Astronomy Flashcards
(20 cards)
Ptolemy
Believed that the Earth was the center of the universe, and believed that the planets and the sun revolved around it.
Copernicus
Believed the Sun was the center of the universe and the planets revolved around it.
Tycho Brahe
Recorded precise observations of the planets and stars.
Johannes Kelper
Used Brahe’s work to find out that the planets revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits.
Galileo
Used a telescope to make important discoveries about the moon and the Sun.
Isaac Newton
Discovered that all objects in the universe attract each other through gravitational forces.
Edwin Hubble
Proved other galaxies exist beyond the Milky Way.
Ursa Major
A constellation known as the Great Bear in the northern sky.
Ursa Minor
Known as Little Dipper or Little Bear, a constellation located near the celestial pole in the northern sky.
Orion
A prominent constellation called The Hunter, and easily recognized by the 3 bright stars forming the belt.
Canis Major
A constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere known as Greater Dog.
Cassiopeia
A prominent constellation in the northern sky, recognized as an M or a W.
Red Giant
Large reddish star late in its life cycle.
White Dwarf
A small, hot, dim star that is the leftover center of an old star.
Main Sequence
The location on the H-R diagram where most stars lie.
Supernova
A gigantic explosion in which a massive star collapses and throws its outer layers into space.
Black Hole
An object so massive and dense that even light cannot escape its gravity.
Parallax
An apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from different locations.
Light-Year
The distance that light travels in one year; about 9.46 trillion kilometers.
Polaris
The North Star
