What is the solstice and the equinox?
The solstice is the day of year that the sun is out the longest or shortest period of time, and the equinox is the day that the sun is out exactly half the day.
What is the difference between a geocentric and heliocentric model?
The geocentric model puts earth at the center of the solar system while the heliocentric model puts the sun at the center.
What is the order of the planets, from the sun?
-Mercury
-Venus
-Earth
-Mars
-Jupiter
-Saturn
-Uranus
-Neptune
What is a light year?
A light year is the distance light travels in a year.
What is the life cycle of an average star?
-Stellar nebula
-Average star
-Red giant
-Planetary nebula
-White dwarf
-Black dwarf (Theoretical)
What is the life cycle of a massive star?
-Stellar nebula
-Massive star
-Red supergiant
-Supernova
-Neutron star OR black hole
When does a protostar become a star?
When a protostar reaches 10 million degrees celsius, hydrogen fusion can occur and it becomes a star.
How hot is the surface and t he core of our sun?
Our sun’s surface is ~5500 Celsius, and the core is ~15 million.
What are jovian planets?
Jovian planets are gas giants farther from the sun.
What are the 5 main space rock names?
These names are:
Asteroids: Rocks in an asteroid belt
Comets: Chunks of ice and dust
Meteoroids: Rocks flying through space
Meteors: A rock that enters earth’s atmosphere
Meteorites: A rock that lands on earth
What are the 3 basic parts of a rocket?
The 3 basic parts of rocket are:
-Structural and mechanical elements: The rocket and all it’s components
-Fuel: What’s being used to power the rocket
-Payload: What is trying to be delivered
What is the difference between parallel and series staging rockets?
Parallel rockets have multiple boosters going off in parallel, while series has them going off one after another.
What is a satellite?
A satellite is anything orbiting a large object.
What are the 2 kinds of orbit a satellite can have?
Satellites can be in low earth orbit, where it rotates around the earth quickly, or geosynchronous orbit, where it rotates in such a way that it is always above a specific point.
What is taking measurements from space called?
Taking measurements from space is called remote sensing.
What is GPS and how does it work?
GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and it can find your location using triangulation by finding the distance between you and several satellites.
What is the azimuth, altitude, zenith, and horizon?
Azimuth is measured clockwise from north, altitude is the angle above earth’s horizon, zenith is the location directly above the observer, and horizon is the point the land meats the sky from the observer’s perspective.
What is used to measure azimuth?
A compass is used to measure azimuth.
What is used to measure altitude?
An astrolabe is used to measure altitude.
What is parallax?
Parallax is the apparent shift in something’s location when viewed from 2 different points.
What is triangulation?
Triangulation is determining the location of a point by measuring the angles we see it at from known points.
How does a radio telescope work?
A radio telescope picks up radio waves and generates an image based on what it picked up.
From shorter to longer wavelengths, what are all of the sections of radio waves?
-Gamma ray
-X-ray
-Ultraviolet
-Visible
-Infrared
-Microwave
-Radio
What was the Hubble telescope?
The Hubble telescope was a powerful telescope launched into orbit in 1990.
