question

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

answer

-discovered that the period of the bright- to-dim-to-bright cycle was related to a star's true brightness (absolute magnitude)

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Fred Hoyle

answer

-Rejected "Big BAng Theory" - Proposed that stars make elements heavier than helium in their cores and when they explode as supernovae.

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George Smoot and John Mather

answer

-Studied the CMBR -determined that the CMBR was anisotropic -awarded the Noble Prize in 1996

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Vesto Slipher

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first person to measure redshifts from "spiral nebula" which are now known to be galaxies

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George Lamaitre

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Proposed that the Universe started from a small "primeval atom" state that began expanding.

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George Gamow

answer

studied how Big Bang reactions produced current levels of hydrogen and helium (75%H , 25%He by mass) ; after glow of the BB should fill the Universe with radiation of 5K (microwave)

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Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson

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Accidentally discovered cosmic background radiation -they were studying radio signals when they came across an annoying sound in their satellite that they couldn't figure out

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Albert Einstein

answer

created the theory of relativity and created the formula E=mc^2

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Edwin Hubble

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relating galaxy speed and distance; implies universe is expanding

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Robert Dicke

answer

Priceton professor looking to find background cosmic radiation but didnt build his radio detector in time because Penzias and Wison came across it first (CMBR)

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Quark

answer

particle comes in six "flavors": up, down, bottom, charm, and strange. Combine to form particles called HADRONS, some of which are the components of atomic nuclei.

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Neutrino

answer

Particles are electrically neutral and have a very small rest mass. they are created in decay of nuclei and by nuclear fusion reactions (like inside our sun)

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Proton

answer

A positively charged particle that is a fundamental component of all atomic nuclei. The # of these in the nucleus determines the element.

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Neutron

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This particle has no electric charge and exists in the nuclei of atoms.

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Photon

answer

This particle has no rest mass and moves at the speed of light in a vacuum. Electrons can release these types of particles when they change energy states within atoms

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Electron

answer

This particle is in the family of leptons, elementary subatomic particles. It has a negative electric charge. They play a role in such phenomena as electricity, magnetism, and thermal conductivity

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-Has enough mass that gravity has shaped it to be round or nearly round -cleared its orbit of debris -orbits the sun

answer

planet

question

True/ False : having a moon is a requirement for something to be a planet?

answer

False: mercury and Venus have no moons

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Weak Force

answer

It regulates radioactive decay of atomic nuclei playing a huge role in nuclear fission.

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An attractive force between particles or bodies resulting from their mass. It is the weakest force but it is considered to occur at all distances.

answer

Gravity

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Strong Force

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It binds quarks together to make subatomic particles like protons and neutrons as well as holds protons together in atomic nuclei.

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It is a force between electrically charged particles, and is responsible for binding electrons to atomic nuclei.

answer

electromagnetic

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Meteorite found in Antarctica. It was determined to be a rock from Mars that landed on Earth after an impact on Mars ejected it off of the Martian surface.

answer

ALH84001

question

How does ALH84001 relate to the concept of panspermia?

answer

Relates to the idea of panspermia in the way that it shows that meteorites from other worlds have landed on Earth's surface. Meteorites and comets may be able to carry forms of life on them. It is possible that life spreads through solar systems and galaxies by these types of impacts. This means that life may not have started originally on Earth, and that it's possible to have come to our planet via meteorites.

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Panspermia

answer

the theory that life originated in outer space and was transferred to earth via asteroids or comets

question

What does light years measure

answer

distance not time

question

light year

answer

unit of distance that light travels in a year

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about how many miles is a light year?

answer

6 trillion

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the idea that there are no special observers or privileged places in our Universe; This is due to the fact that galaxies are not rushing through space, but are embedded in space and space itself is stretching/expanding. This means that there is no special center to the Universe.

answer

Copernican Principal

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copernican principal analogy

answer

when cooking a loaf of raisin bread the dough represents space and the raisins the galaxies. As the dough cooks, the distances between every raisin increases. If we pick one raisin to be where we are in the Universe we see raisins moving away as the dough expands. It turns out every raisin sees the same thing!

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Oort Cloud

answer

spherical region or shell of icy bodies that encases our entire solar system -We think that some (long period) comets originate from this region.

