Lesson 15: Dark Energy

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to the topic of dark energy, astronomy, and cosmology from Unit 6.

Astrology

Belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between visible astronomical phenomena and events in the human world.

Astronomy

The natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth.

Astrophysics

The branch of astronomy dealing with the behavior, physical properties, and dynamic processes of celestial objects and phenomena.

Cosmology

The discipline that deals with the birth, growth, shape, size, and eventual fate of the universe.

Metaphysics

A branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world.

Astrodynamics

The application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft.

Astrochemistry

The study of the abundance and reactions of chemical elements and molecules in the universe, and their interaction with radiation.

Stellar Physics

Research concerning the formation, evolution, interior, and atmospheres of stars.

Dark Energy

A hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe.

Dark Matter

A hypothetical form of matter that interacts very weakly with electromagnetic radiation and most of whose particles move slowly compared to the speed of light.

Dark Flow

An astrophysical term describing a possible non-random component of the peculiar velocity of galaxy clusters.

Cold Dark Matter

Material composed of a special type of particles, which have the same mass as particles of ordinary matter but have opposite charge and quantum spin.

Antimatter

A hypothetical form of matter that has the same mass as regular matter but an opposite charge.