Class Notes- Unit 1-2 Flashcards
(168 cards)
1
Q
What is absolute time?
A
when an event occurred…its age, measured backwards from the present.
2
Q
What is the range of the age of rocks on Earth?
A
from 0 years old (deposited today) to 4.1 billion years old.
3
Q
How old is the earth?
A
about 4.57 billion years old
4
Q
What is relative time?
A
the sequence of events, regardless of knowing the actual age.
5
Q
What 4 things is relative time used for?
A
1) stratigraphic succession…superposition
2) cross-cutting structures
3) deformation
4) fossil succession
6
Q
What are the 4 ways we can write the Earth’s age?
A
1) 4.57 billion
2) 4.57 x 10^9
3) 4.57 Ga
4) 5, 470 Ma
7
Q
How far is the Earth from the sun?
A
150 million km OR Sun to Earth ~ 150 x 10^6 km
8
Q
What does AU stand for?
A
Astronomical units
9
Q
How far is the Sun to Earth measured with AU?
A
1 AU
10
Q
What is the distance from Mars to Sol measured with AU?
A
1.5 AU
11
Q
What is the distance from Jupiter to the Sun measured with AU?
A
5.2 AU
12
Q
What are light years
A
The distance travelled by light in one Earth year of 365 1/4 days, in a vacuum.
13
Q
What is the distance travelled in a years with light years?
A
= 9.46 trillion km
= 9.46 x 10^12 km
14
Q
How fast does light travel?
A
300 million meters per second OR 300 x 10^6 m/s OR 300 x 10^3 km/s
15
Q
How far apart is the sun and earth measured in light years?
A
8 min
16
Q
What is the next closest galaxy to the Milky Way galaxy?
A
Andromeda Galaxy
17
Q
How long does it take for us to see light from Andromeda Galaxy?
A
light left that galaxy at ~ 2.5 x 10^6 ly (2.5 million years ago)
18
Q
How many full bodied planets are there?
A
8
19
Q
How many planets have moons?
A
7
20
Q
How much of the material that makes up the solar system is in the sun?
A
greater than 99%
21
Q
How much material that makes up Jupiter of the less than 1% not in the sun?
A
about 99% of the remaining less than 1% that is not in the sun.
22
Q
What takes up the less than 1% of the stuff not in Jupiter or the sun of our solar system?
A
the other planets
23
Q
What is our universe composed of?
A
galaxies
24
Q
How many galaxies is there estimated to be in our universe?
A
1 trillion
25
What is each galaxy composed of?
stars
26
What is the average amount of stars per galaxy?
300 billion
27
What are nebulae?
clusters in or galaxy composed of interstellar gas and dust
28
What is a supernova?
the result of giant stars having exploded
29
What type of galaxy is the Milky Way galaxy?
a spiral galaxy
30
How many exoplanets have been discovered?
1000 discovered
| 2000 probably
31
Do galaxies tighten or loosen with time?
tighten with time
32
What do galaxies do in the expanding universe?
separate from one another.
33
How far back did the galaxies converge at a common point?
they find that the galaxies converge at a common point 13.7 billions years ago
34
What type of factories are our stars?
thermo-nuclear factories
35
What do thermonuclear factories (our stars) do?
they manufacture energy
36
What is the explosion of stars (thermo-nuclear factories) due to?
the energy release by nuclear fusion.
37
Stars come in a range of___and___
size and mass
38
Is our sun slightly larger and heavier or smaller and lighter than the average star?
larger
39
Solar___is important to the job of being an element factory?
mass
40
What does solar mass equal?
1
41
What is the solar mass of our sun?
SM1
42
What is the solar mass of the heaviest stars?
~ SM100 or more
43
Largest stars have a volume of or a___times SOL
a million times and over 100 times the mass
44
What is the basic unit of the entire universe?
stars
45
What does our solar system orbit?
stars
46
What are the two ways to talk about stars?
diameter and mass
47
What is the range of solar masses?
1/10M to 1M to 10M to 100M
48
True or False: Stars and dynamic, ever changing and the size can vary with time.
True
49
What are stars?
Large bodies of mostly 'plasma' and free electors (thermo-nuclear factories)
50
What are the features of stars that are easily seen or measured?
- mass
- size
- colour
- temperature
51
What controls a star?
its mass
52
What colour are cold stars? Hot stars?
cold=red
| hot=blue
53
How do stars evolve?
form and later decay (explode)
54
What is a supernova?
Gravity holds particles back because they are exploding all the time. When gravity can't hold it back, it dies.
-It is the violent, explosive death of a star.
55
What are stars made out of?
