Final (Comprehensive) Flashcards
(628 cards)
What is our cosmic address?
Earth, solar system, Milky Way Galaxy, local group, local supercluster, Universe
The start of the Universe’s expansion is commonly called ___ ___ ____.
The Big Bang
The farther away we look in the ____, the farther back we look in ____.
distance; time
Lightyears
The distance light can travel in one year
According to the Voyage Model, if the Sun was a grapefruit, the Earth would be a ____ ______. Jupiter would be a _____.
pen’s ballpoint; marble
The nearest star to the Sun is __ light years away.
4
If a light year is 1 mm, the Milky Way is the length of a _____ _____.
football field
If the time span between the Big Bang and now were a calendar, when would humans be?
Last 30 seconds of December 31
Earth’s daily rotation is…
how it spins on its axis
Earth’s orbit around the Sun is a _____.
revolution
Earth’s average orbital distance is equal to
1 au (astronomical unit)
1 au =
150 million km
Earth’s orbital path defines a flat plane called an ____ ____.
ecliptic plane
Does the solar system move in relation to other stars?
Yes
How fast does the solar system move in relation to other stars?
70,000 km per hour40,000 mph
Virtually, every galaxy outside the Local Group is moving ____ us.
away from
Who developed the first scientific model for astronomy?
Ancient Greeks
All scientific models are subject to being _____.
disproved
Always change the ____ rather than the ____.
model; data
A scientific model requires what 3 things?
Geometry, Physics, Aesthetics
What are the 5 steps of a scientific model?
“Real World” -> observe nature -> Model (geometry, physics, aesthetics) -> comparative observations -> revise model to match observations
Does a scientific model require accuracy to qualify as a model?
No
What type of universe did Ptolemy believe in?
Ptolemaic System: geocentric
Did the Ptolemaic System qualify as a scientific model? Was it accurate?
Yes; No