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Nebula

answer

cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other gases that exist between stars in galaxies.

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Meridian

answer

Line from North/ South; represents highest point object is going to get in the sky

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Cosmic Address

answer

Earth Solar System Orion Spur (arm) Milky way Local Group Local Virgo Supercluster Laniakea Supercluster Universe

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Age of the Universe

answer

13.8 Billion years

question

Rank distances from Smallest to Largest - Thickness of the disk of the Milky Way - Semi-major axis of Pluto's orbit -Distance to center of Milky Way - Distance to nearest star (other than our Sun), Promixa Centauri (4.2 light years)

answer

1.) Semi- major axis of Pluto's orbit 2.) distance to nearest star ( other than our sun) 3.) Thickness of the disk of the Milky way 4.) Distance to center of milky way

question

Laniakea Supercluster

answer

Defined as all of the clusters of galaxies that are moving toward a common area in the Universe call the Great Attractor. Superclusters of galaxies that are not moving toward the Great Attractor are considered to be of another system of superclusters.

question

Rank sizes from smallest to largest: A. 1 AU B. Average distance from Sun to Neptune C. Distance to center of Milky Way from our Solar System D. The Sun's diameter E. Average distance from Earth to Sun F. One light year G. Distance to Andromeda Galaxy from our Solar System

answer

1.) Sun's Diameter 2.) 1 AU 3.)Average distance from Earth to Sun 4.) Average distance from sun to neptune 5.) One Light year 6.) Distance to center of Milky way from out solar system 7.) Distance to Andromeda Galaxy from our solar system

question

An astronomy student makes the following statement,"The closest star to our galaxy is Proxima Centauri, which is about 4.2 light years away from us." Did this student use the term "galaxy" in the correct way? Explain why or why not.

answer

Our galaxy is the Milky Way and it contains our Sun and about 100-200 billion or so stars in it. Our solar system consist of our Sun and the planets (and other stuff like comets, asteroids, moons, etc). This person really means that the closest star to our solar system is Proxima Centauri which is about 4.2 light years away.

question

about how many stars are in our galaxy the milky way?

answer

100-200 billion

question

what does our solar system consist of?

answer

our sund and the planets (and comets, asteroids, moons)

question

what is proxima centauri?

answer

closest star to our solar system

question

how far away is Proxima Centauri from our solar system?

answer

4.2 light years away - nearest star to us other than sun

question

Shape of Milky Way Galaxy

answer

Barred spiral with warping

question

Galactic year

answer

time it takes our solar system to orbit the milky way

question

how long is a galactic year?

answer

240 million years

question

Sag A*

answer

site of the super massive black hole in the center of the milky way (look at picture)

question

whats the best way to try to communicate with other civilzations in our galaxy?

answer

Radio waves

question

are radio waves light waves?

answer

yes

question

how fast and where to radio waves travel

answer

speed of light and in vacuum -can also travel through thick regions of dust and gas -only form of light that can travel through all of the disk bc most plantes in galasy are probably in the spiral arms

question

true/false: x-rays are a good choice to communicate to aliens with

answer

false: they are easily stopped by earth's atmosphere

question

Golden Record

answer

record sent on the voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 -contains sounds and images -115 images -many natural sounds -see notebook for what the symbols mean

question

why was tyson unhappy with the opening scene in the movie contact

answer

it was really in accurate because the movie showed the radio waves moving past planets and it was playing sounds such as music and mlk jrs speech passing by, but radio waves move at the speed of light so the sounds should have been playing much further past the planets.

question

why is tyson so upset about hollywood aliens?

answer

they look too human like -snake on earth is more "alien" looking than hollywood's

question

The lovely creature below is a Pompeii worm. It lives at hydrothermal vents deep in the Pacific Ocean at scalding temperatures of 176 degrees F. What do scientists call organisms like the Pompeii worm that like very hot, very cold, very alkaline, etc. environments?

answer

Extremophiles

question

Emission Spectra

answer

a gas is energized to move electrons between orbitals), can be used to identify elements/chemicals in far away stars/gas clouds, etc. Every element has unique emission spectra like a fingerprint. - goes from dark purple colors on the left to blue to green to orange to red on the right

question

spectrum with energy levels appearing to be moving up is

answer

absorption

question

When an electron moves down (ex: n=5 to n=2) what happens?

