Space Physics

new moon - waxing crescent - first quarter - waxing gibbous - full moon - wanning gibbous - third quarter - wanning crescent

29 days

the average speed taken for a body to make one full orbit around another body

v = 2(pie)r/T

where r is the radius of the object and t is the time

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Dwarf planets are small, rocky bodies orbiting the Sun, but they are not big enough to be called planets.

The asteroid belt consists of large rocks called asteroids, which orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The dwarf planet Ceres can be found in this asteroid belt.

\n

A natural satellite is an object that orbits a planet or another body that is larger than itself. Natural satellites are not man-made.

Comets are balls of ice that orbit the Sun in elliptical orbits. When they come close to the Sun, they heat up and some of the ice evaporates, becoming a visible tail.

\n

When an object moves around another object in an oval shaped path. Elliptical roughly means oval like.

3 x 10^8

the greater the distance, the smaller the gravitational field strength

the greater the mass, the greater the gravitational field strength

the law that states, in terms of space physics, that planets further away from the sun will have high gravitational potential energy but low kinetic energy as well as speed while planets closer to the sun will will have high kinetic energy and speed while having low gravitational potential energy.

planets move faster as they are closer to the sun

A star is a ball of gas which radiates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves.

\n

Stars come in different sizes, but they are usually (unless they are dying) made of hydrogen and helium.

Our Sun emits most of its energy in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic spectrum

The energy emitted by the star comes from reactions called ‘nuclear fusion’ reactions.

\n

Inside a star, hydrogen atoms are joined together with enough force to make them stick together (or fuse) into helium atoms.

the increase in observed wavelength when the light source is moving away from an observer

a collection of billions of stars all orbiting a black hole

Light from the beginning of the Universe is called the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR)

\n

It is detectable everywhere in the Universe.

2.2 x 10^-18

1/hubble’s constant = distance/velocity

the galaxy in which the sun and out solar system exist

the distance travelled by light in one earth year

the beginning of a star, where hydrogen heats up and emits raditation

a star where the inward force of gravity and outward force due to the high temperature of the star are in equilibrium

a star of relatively small mass that has run out of hydrogen

a star of relatively large mass that has run out of hydrogen

the remnants of a red giant after fusion has stopped

the dust left over after the outer layers of the red giant have cooled

an enormous explosion when a red giant has run out of fuel

occurs when a very massive star runs out of fuel and gravity is strong enough to pull all the star’s matter into one single point.

when a massive star runs out of fuel and gravity is strong enough to crush atoms together to form enormous block of neutrons

what is left after a supernova, a cloud of dust and gas that can form new stars

model of a planetary system where the planets orbit a central star

a curved path an object follows around another

an imaginary line around the earth splitting the north and south of the earth, also hottest point

an object in orbit around another object which is already in orbit

a collection of cosmic objects in orbit around the star

31536000 s

9.5×1015 m