Mostly H (75% H, 25% HE)
56
Are all stars composed equally?
no
57
What are the two dominant forces in our universe?
gravity and thermo-nuclear energy
58
What type of force is gravity?
an attractive force
59
What is the main force of accretion?
gravity
60
What type of force is thermo-nuclear energy?
a repulsive force
61
True or False: thermo-nuclear energy can be fission or fusion?
true
62
___is important for star evolution (fission or fusion)
fusion
63
What are the two requirements for star evolution?
pressure (gravity) and high temperature.
64
What is nuclear fusion with stars?
Atomic nuclei fuse together to form new elements--heavier elements.
65
What goes on inside stars and produces new elements?
Nuclear fusion
66
Stars are___nuclear-factory.
thermo
67
What happens when a stars explodes?
Become a supernova and remnant core, these elements are scattered through a considerable volume of space.
68
How does a small star become a 'dead star'?
Small stars eventually blow off H, possibly He shells, leaving a core of C--dead star.
69
What leads to the explosion of a large star?
Large stars explode their outer shells and contract their cores. Atoms heavier than Fe are formed at this stage. Supernova and small dead core.
70
What elements are formed by nuclear fusion after a star accrete ( both small star and large star)?
Small star H --> He --> C
| Large star H --> He --> C --> Fe
71
What causes more fusion and all the rest of the heavy elements to be formed? (still talking about stars)
The supernova explosion
72
Stars are element ___.
Factories
73
What is stardust?
The exploded dust and gas that New stars are lear created.
74
Our Universe (and our galaxy) contains___stars, ___stars, and ___stars. Plus lots of interstellar___clouds.
- old
- newer
- dead
- dust
75
What are active stars?
Balancing forces of nuclear explosion (H bomb) and gravity.
76
What are/leads to (a) dead star(s)?
Nuclear explosion and core collapse results in loss of outer shells, leaving smaller dead star--or destruction of entire star and a black hole. Interstellar dust (stardust).
77
What are the two dominant forces in our universe?
1) Gravity
| 2) Thermo-nuclear energy
78
What type of force is gravity?
Attractive force
79
Gravity leads to___
accretion
80
What type of force is thermo-nuclear energy?
repulsive forse
81
What are the 2 parts of the nebular hypothesis?
1. Condensation (gas cools to dust)
| 2. Accretion begins (of dust)
82
When did condensation begin with the nebular hypothesis?
< 8 Ga
83
When did accretion begin with the nebular hypothesis?
~ 4.7 Ga
84
When did the Nebular Hypothesis end?
mostly ends ~ 4.55 Ga
85
When were the planets of our solar system complete?
~ 4. 57 Ga
86
What is the photo-planetary disk?
The disk accretes into planets
87
What are the two forces at play in the nebular hypothesis specifically with the formation of planets in the proto-planetary disk?
centrifugal force (away from sun) vs. gravity (towards sun)
88
What are the 4 types of Galaxies?
1) Globular
2) Elliptical
3) Spiral
4) Barred Spiral
89
Where in the MWG is our solar system located? Also, how far away (in ly) is our galaxy from the galactic core?
Our solar system is mid-way between the two main spiral arms about half way to the end of the galaxy...about 25 000 light years from the centre of the galactic core.
90
What is the diameter of the disk of the galaxy?
About 1000 000 ly
91
What is a light year? (distance in km 2 ways as well)?
The distance traveled by the speed of light in a vacuum in an Earth year. This is about 10 trillion km or 1 x 10^13 km
92
What is a Galactic Year (cosmic year)?
The time in Earth years for our solar system to rotate once about the centre of the MWG
93
How many years is a Galactic Year?
250 million years
94
How old is the Earth in both Earth years and in Galactic years?
Earth years: 4.55 billion years old
| Galactic Years: 20.5 galactic years old
95
Our North pole point approx. ___from the galactic centre and our South pole more-or-less___the centre.
- away
| - towards
96
Galaxies are___in a complex manner.
clustered
97
Groups with__of galaxies
| Clusters with up to___of galaxies
- 10s
| - 1000s
98
What are superclusters?
Larger groupings of clusters
99
What is the relationship between galaxy clusters and the expanding universe?
- *Groups and clusters are gravitationaly bound and are not expanding.
- They stay put in the expanding universe.
- Galaxies move with respect to each other...not expanding.
100
What happens when atoms vibrate?
They generate heat
101
What makes atoms vibrate
heat
102
What happens if there is no heat with an atom?
If there isn heat there is no vibration and visa versa.
103
What is absolute zero (0 K or -273 C)
When there is no heat in an atom
104
What will break some chemical bonds and cause solids to become liquids? What continues to happen?
With increasing temperature, increasing vibration can break some chemical bonds and solids will become liquids. With more heat and increasing vibration, more bonds break and liquids become gases.
105
What is Red shifted?
Light from the bast majority of distant galaxies is red shifted.
106
What can we calculate from the red shift?
velocity of movement away from Earth. Then 'back calculate' to determine when everything was together at one location
107
When was everything together at one location?
