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Astronomy > Topic 11 > Flashcards

Topic 11 Flashcards

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1
Q

describe terrestrial planets

A

relatively small bodies of rock surrounding iron cores

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2
Q

describe gas giants

A

liquid interiors and substantial atmospheres of hydrogen and helium with traces of methane and ammonia

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3
Q

define dwarf planet

A

bodies which have sufficient mass to be spherical but lack the gravitational force needed to sweep their orbits clear of ither debris

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4
Q

where are most dwarf planets located in our SS

A

kuiper belt

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5
Q

give other features of gas giants

A

accompanied by complex ring systems and a large retinue of moons

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6
Q

what is the dwarf planets located in in asteroid belt called

A

ceres

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7
Q

name 3 SSSOs

A

asteroids, meteoroids, comets

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8
Q

where are most asteroids located

A

asteroid belt

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9
Q

what is the orbital period of short period comets

A

<200 years

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10
Q

what is the orbital period of long period comets

A

> 200 years

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11
Q

where do long period comets originate

A

oort cloud

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12
Q

where do short period comets originate

A

kuiper belt

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12
Q

define oort cloud

A

a spherical distribution of icy bodies about half way to nearest star

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13
Q

where do short period comets originate

A

kuiper belt

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14
Q

features of comet near sun

A
  1. comet
  2. ion tail
  3. dust tail
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15
Q

where do comets tails point

A

away from the sun

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16
Q

what are comets

A

ice and rock bodies
-nucleus is no larger than average asteroid

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17
Q

describe the orbit of comets

A

inclined
eccentric
-may be parabolic/open (do not return to same position again)

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18
Q
A
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19
Q

how can scientists deduce orbit of a comet

A

study its trajectory over a peiod of time

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20
Q

how is a comet’s dust tail produced

A

solar radition pressure that pushes particles out of the comet’s nucleus, these reflect sunlight , making the tail visible

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21
Q

how is a comet’s ion tail produced

A

consists of charged atoms that have been excited by particles in the solar wind and emit light by fluorescense when they de-excite

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22
Q

how far is kuiper belt from sun

A

100-1000AU

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23
Q

what is evidence for oort cloud’s existence

A

no direct evidence
-but studies of long period orbits suggest a spherical region at 10000-20000AU that consists of comets that occassionally get disturbed by a passing star and consequently may send comets towards the sun

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24
how far from sun is oort cloud
10,000-20,000 AU
25
what is the heliosphere
‘cigar shaped bubble’ surrounding solar system created by solar wind
26
what are the 3 different ways a satellite evolves -give an example of each
1.satellite forms in the same area of space as the planet e.g jupiter’s galilean moons 2. satellite is captured by planet e.g phobos and demios of mars, triton of neptune 3. satellite evolves from the debris from an impact with the planet eg earth’s moon
27
whats the ratio of ganymede:europa:io
4:2:1
28
who discovered rings
christian huygens
29
who first observed rings
galileo
30
what are rings made of
millions of particles orbiting the planet
31
why might scientists not be able to see saturn’s rings
when saturn is at 90 degrees to earth, its rings are hardly noticeable
32
what is the atmosphere of gas giants composed of
thick helium and hydrogen atmospheres
33
what is in outer core of large gas giants
liwuid metallic hydrogen (creates a strong magnetic field)
34
what do smaller gas giants have an outer core of
molecular hydrogen and water ammonia
35
differences between jupiter/saturn and neptune/uranus
j/s: rich clouds at top of atmosphere substantially larger u/n: contain more elements known as ice giants
36
how were gas giants created
as inner planets formed rock, gas from sun’s formation trvalled further and the gas giants evolved by accreting more and more gas
37
why cant gas giants form closer to the sun
because elements such as methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide would be toocold for them to condense as they are inside frost line
38
what is the frost line
boundary in so,ar system beyond which volatile compounds like water, ammonia and methane can condense into solid ice grains
39
what kind of planet are most exoplanets that we have discovered
gas giants because of their size and mass meaning they are easier to find
40
what are gas giants exoplanets that orbit closer to host star called
‘hot jupiters’
41
define meteroid
particles of dust, larger frit sized chunks of rocks, and boulder-sized mixtures of stone, ice and metak that are in orbit aroudn the sun
42
speed of meteroite
ranges from 20-70 km/s
43
how are meteors created
-meteroids enter ewrth’s atmosphere -at speeds of 20-70 km/s -earth’s atmosphere converts kinetic energy into thermal energy -heating smaller particles to incandescence -resulting streak of light is called a meteor
44
what does earth pass through during a meteor shower
meteoroid stream
45
individual appear to duverge froma. ‘vanishing point’ called ——
radiant
46
why do meteoroids appear to come from radiant
due to perspective
47
what is meteor shower named after
constellation which it lies in
48
what are fireballs
produced by large meteroids entering earth’s atmosphere (probably from asteroid belt, possibly from moon/mars) -they survive their jounrye through atmosphere -reaching earth’s surface as meteorites
49
give order of meteors
meteoroid (in space) meteor (in atmosphere) meteroite (landed on surface)
50
who formulated plan to discover absolute distance between planets (size of ss)
Edmund halley
51
what are the 2 types of meteoroids + define them
cometary meteoroid: small particles shed by comets asteroidal meteoroids:particles fallen off /chipped off asteroids
52
what is a micrometeorite
micometre-sized meteorite -too small to be burnt up in atmosphere -drift downwards through atmosphere instead
53
how did halley determine actual size of ss
-observed transits of inferior planets -known observer paths taken by Venus (halley called them chords) would vary from place to place because of parallax (like libration in latitude) -halley showed that if the latitude distance between 2 observing locations was known, simple triangulation could hen be ised to calculate the distance from earth to venus and thereofre earth ti sun
54
55
whats the plane called that bodies orbit on in ss
ecliptic
56
name the 2 main theories about where our water came form
1. condensation 2. deliver by comets
57
how was water formed
by star formation
58
describe condensation (theory of how water got on earth)
-water was part of earth’s body when it formed -as earth cooled it leaked from rocks -atmosphere condensed the water into liquid form
59
describe delivery by comets (theory of how water got on earth)
-heavy bombardment period (evidence on moon) -comets contain large amounts of ice, this would have fed our oceans
60
why is delivery by comets theory controversial
would have taken an enormous amountnof water to cover 71% of surface launched PHILAE
61
what is heliosheath
boundary at which solar wind slows down and begins to mix with the interstellar medium
62
what is the interstellar medium
matter that exists between star systems in same galaxy in space
63
what is beyond the heliosheath
the outer edge of heliosphere is called heliopause where pressure of wolar wind is balanced by the pressure of the interstellar medium

Astronomy (21 decks)

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