Astronomy Exam 1
Secondary Waves (S Waves)
only travel through solids and temporarily change the shape, but not the volume of the material they pass through; move slower than P waves
Ecliptic
path of the sun and the planets
perigee
point in an orbit that is closest to the earth
celestial poles
points about which the celestial sphere appears to rotate; intersections of the celestial sphere with Earth's polar axis
oblate spheroid
shape of the earth, a slightly flattened sphere
Shoemaker-Levy Comet
the comet that struck Jupiter in 1994
Roche Limit
the distance a moon can be from a planet before shattering from tidal forces
True
the force of mass and the force of gravity are directly proportional
Eris
the largest (most massive) Kuiper Belt Object
Kepler's First Law
the law of ellipses: The planets are not orbiting into circles, turns out if you measure it carefully, it moves in an ellipse
horizon
the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet
apogee
the point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited; the highest point
Perigee
the point where the orbiting body is closest to the body being orbited.
Geochemistry
the study of the chemical composition of the earth and its rocks and minerals.
Equinox
the time or date (twice each year, September and March) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length (12 hours)
Kuiper Belt Objects
tiny ice dwarfs, similar to Pluto, in the outer reaches of the solar system
perigee
total solar eclipses occur at:
winter solstice
when the sun is at its southernmost point
processed meteorites
younger, have experienced volcanism or differentiation, frequently metallic, occasionally stony iron
365.25
How many Earth rotations are in one revolution of the Earth?
14
How many moons does Neptune have?
82
How many moons does Saturn have?
27
How many moons does Uranus have?
Meteorite
If a rock is magnetic, has a fusion crust, has a Widmanstatten pattern when you cut it, it is a ...
the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
The largest concentration of asteroids is the ___ located ____.
Kepler's Second Law
The law of equal areas: A line segment connecting the Sun and a planet will sweep sectors of equal areas in equal time.
terrestrial planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Eros
Near-earth Asteroid
total solar eclipse
New Moon at Perigee is a ___.
solar
New moons experience ___ types of eclipses
Prime Meridian
a planet's meridian adopted as the zero of longitude.
solar diameter
a planets distance from the sun divided by the sun's diameter = ?
Meteoroid
a relatively small, rocky body that travels through space
Breccias
a rock composed of fragments of earlier rocks bonded together
Primary Waves (P-Waves)
compression waves that travel through solids and liquids, compressing and expanding the material they pass through, temporarily changing volume
primitive meteorites
oldest (4.6 billion years), unprocessed, just as they were when they formed out of the solar nebula, occasionally carbon rich
Meteorite Impact
Cone-shaped structures, planar deformation features, high-pressure minerals, and crater morphology are evidence of:
Kepler's Third Law
"Law of Periods" Planets that are closer to the sun will orbitt faster, and planets further will orbit slower
post
(Latin) after
ante
(Latin) before
away from the sun
A comet's tail always points
meteor
A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere. (shooting star)
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.
Geocentric
A theory of the structure of the solar system in which the earth is the center
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
International Date Line
An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, the place where we stop and start days.
Newton's Law of Motion
An object at rest will stay at rest, an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by another force
planet
An object that orbits a star, is large enough to have become rounded by its own gravity, and has cleared the area of its orbit.
The shadow of the Earth during lunar eclipses
Ancient Greeks inferred the spherical Earth by observing:
Summer Solstice
At the equator, the sun would reach the highest point in the sky on this date.
tidal bulges
Caused by the gravitational forces of the Moon, and to a lesser extent the Sun, creating "high tides" on each side of earth
lead
Comet tails ___ comets in orbit
RADAR formula
D = v*t/2 Speed of light 3x10^5 km/s
23 hours and 56 minutes
Earth's actual rotation period
Newton's Law of Gravity
Every object attracts every other object with a force that is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
strong magnetic field
Evidence that supports Jovian Planets' electrically conductive liquid interior
lunar
Full moons experience ____ type of eclipses
Jovian Planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Earth's moon
Kuiper Belt Objects are smaller than:
Triton
Largest moon of Neptune with a thin nitrogen atmosphere
Winter
Perihelion (when the Earth is close to the Sun) occurs in which Northern Hemisphere Season?
Crater size
Projectile Velocity, Projectile Mass, Projectile Density and Impact Angle all impact:
Mimas
Saturn's moon that is responsible for the gap between its rings
Prometheus and Pandora
Saturn's shepherd moons
hydrogen and heluim
The Jovian planets are mostly composed of what gases?
23.5 degrees
The angle which the earth's axis is tilted
Europa and Ganymede
The gravitational tug between what two Jovian moons cause Io to be volcanically active?
Io
The moon of Jupiter known to be the most volcanically active object in the solar system
Titan
The moon of Saturn known to have a thick atmosphere with rain, rivers, and lakes.
Winter
The season experienced when the earth's axis is tilted AWAY from the sun
All
The sun, earth and moon are in alignment during ____ eclipse(s).
Europa
This Jupiter moon has more water than all of Earth's oceans.
Meteroite
a meteroid that has passed through the atmosphere and hit earths surface
Small Angle Formula
Variations: a/360 = d/2πr a2πr/360 = d 360d/a2πr = r
Triton
What Moon of Neptune is thought to be a Kuiper Belt Object?
ice
What are Saturn's rings composed of?
hydrogen and helium
What is Saturn mostly composed of?
zenith
What is the point on the celestial sphere directly above an observer?
They all have rings
Which Jovian Planet does NOT have rings?
Uranus
Which planet USED to be the furthest from the sun?
William Herschel
Who discovered Uranus?
Comets
With elliptical orbits typically extending far beyond the orbit of Neptune, these "dirty snow-balls" are frequently composed of a mixture of rock and various ices:
tidal bore
a body of water that rushes up through a narrow bay, estuary, or river channel during the rise of high tide and causes a very sudden tidal rise
Cassini Division
an apparent gap between Saturn's A and B rings
apogee
annular solar eclipses occur at:
79
approx. How many moons does Jupiter have?