13.8 Ga
108
What happen at 13.8 Ga
Expansion of the universe began--matter as we know it began--the universe began.
109
What is the expansion of the universe known as?
This point--the beginning is called the Big Bang.
110
What was the initial temperature of the Big Bang?
billions of degrees celsius
111
What happened one second after big bang expansion?
protons, neutrons, and electrons have formed.
112
What happened ten minutes after the Big Bang?
the universe's complete supply of H has formed, and some of the He and a little Li; no other elements yet
113
How long after the Big Bang did the first stars begin to form?
380 thousand years
114
How long after the Big Bang did galaxies begin to form?
1 billion years
115
When did most of the spiral galaxies form?
after about 7 billion years
116
How old is the MWG?
about 7 Ga
117
What was significant about the first stars?
they would have been very big--bigger than current stars and made out of only H and He
118
The big bang was___Ga
13.8
119
Our solar system condensed/accreted by____.
4.55 x 10^9 years ago
120
When did the supernova from which our solar system was derived occur?
about 7 x 10^9 years ago
121
What are planets, asteroids, and comets?
merely left-over debris that missed getting accreted to their star
122
How much of the mass of our solar system is in the sun?
99.86%
123
How much of the mass of our solar system is in Jupiter?
0.1%
124
What are the rocky planets?
mercury
venus
earth
mars
125
What are the gas giants?
jupiter
saturn
uranus
neptune
126
What is the AU of Earth?
1
127
What is the AU of the Asteroid Belt?
2.5 AU
128
What is the AU of Neptune?
30 AU
129
What is the average density of the rocky planets?
~5
130
What is the average density of the gas giants?
~ 1.5
131
What is the average density of the dwarf planets and comets in the Kuiper Belt?
~2-3
132
What is density controlled by?
What elements are made of and how closely pack the atoms are.
133
What is the source of heat for atmosphere and surface water of earth?
sunlight
134
What is the source of heat for the solid earth and ground water?
internal
135
Where can comets be found?
Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud
136
What is the end of the Universe in AU?
After the Oort Cloud at 50 000 AU
137
What indicates the end of the universe?
Limit of the sun's gravitational pull
138
Where are dwarf planets found?
The asteroid belt and Kuiper Belt.
139
What is the diameter (in km), the density (g/cm3), and the escape velocity (km/sec) of the Earth?
12 700 km
5. 52 g/cm3
11. 0 km / 150 sec
140
What is the structure of planets that have a diameter of ~200-4000 km?
Rock
141
What are the planets and in space that are ~200-4000 km?
Mercury, and moons of Rock planets, and small moons of Giant planets and dwarf planets.
142
What is the structure of planets and moons that have a diameter of ~400-13 000?
Rock and an Atmosphere or ice
143
What are the moons and planets that have a diameter of ~4000-13 000?
Venus, Earth, Mars, large moons of Giant planets.
144
What is the structure of rocks and moons that have a diameter of ~40 000-140 000 km?
Core: unknown but it is assumed to be rocky
| Liquid gas
145
What are the planets that have a diameter of ~40 000-140 000?
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
146
What are the two types of meteors?
1. Asteroid
| 2. Comets
147
Can a meteorite form from a comet?
no
148
Are meteorites possible from an asteroid?
yes
149
What is the atmosphere of the fas giants? What do Saturn and Jupiter have, additionally?
All four: CH4 (methane), H, He
| Jupiter and Saturn: Ammonia as well-NH3
150
What is the atmosphere of Earth?
O- 80%
N- 20%
H2O & CO2- 1%
151
What is the atmosphere of venus?
H2O, CO2, SO2, H2SO4
152
What is the atmosphere of Mars?
H2O, CO2
153
Which planet is surrounded by sulphuric acid?
Venus
154
What is a meteoroid ablation?
Melting on the surface and then shedding the melt, producing a "smoke" trail. Fusion crust.
155
What is the density of the Earth?
5.52
156
What is the density of common continental crustal rock?
2.7
157
What is the density of common oceanic crustal rock?
3
158
What is the density of iron?
7.8
159
What is the density gold?
20
160
What is the density of diamond?
3.5
161
What is the density of limestone?
2.5
162
What is specific gravity?
Is a ration of the densities of two different matters, one of which is usually water.
Specific gravity = D (rock) / D (water)
163
Since the density of water (by definition) is 1, the numbers for specific gravity are the same as the___numbers.
density
164
What is the speed of sound at sea level?
1000 ft/sec = 1 km/s = 340 m/s
165
What is the velocity of Earth's spin at a quarter (night and day)?
0.5 km/s (@ equator)
166
What is the velocity of Earth's revolution around Sol?
30 km/s
167
What is the velocity of a cosmic year revolution speed?
200 km/s
168
Intergalactic velocities are highly variable. Near the MWG a few___/km/s.
100s