answer

photon is released

question

what is it called when an electron releases a photon?

answer

emission

question

Transitions moving down on the graph and emitting what color is it shifting?

answer

red

question

transitions moving up absorb more what color

answer

violet

question

doppler shift

answer

shift in wavelength of light or sound that depends on the relative motion of the source and the observers

question

Red Shift

answer

-Longer Wavelength -less frequency -away from observer

question

Blue Shift

answer

-shorter wavelength -higher frequency -toward the observer

question

Emission

answer

Electron releases a photon -falls to lower energy level in atom -causes presence of light -High-low=lose energy (light released)

question

Absorption

answer

electron takes in a photon -jumps to higher energy level in atom -causes absence of light -low -high= takes energy

question

Alania qua

answer

supercluster that we live in

question

spiderweb look is?

answer

superclusters

question

give that holds galaxy

answer

dark matter

question

is theblack hole in our galaxy active?

answer

no

question

the farther away the galaxy, the faster its motion away is

answer

hubbles laws

question

the "time" in hubbles law stands for what?

answer

how long the universe has been expanding, aka the age of the universe. -slope= 1/age of the universe

question

Absolute magnitude (M)

answer

the actual magnitude of a star that is beyond earth pespective

question

apparent magnitude (m)

answer

the magnitude of a star in earth's view

question

Lower magnitudes have a dimmer or brighter appearance?

answer

Bright -LOWER THE BRIGHTER

question

what unit does the formula (m-M)=5log(d)-5 give you answers in?

answer

parsecs; must convert to light years

question

Period in which electrons attach to nuclei; photons now travel freely; CMBR forms

answer

Recombination

question

Period from 10-6 to 1 second; it is now cool enough for quarks to make protons and neutrons as well as their anti-particles

answer

hadron epoch

question

In this period, W, Z, and Higgs bosons are created through particle interactions; the Higgs field endows particles with mass; at the end the electroweak force splits into the electromagnetic and the weak forces

answer

electroweak epoch

question

Period from 10-36 s to 10-32 s; GUT force splits into the strong and electroweak forces; triggers a rapid expansion of space; at the end of this time the universe is now the size of a grapefruit

answer

inflation

question

Period from 0 to 10-43 s; temperature is about 1032 K; one unified "superforce;" must have had energy fluctuations from point to point

answer

Planck Epoch

question

which epoch is inflation the first part of?

answer

electroweak epoch

question

In this period, the temperature is about 1 billion K; protons and neutrons begin to fuse to make nuclei such as H, He, and Li

answer

Nucleosynthesis

question

In this period the temperature of the universe falls below 4 K; matter density falls and the expansion of the Universe begins to accelerate

answer

dark energy domination

question

This period lasts from the release of the CMBR up to the formation of the first stars

answer

Dark Ages

question

In this period, galaxies form and change in the areas where large concentrations of dark matter exists

answer

galaxy formation and evolution

question

In the period, all of the 4 fundamental forces exist; quarks along with their anti-particles exist in a plasma state or "soup;" matter and anti-matter meet and annihilate; matter particles slightly outnumber the anti-matter particles 1,000,000,001 to 1,000,000,000

answer

Quark Epoch

question

In the period from 1s to 3 minutes, leptons and anti-lepton pairs are created in equilibrium; leptons dominate the mass of the Universe

answer

Lepton Epoch

question

In the period from 150 million to 1 billion years, the first quasars form and the radiation from them reionizes the plasma in the Universe

answer

Reionization

question

. In this period, which may have occurred as early as 150 million years after the Bang, stars begin to form in collapsing gas clouds

answer

Stelliferous Era

question

In the period from 3 minutes to 240,000 years the Universe is filled with hot, dense opaque soup of nuclei, free electrons, and photons; photons dominate the energy of the Universe

answer

Photon Epoch

question

In the period, gravity separates from the "superforce," while the other three forces are still combined

answer

GUT Epoch

question

4 Primary pieces of evidence that support the Big Bang Theory

answer

1) detection of the cosmic background radiation which was predicted to exist by George Gamow 2) Gamow also predicted that the nucleosynthesis stage of the Big Bang would produce a ratio of 75% H to 25% He of primordial matter. 3) Hubble and Slipher measured redshifts from almost all galaxies which infers the universe is expanding. 4) The detection of intergalactic primordial helium

question

What time does a first quarter moon set at?

