Sun and Stars

Question 1

How many days does it take for the Earth to rotate around the sun?

Answer 1

25 days

Question 2

How far away is the sun?

Answer 2

93 million miles

Question 3

How many years has the sun burned? And how much longer does it have?

Answer 3

5 billion years, and has another billion to live

Question 4

How long does it take sunlight to reach the Earth?

Answer 4

8 minutes

Question 5

Core?

Answer 5

Center, fusion occurs here, most dense, temp is 15 million degrees

Question 6

Chromosphere?

Answer 6

idle layer of the suns atmosphere

Question 7

Photosphere?

Answer 7

surface of the sun, temp is 6000c, layer that we see

Question 8

Crona?

Answer 8

outermost layer of the suns atmosphere, appears a solar eclipse

Question 9

Prominces?

Answer 9

loops of gas that forms arches or loops?

Question 10

Flares?

Answer 10

bursts of light like a candle flame

Question 11

Solar Wind?

Answer 11

high energy particles that effects radio transmitions and causes auroras

Question 12

Sunspot?

Answer 12

dark, cool spots on the suns’ surface located near the equator, 11 year cycles

Question 13

How close is the closest star to the earth, and what is it?

Answer 13

The Sun, 91 million miles away

Question 14

What is the Trinary Star System, and how far away is it?

Answer 14

It is the second closest star to the earth; Alpha, Beta, and Promixa Centauri; they are 26 million miles away and it would take an airplane 5 million years to get there

Question 15

Light Year?

Answer 15

distance a beam of light will travel in a years’ time; 6 trillion miles

Question 16

Speed of Light?

Answer 16

A beam of light will travel 186,000 miles per second

Question 17

How long would it take for light to travel from Alpha Centuari to Earth?

Answer 17

4.2 lightyears

Question 18

Constellations?

Answer 18

groups of stars that make a picture

Question 19

Polaris?

Answer 19

North star, it is 700 light years away. Its angle above the horizon is the same as the latitude. It is found very near the constellation the little dipper. It is directly in line with Earths north pole and ever changes location, so it is used for navigation

Question 20

How do you find the North star?

Answer 20

you find the constellation the Big Dipper and locate the “pointer stars” you then follow them to the very next star, and if it is dim then it is Polaris (North Star)

Question 21

What are circumpolar constellation?

Answer 21

constellations that spin around the North Star and are visible every night of the year.

Question 22

Name the 5 circumpolar constellations

Answer 22

• draco: the dragon
• ursa major: big bear (big dipper)
• ursa minor: little bear (little dipper)
• cepheus: king
• cassiopeia: queen

Question 23

What is Orion?

Answer 23

It is a constellation that is very visible in the winter sky in North America, and it consists of two huge stars: Betelgeuse (red), Rigel (blue). He is known as the hunter, and also has a dog companion on the bottom left called Canius Major.

Question 24

Nova?

Answer 24

a star exploding like striking a match, instant flare up, then die down.

Question 25

Supernova?

Answer 25

star is completely blown apart

Question 26

Star cluster

Answer 26

100s of stars or less

Question 27

Nebula

Answer 27

cloud of gas and dust where stars are born or where a star has died

Question 28

Galaxies

Answer 28

billions of stars, made of gas and dust

Question 29

Name the four types of galaxies

Answer 29

- elliptical - barred - spiral: ex. the milky way; pinwheel, whirlpool - irregular: ex.large and small magellanic clouds

Question 30

Big Bang Theory

Answer 30

the idea that universe began to expand with an explosion of concentrated matter and energy and has been expanding ever since; evidence for this was discovered by Edwin Hubble who in 1929 found redshifts in galaxies; all galaxies in the universe seem to be moving away from a central location

Question 31

Red Shift

Answer 31

wavelenghs get longer as an object moves away from you

Question 32

Blue Shift

Answer 32

wavelenghs get shorter as an object moves torward you

Question 33

Open Universe theory

Answer 33

all energy/ matter will continue to expand until all energy is used up and burns out

Question 34

Close Universe Theory

Answer 34

“rubber band” matter will expand, reach a limit, and gravity will pull everything back together-another big bang???

Question 35

How many groups of stars are there, and how are they organized

Answer 35

5; size

Question 36

What are neutron stars?

Answer 36

- the smallest - measures about 16 km diameter - radio waves

Question 37

What are white dwarfs?

Answer 37

- smaller in diameter than the earth, about the size of Asia - dim - moderate temperature

Question 38

What are medium- sized stars of main- sequence stars?

Answer 38

- like our sun - 90% of all stars - if mass is small, takes 100 billion years to die into white dwarf - in mass is average, takes 10 billion years to die into a white dwarf - if large mass, takes only a few billion years to die into a white dwarf - high temperature stars are brighter, lower temperature stars are dimmer - comes in all colors depending on temp

Question 39

What are Giant Stars

Answer 39

- usally red - 10 to 100 times larger than our sun - cool but bright

Question 40

What are Super giant Stars?

Answer 40

- comes in all colors and temperatures - 1000 times larger than our sun - very bright

Question 41

List the 5 types of stars in order from smallest to largest

Answer 41

neutron stars, white dwarfs, medium- sized stars or main- sequence stars, giant stars, and super giant stars

Question 42

what is apparent magnitude?

Answer 42

Apparent Magnitude is the star's brightness as it appears from earth.

Question 43

what is absolute magnitude?

Answer 43

absolute magnitude is the apparent brightness of a star if viewed from a distance

Question 44

what is the sun?

Answer 44

main sequence

Question 45

what galaxy do we live in?

Answer 45

Milkyway