Beyond Solar System Flashcards
(21 cards)
Constellation
A constellation is a recognizable pattern of stars in the night sky
Binary Star
A system of two stars in which one star revolves around the other or both revolve around a common center.
Light-Year
A light-year is a unit of measurement for distance in astronomy, specifically, it’s the distance that light travels in one year.
Apparent Magnitude
Apparent magnitude is a measure of how bright a celestial object (like a star or planet) appears to an observer on Earth.
Absolute Magnitude
Absolute magnitude in astronomy is a measure of a celestial object’s true brightness, representing how bright it would appear if it were located at a standard distance of 10 parsecs from Earth.
Main-Sequence Star
A main sequence star is a star that’s in the stable, longest phase of its life, where it’s fusing hydrogen into helium in its core.
Red Giant
A red giant is a star in its later life cycle, characterized by a large size and reddish color.
Supergiant
A supergiant star is an extremely large and luminous star, significantly bigger and brighter than even a giant star
Cepheid Variable
A Cepheid variable star is a type of pulsating star that brightens and dims periodically.
Nova
A nova is a stellar explosion where a star suddenly increases dramatically in brightness, becoming much brighter than usual, before gradually fading back to its original state.
Nebula
A nebula is a large cloud of dust and gas, primarily hydrogen, located in space.
Protostar
A protostar is a young, early stage star still gathering mass from its surrounding cloud of gas and dust, before it becomes a full-fledged star.
Supernova
A supernova is a massive explosion of a star, usually occurring at the end of its life, where it briefly shines brighter than an entire galaxy.
White Dwarf
A white dwarf is the dense, hot core of a star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel and expelled its outer layers, forming a planetary nebula.
Neutron Star
A neutron star is a small, extremely dense star composed primarily of neutrons, formed from the collapsed core of a massive supernova.
Pulsar
A pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star that emits beams of radiation, including radio waves, at regular intervals.
Black Hole
A black hole is a region in space with such strong gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape its pull.
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter.
Galaxy Cluster
A galaxy cluster is a large group of galaxies held together by gravity, containing anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies.
Hubble’s Law
Hubble’s Law, in a nutshell, states that galaxies are moving away from each other, and the farther apart they are, the faster they are receding.
Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory explains the universe’s origin, suggesting it began from an incredibly hot and dense state that expanded and continues to expand today.
