Unit 5: The Universe

Question 1

List these things from biggest to smallest:
- Solar system
- Moon
- Universe
- Sun
- Galaxy
- Planet

Answer 1

Universe, galaxy, solar system, sun, planet, moon

Question 2

When did the Big Bang occur?

Answer 2

13.8 billion years ago

Question 3

What was the Big Bang?

Answer 3

When the universe suddenly exploded and emerged, expanding ever since

Question 4

What is the name for radiation in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which comes from all directions in outer space?

Answer 4

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Question 5

What is Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation evidence for?

Answer 5

The Big Bang Theory

Question 6

What is the Doppler Effect?

Answer 6

The shift in light/sound waves as the source moves either toward or away from the observer

Question 7

What does a red shift indicate?

Answer 7

The object is moving away from the observer, waves are spread out

Question 8

What does a blue shift indicate?

Answer 8

The object is moving toward the observer, waves are compressed

Question 9

What is the name for star light being affected by a star’s motion?

Answer 9

Stellar radiation

Question 10

What type of shift is shown in galaxies?

Answer 10

Red shift - most galaxies are moving AWAY from Earth

Question 11

What is a galaxy made up of?

Answer 11

Billions of stars

Question 12

What are four examples of shapes a galaxy could be?

Answer 12

Spiral, barred spiral, elliptical, and irregular

Question 13

How many galaxies is our universe made up of?

Answer 13

Billions

Question 14

What galaxy do we live in and what shape is it?

Answer 14

Milky Way Galaxy - Barred spiral

Question 15

How are stars grouped?

Answer 15

By comparing their luminosity to their temperature

Question 16

What group are most stars a part of?

Answer 16

Main Sequence

Question 17

What is a white dwarf star?

Answer 17

Old stars that have collapsed, making them very small, dense, and hot

Question 18

Where do stars originate from?

Answer 18

Clouds of dust and gas molecules, known as a nebula

Question 19

What force causes the dust and gas to clump together and form a protostar?

Answer 19

Gravity

Question 20

What factors increase as atom collisions increase?

Answer 20

Temperature, gas pressure, and density

Question 21

What is nuclear fusion?

Answer 21

The process of stars making energy by combining hydrogen atoms to make helium to fuel a star

Question 22

What is needed in order for a star to continue to live?

Answer 22

It needs to continue to burn hydrogen

Question 23

True or false: equilibrium between gravity, heat, and pressure from fusion must be kept in order for a star to live peacefully

Answer 23

True

Question 24

What factor determines what happens to a star after its death?

Answer 24

The mass of the original star

Question 25

What does our solar system consist of?

Answer 25

The sun and all objects that orbit the sun

Question 26

How old is the solar system?

Answer 26

4.6 billion years

Question 27

How did the solar system form?

Answer 27

From dust/gas clouds pulled together by gravity

Question 28

What is the shape of all the orbits of the planets that revolve around the sun?

Answer 28

Ellipse (oval)

Question 29

What is eccentricity?

Answer 29

A measurement that describes how elliptical (flat) an ellipse is

Question 30

What is the relationship between eccentricity and the shape of an orbit/ellipse?

Answer 30

The higher the eccentricity, the more elliptical (flat/oval) an ellipse/orbit is

Question 31

What two numbers does eccentricity range from?

Answer 31

0 and 1

Question 32

What is the relationship between gravity and mass?

Answer 32

Direct - the higher the mass of a planet, the more gravitational pull it has

Question 33

What is the relationship between gravity and the object's distance?

Answer 33

Indirect - the greater the distance between the two objects, the less gravitational pull there is between the two of them

Question 34

True or false: planets travel slower in their orbit when they are closer to the sun

Answer 34

False - planets travel faster in their orbit the closer they are to the sun because the gravity is stronger

Question 35

What are the four Jovian (outer) planets?

Answer 35

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

Question 36

What are the four Terrestial (inner) planets?

Answer 36

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Question 37

Which type of planets are closer to the sun?

Answer 37

Terrestial

Question 38

What type of planets have longer periods of revolution?

Answer 38

Jovian

Question 39

What type of planets are larger and less dense?

Answer 39

Jovian

Question 40

What type of planets are made of rock?

Answer 40

Terrestial

Question 41

What type of planets are made of gas and dust?

Answer 41

Jovian

Question 42

What type of planets are smaller and less dense?

Answer 42

Terrestial

Question 43

Are terrestial planets inside or outside of the asteroid belt?

Answer 43

Inside - the jovian planets are outsdie the asteroid belt

Question 44

What is a solid rock/metallic object that orbits around the sun called?

Answer 44

Asteroid

Question 45

What planets are asteroids found between and what is this area called?

Answer 45

Between Mars and Jupiter in the Asteroid Belt

Question 46

What is an object composed of rock and ice that easily vaporizes and revolves around the sun called?

Answer 46

A comet

Question 47

What are two names for a path of light from a meteoroid burning as it passes through Earth's atmosphere?

Answer 47

A meteor (or a shooting star)

Question 48

What have impact events been correlated with?

Answer 48

Mass extinction and climate change