What are the two types of eclipses?
Solar and Lunar
What is syzygy?
The alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Moon
What is an eclipse?
When an astronomical object casts a shadow on another
How many days is the Synodic Month?
29.5 days
Our moon is the _________________ largest moon.
Fifth
What is a supermoon?
When the moon is closest to the Earth AND the largest full moon of the year
What does waxing mean?
Growing
In what phase does the Moon appear dark?
New Moon
What causes the Moon to be illuminated?
It reflects light from the Sun
How was the Moon created?
An object crashed into Earth creating debris that became the Moon
Which planet has a rotational axis nearly parallel to its orbital path?
Uranus
What is an equinox?
When there are equal hours of day and night
What causes Earth’s seasons?
Earth’s tilted axis
When is Earth closest to the Sun?
January
How many tails do comets have?
Two
Why does the Moon have more visible craters than Earth?
The Moon lacks an atmosphere to burn up incoming meteors
A “shooting star” is more accurately called what?
Meteor
Where are asteroids mainly found?
Kuiper Belt
What shape is an asteroid?
Irregular
What do terrestrial and gas giants have in common?
They all have a rocky core
Which planet is closest to the Sun?
Mercury
What kind of planets do we have?
Terrestrial and Gas Giants
What is the Oort cloud?
The furthest boundary of our solar system
What is Pluto?
A dwarf planet
What is NOT a requirement for an object to be considered a planet?
Have a moon
How many planets are in the solar system?
8
What is precession?
The change in direction of a planet’s axis
Which constellations can you see if you live on the Equator?
The ecliptic, northern, and southern constellations
What is an asterism?
A grouping of stars that is not an official constellation
What does the term “constellation” mean?
Grouping of stars
Which of the following is NOT a star color?
Green
Which of the following characteristics CANNOT be determined using an H-R diagram?
Distance from Earth
Where on an H-R diagram are most stars located?
The main sequence
What characteristics are plotted on H-R diagrams?
Luminosity versus surface temperature
What is the fourth state of matter?
Plasma
Which layer of the Sun can only be seen during a total solar eclipse?
Corona
Which layer of a star do we see?
Photosphere
What is a binary star system?
A star system with two stars
What is our Sun’s name?
Sol
What is a star?
A sphere of plasma held together by its own gravity undergoing nuclear fusion
What is NOT a galaxy shape?
Spherical
Approximately how wide is our galaxy?
100,000 light years
What are star clusters?
Groups of stars that developed together from the same nebula
What shape is our galaxy?
Spiral
What is our galaxy called?
Milky Way
Currently, the universe is…
expanding
What caused the early materials to clump together?
Gravity
When a star is moving away from an observer, the light is…
red-shifted
As the universe expanded it…
cooled down.
Before the Big Bang, which of these existed?
nothing
About how old is the universe?
14 billion years
Why was the discovery of Jupiter’s moons so important?
It supported the heliocentric model
Where is Earth in the heliocentric model?
Orbiting around the middle of the solar system
Who published the theory of gravity?
Newton
Who was the first astronomer to use a telescope for astronomy?
Galileo
Which astronomer most influentially suggested a heliocentric model?
Copernicus
Which is the correct order of units of measurement from smallest to largest?
Meter, kilometer, AU, ly, parsec
What is a light year (ly)?
The distance that light travels in one Earth year
What is an astronomical unit (AU)?
The average distance between Earth and the Sun