Celestial Mechanics Flashcards
(20 cards)
“Dirty Snowballs”. Provide the source material for annual meteor showers
Comets
Imaginary line. Where the sky meets land or sea.
Horizon
The mid-point between rising and setting
Meridian
Verb used to describe an object crossing the meridian
Transit
9.5 trillion km. The distance light can travel in a year
Light Year
The path the sun, and all planets travel through the sky
ecliptic
A group of stars which appear to be in the same area of sky
Asterism
Our nearest galactic neighbor. A collection of gases , dusts, and ~500 billion stars
Andromeda
Region of the Sky. There are 88.
Constellations
Celestial “longitude”. Measured in hours, minutes, and seconds of time.
Right Ascension
The mathematical representation of a compass heading. East = 90 degrees
Azimuth
Imaginary point directly above an observer
Zenith
Twelve constellations the sun passes through each year.
Zodiac
Star’s position relative to the celestial equator.
Declination
A luminous river of stars and glowing gas. Also the name of our galactic home.
Milky Way
Stars located at the zenith position above the north pole.
Polaris
Imaginary projection of the Earth’s equator projected into space.
Celestial Equator
Type of constellation which never sets in the northern hemisphere.
Circumpolar
The slow wobble of the Earth[s north pole with a period of 26,000 years
Precession
The magnitude of a star’s brightness measured from earth
Apparent
