AST-2

Question 1

What is NASA doing to protect us from asteroid impacts?

Answer 1

Finding, Redirecting, Tracking, Studying, and Crashing into asteroids

Question 2

transit method

Answer 2

changes in a star’s brightness caused by a planet blocking some of the star’s light

Get orbital period, distance, and planet radius, help get the density (when combined with radial/astrometric method)

Question 3

Radial Velocity

Answer 3

an exoplanet detection method that measures changes in a star’s velocity as it orbits a common center of mass with one or more planets

Get orbital period, distance, eccentricity, and mass, help get density (when combined with transit method)

Question 4

Astromeric

Answer 4

The periodic motion of a star relative to other stars as the planet’s gravity pulls on the star

Question 5

Direct imaging

Answer 5

Have to block light from central star

Question 6

Microlensing, pulsar timing (know they exist)

Question 7

primordial soup

Answer 7

a solution rich in organic compounds in the primitive oceans of the earth, from which life is hypothesized to have originated.

Question 8

tree of life

Answer 8

the phylogenetic tree that includes all organisms

Question 9

the drake equation

Answer 9

an equation that lays out the factors that play a role in determining the number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy

Question 10

meteor

Answer 10

A bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere

Question 11

meteoroid

Answer 11

A chunk of rock or dust in space

Question 12

meteorite

Answer 12

A meteoroid that has hit earth’s surface.

Question 13

comet

Answer 13

A ball of frozen dust and rock that orbits the sun and has a tail that glows

Question 14

asteroid

Answer 14

a small rocky body orbiting the sun