Astronomy Unit G: Stars
The closest star to the sun is
Alpha Centauri
Radio messages travel at the speed of light, so how long would it take to radio a message to a star that is 100 light years away?
100 years
Radio waves travel at the speed of light. If we sent a message to Alpha Centauri, how long would we have to wait before receiving a reply?
8 years
Are all the brightest stars in Earth's sky the stars that are closest to the Sun?
No
Astronomers measure the distance between two stars in what unit?
Parsecs
In a typical spacecraft traveling at about 17km's, it would take about 70,000 years to travel to?
Proxima centauri
Which property governs the ultimate fate of any star?
mass
What is the color of Sirius?
rainbow star
The coolest stars are primarily what color?
red
What is the color of Betelgeuse?
red
What is the color of stars that have surface temperatures of 3000 degrees Celsius?
red
What is the Crab Nebula?
supernova remnant
What is a light year?
the distance light travels in one year
What is the color of the sun?
white
Our Sun will live how long
10 billion
Why do you think stars look like tiny points of light?
Because they are very far away and emit light
Most of the characteristics of an individual star depends on the star's
Color
How would our familiar constellations appear from the surface of a planet 1000 light years away?
Distorted
What is the name of the graph that astronomers use to plot star luminosity versus temperature(color)?
Hertzsprung- Russell Diagram
The curve on an H-R diagram where most stars fall is called the
Main Sequence
Where are stars usually born?
Nebulas
Why do the constellations look the same from Mars as they do from Earth?
The stars are very far away
How would our familiar constellations appear from the surface of Pluto?
They look the same
What will the sun form when it dies?
White dwarf
Do black holes suck everything up?
Yes
The hottest stars are primarily what color
blue
What is the color of Rigel?
blue
Characteristics of red stars
cool, low mass, long lives
Characteristics of blue stars
hot, high mass, short lives