Astronomy Flashcards
(20 cards)
Ptolemy
a Greco-Roman astronomer, mathematician, and geographer, was renowned for his geocentric model of the universe
Copernicus
a Polish astronomer and Renaissance polymath who is best known for his heliocentric theory
Brahe, Tycho
a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations.
Kepler, Johannes
a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music.
Galileo
a foundational figure in modern science, particularly for his contributions to physics, astronomy, and the development of the scientific method.
Newton, Isaac
proposed that all objects in the Universe pulled on each other through gravity.
Hubble, Edwin
known for determining that there are other galaxies in the Universe beyond the Milky Way, and for observing that the universe is expanding at a constant rate.
Ursa major
a large constellation in the northern sky, also known as the Great Bear or Big Dipper.
Ursa minor
a circumpolar constellation, meaning it’s visible all year round in the northern hemisphere.
Canis major
a southern constellation, Latin for “Great Dog,” often depicted as Orion’s hunting dog.
Cassiopeia
a northern group of stars between Andromeda and Cepheus.
Red giant
a massive star in a late stage of its evolution, characterized by its large size, low temperature, and reddish appearance.
White dwarf
the stellar core left behind after a dying star has exhausted its nuclear fuel and expelled its outer layers to form a planetary nebula.
Main-sequence
stars that are in the most stable and longest part of their life cycles.
Supernova
the biggest explosion that humans have ever seen.
Black hole
a region of spacetime with such strong gravity that nothing, including light, can escape it.
Parallax
the apparent shift in position of a nearby object against a distant background when viewed from different locations.
Light- year
the distance light travels in one Earth year
Polaris
he brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor
