Astronomy

Question 1

Who made the first telescope?

Answer 1

Hans Lippershey

Question 2

Who improved the first telescope?

Answer 2

Galileo Galillei

Question 3

When was the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched?

Answer 3

December 2021

Question 4

Name the 3 main objects in the universe.

Answer 4

Stars, Nebula, Galaxy

Question 5

What are nebulae made out of?

Answer 5

75% Hydrogen, 24.something% Helium; and 0.1% oxygen, carbon, silicon, iron, and a bunch of other stuff idk.

Question 6

Why are Hydrogen and Helium the most abundant elements?

Answer 6

Hydrogen and Helium are light, they are the simplest elements. The universe was too hot in temperature to make anything else. The heavier elements came after 300,000 years when the universe cooled down.

Question 7

Belgian Catholic priest, physics professor, and astronomer.

Answer 7

Georges Lemaître

s at the end of George

Question 8

What is redshift?

Answer 8

When an object in space is moving away from us, the light it emits gets “stretched out” as it travels through space. This stretching of light wavelengths causes light to shift toward the red end of the light spectrum, which is why we call it redshift.

Question 9

Who were the astronomers that noticed galaxies were moving farther away from us?

Answer 9

Edwin Hubble and Carl Wirtz

it was mostly Edwin

Question 10

Explain cosmic background radiation.

Answer 10

It’s like the faint “background noise” of the universe (not really a noise.) CMB is made up of microwave photons at 2.7K (-270C.)

Discovery: The CMB was first observed in 1965 by astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. They found that no matter where they pointed their radio telescope, they detected a faint microwave “noise” coming from all directions.

Question 11

Who theorized that the nuclear reactions created during the big bang created all of the light elements?

Answer 11

George Gamow

no s at the end of George

Question 12

What is dark matter and why is it important?

Answer 12

What It Is: Dark matter is a copium type of matter that doesn’t give out, absorb, or interact with EM waves, like light. It doesn’t give off any detectable energy, so it’s “dark” in the way that we can’t observe it directly.

Why It’s Important: Dark matter is needed to explain the gravitational forces that hold galaxies and galaxy clusters together. Without dark matter, the visible matter (stars, gas, and dust) in galaxies wouldn’t provide enough gravitational attraction to account for the observed rotation and motions of galaxies. Dark matter is thought to make up a significant portion of the universe’s mass and plays a crucial role in shaping its large-scale structure.

Question 13

What is dark energy and why is it important?

Answer 13

What It Is: Dark energy is an even more mysterious concept. It’s a form of energy that is thought to permeate space and is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate.

Why It’s Important: Dark energy is needed to explain the observed accelerated expansion of the universe. In the early days of the Big Bang, scientists expected that the universe’s expansion would be slowing down due to gravitational attraction. However, observations of distant galaxies and cosmic microwave background radiation have shown that the universe’s expansion is speeding up. Dark energy is the leading explanation for this phenomenon.

Question 14

What is the percentage of ordinary matter, dark matter, and dark energy in the universe?

Answer 14

Ordinary Matter: 4%
Dark Matter:23%
Dark Energy: 73%

Question 15

How old is the universe?

Answer 15

13.8 billion years

Question 16

Give differences on Terrestrial and Jovian planets that are NOT their: size, composition, rings, moons, and surfaces.

Answer 16

Magnetic Field: Jovian planets have stronger magnetic fields around them compared to Terrestrial planets.

Density: Terrestrial planets are denser compared to Jovian planets.

Planet Cores:

• Terrestrial planet cores make up a relatively small amount of the planet’s total volume, also made up of iron and nickel.
• Jovian planet cores make up much more of the planet’s total volume, composed of rock and other heavier metals. The exact size and composition is still being studied.

Question 17

Direction of Revolution?

(Around the sun.)

Answer 17

Counter-clockwise

Question 18

Direction of Rotation?

(On its own axis.)

Answer 18

Counter-clockwise

(except for Venus and Uranus)

Question 19

Orbits generally inclined by no more than ______

Answer 19

3.4°

(except for Mercury, 7°)

Question 20

The Sun’s rotation axis has a tilt of ______

Answer 20

6°

Question 21

Who created the Nebular Hypothesis?

Answer 21

Pierre-Simon Marquis de Laplace

Extra unnecessary stuff: He published his version of the hypothesis in his work “Exposition du Système du Monde” (The Exposition of the System of the World) in 1796.