together by gravity
Supercluster
The largest known structure in the universe, a massive grouping that contains smaller galaxy clusters
Qualities of a solar system
All celestial bodies under the gravitational influence of a star
The Milky Way
The spiral galaxy we are a part of
The Local Group
The collection of neighboring galaxies (Galaxy Cluster) we are a part of
AZOPHI
Often known as the 'Father of Astronomy' lived in Persia in the 900s AD and first identified objects beyond our own galaxy
Copernicus
proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system.
Galileo Galilei
Worked to promote the heliocentric solar system by using the scientific method.
Tycho Brahe
Known for data collection and accurate observations of planets
Johannes Kepler
Formulated the Laws of Planetary Motion using Tycho’s data
Isaac Newton
formulated the Laws of Motion and the concept of gravitation
Hubble
identified that the universe is expanding, establishing the field of extragalactic astronomy
Drake
Created a formula used to calculate the probability of intelligent life existing elsewhere in the universe
Carl Sagan
An astronomer known for making astronomy accessible to the general public through his work, 'Cosmos'.
Stephen Hawking
A modern cosmologist who explored concepts of space-time and solved the theory for black holes
7.8 BYA
Origin of the Universe
4.5 BYA
Origin of Earth
3.8 BYA
Origin of Life on Earth
300,000 YA
Origin of Human Life on Earth
An Astronomical Unit (AU)
the average distance between the Earth and the Sun called
Light Year (ly)
The distance light travels in a year, approximately 63,000 AU
Parsec
A distance measurement in astronomy that uses Earth as an angular reference point, equivalent to about 3.26 light years.
Benjamin Banneker
Free black man from the 1700s who wrote an almanac, Practically examined astronomical phenomena and their correlation to everyday life
Hypatia
Lived in Alexandria, Egypt in the late 300s CE as a leading mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer of her time
