Astronomy Intro Flashcards

Qualities of 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

13.8 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