answer

midnight

question

As viewed from Earth, the angle between the Sun and the Moon in the sky during the Full Moon phase is what?

answer

180 degrees

question

when did the big bang happen

answer

18.82 billion years ago

question

slipher is the first to measure what?

answer

redshifts of spiral nebula galaxies

question

COBE

answer

cosmic background explorer; smoot and mather use COBE to show anisotropy

question

WMAP

answer

wilkerson microwave anisotropy probe ; launched to study CMBR in more detail shows where gravity formed starts and galaxies -blue= cooler areas

question

what temperature was csmic microwave background radiation discovered at

answer

2.7 K

question

Elementary particles

answer

fundamental building blocks; cant be broken up -Electrons, muons, neutrinos, quarks

question

protons are not

answer

elementary

question

protons are made up of

answer

quarks

question

the universe is a gravitations singularity called

answer

initial singularity

question

initial singularity

answer

point of infinite density before quantum fluctuations that caused the BB and subsequent inflation that created the Universe

question

what periods are we still in ?

answer

-Stelliferous Era -galaxy formation and evolution

question

how many galaxies in our local group?

answer

50- milky way and andromeda are the largest

question

is radio waves frequency low or high?

answer

low and they can travel through anything

question

on the absorbtion spectrum blue/violet are

answer

strong and hot -bigger falls

question

on the absorbtion spectrum red is

answer

weaker and cooler -smaller falls

question

brightest apparent magnitude is a

answer

-30 (our sun is a -26) -dullest is 30 (hubble space telescope is close)

question

Closest star system to ours

answer

Alpha Centauri

question

how far away is alpha centauri?

answer

4.3 light years -made up of 3 stars: alpha centauri a, b, and c

question

S.E.T.I

answer

search for extraterrestrial intelligence, monitors electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmission from civilizations on other planets

question

virus that parasitizes a bacterium by infecting it and reproducing it

answer

bacteriophage

question

planet orbiting a star other than the sun

answer

exoplanet

question

microbes that live in extreme conditions of extreme temperature, acidity, radioactive areas, or chemical concentration

answer

extremophile

question

unit of measurement equal to 149.6 million kilometers, the mean distance from the center of the earth to the center of the sun

answer

astronomical unit (AU) -1 AU earth orbit around the sun -isnt a perfect circle

question

ellipse, parabola, hyperbola

answer

conic sections

question

a subatomic particle with no electric charge very little mass, important in nuclear reaction

answer

neutrino

question

one of the four fundamental forces that govern the universe play a role in the radioactive decay

answer

weak force

question

binds quarks together in clusters to make more similar subatomic particles like protons and neutron it also holds together atomic nucleus and underlies interactions between all particles with quarks

answer

strong force

question

the force exerted by the electromagnetic interaction of electrically charged or magnetically polarized particles or bodies

answer

electromagnetic force

question

dull glow which lights up the unlit part of the moon because the sun's light reflects off the earths surface and back onto the moon

answer

earth shine

question

a subatomic particle such as an electron, muon or neutrino that does not take part in strong interaction

answer

lepton

question

- when a particle and an antiparticle collide they form energy o They collide so violently that protons and neutrons cannot exist as they are being fragments into quarks

answer

particle amihilaton

question

A subatomic particle, such as a photon that has zero or integral spin

answer

boson

question

- any subatomic particles that are made up of quarks and are subject to the strong force

answer

hadron

question

a stable subatomic particle with a charge of negative electricity, found in all atoms and acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids o Orbits nucleus

answer

electron

question

elementary particles carrying a fractional charge o Predicted to come in pairs with similar mass but opposite charge o Make up the protons and neutrons of hadrons

answer

quarks

question

any substance that when combined with an equal amount of matter results in the complete and direct conversion of all substances to energy composed of anti particles

answer

anti matter

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