Study-Earth Science Midterm

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Define astronomy: study of objects beyond Earth's atmosphere
Define meteorology: studies the air that surrounds our planet
Define geology: the materials that make up Earth and the processes that form and change these materials
Define oceanograpy: the study of Earth's oceans, which cover three fourths of the planet
Define scientific law: 1. A natural phenomenon that has been proven to occur invariably whenever certain conditions are met. 2. A formal statement describing such a phenomenon and the conditions under which it occurs. Also called law.
Define scientific theory: a statement that postulates ordered relationships among natural phenomena.
Define hypothesis: a suggested explanation for an observation often stated in the form of a question that can be answered by the results of an experiment
Define IV and DV amd control: IV- the factor that is manipulated in the experiment
DV- the factor that can change if the IV is changed
Control-standard for comparison in an experiment.
Name all SI (Syteme International): Modern version of metric system based on a decimal system using the number 10 as the base unit; includes the meter (m), liter (L), second (s), and kilogram (kg).
Define scientific notation: a shorthand writing of a number in which a number is expressed as a multiplier and a power of 10
Define cartography: science of mapmaking
Define equator: imaginary line that lies at 0 degrees latitude and circle Earth midway between the NORTH and SOUTH poles,divides the Earth in the North and South hemispheres
Describe the difference between lattitude and longitude: lat-distance in degrees north and south
long- distance in degrees east and west of the prime meridian
Define prime meridian: imagery line representing 0 degrees longitude, running from the north pole, through Greenwich, England, to the south pole
Define International date line: The 180 degree meridian, which serves as a transition line for calender days
Define mercator production: map with parallel lines of latitude and longitude that shows true direction and the correct shapes of landmasses but distorts areas near the poles
conic projection: Map that is highly accurate for small areas, made by projecting points and lines form a globe onto a cone
gnomic projection: map useful in plotting long distance trips by boat or by plane that is made by projecting points and lines form a globe onto a piece of paper that touches the globe at a single point
topographic map: map that uses contour lines, symbols, and color to show changes in the elevation of Earth's surface and features such as mountains, bridges, and rivers
contour line: a line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation
contour interval: difference in elvation between two side by side contour line on a topographic map
map legend: key that explains what the symbols mean
map scale: ratio between the distances shown on a map and the actual distances on Earth's surface
remote sensing: procerss of gatering data about earth from far above the planet's surface
frequency: number of waves that pass a given point
topex/poseidon satellite: Data-gathering satellite that uses radar to map features on the ocean floor
GPS: Global Positioning System is a satellite based system thatpermits a user to pinpoint his or her exact location on the Earth
Landsat satellite: information gathering satellite that uses visible light and infrared radiation to map Earth's surface
retrograde motion: a planet's backward motioin in the sky
astronomical unit: (AU) A planet's average distance to the Sun; for the Sun and Earth, is 1.496 X 10^8 km, or 1 AU
perihelion: point in a planet's orbit where it is closest to the sun
aphelion: point in a planet's orbit where it is farthest form the Sun
eccentricity: rario of the distance between the foci to the lengh of the major axis; defines the shape of a planet's elliptical orbit.
Kepler's Laws: each planet orbit around the sun as an ellipse rather than a circle
The path of the planets about the sun are elliptical in shape, with the center of the sun being located at one focus. (The Law of Ellipses)
An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time. (The Law of Equal Areas)
The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun. (The Law of Harmonies)
terrestrial planets: the four inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars- close to the size of Earth with solid rocky surfaces
precession: wobble in Earth's rotational axis
gas giant planets: large, gaseous planets that are very cold at their surfaces, have ring systems, many moons, and lack solid surfaces Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus, and Neptune
asteroid: rocky remnant of the early solar system found mostly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt
belt: low, warm, dark-colored cloud that sinks and flows rapidly in the Jovian atmosphere
comet: small, eccentrically orbiting body made of rock and ice that consists of a nucleus, a coma, and one or more tails that point away from the Sun
meteor: streak of light produced when a meteoroid falls toward Earth and burns up in Earth's atmosphere
meteorite: meteoroid that does not completely burn up in Earth's atmosphere and strikes Earth's surface, sometimes causing an impact crater
meteoroid: piece of interplanetary material that falls toward Earth and enters its atmosphere
meteor shower: occurs when Earth intersects a cometary orbit and comet particles burn up as they enter Earth's upper atmosphere
planetesimal: space object built of solid particles that can form planets through collisions and mergers
fission: process in which heavy atomic nuclei split into smaller, lighter nuclei
fusion: process in a star's core in which lightweight hydrogen nuclei combine into heavier helium nuclei
zone: high, cool, light-colored cloud that rises and flows rapidly in the Jovian atsmosphere
photosphere: lowest layer of the Sun's atmosphere that is also its visible surface, has an average temperature of 5800 K, and is about 400 km thick
chromosphere: layer of the Sun's atmosphere above the photosphere and below the corona that is about 2500 km thick and has a temperature around 30 000 K at its top
corona: top layer of the Sun's atmosphere that extends from the top of the chromosphere and ranges in temperature from 1 million to 2 million K
solar wind: wind of charged particles that flows throughout the solar system and begins as gas flowing outward from the Sun's corona at high speeds
protostar: hot, condensed object at the center of a nebula that will become a new star when nuclear fusion reactions begin
solar flare: violent eruption of radiation and particles from the Sun's surface that is associated with sunspots
sunspot: dark spot on the surface of the photosphere that typically lasts two months, occurs in pairs, and has a penumbra and an umbra
prominence: arc of gas ejected from the chromosphere, or gas that condenses in the Sun's inner corona and rains back to the surface, that can reach temperatures over 50 000 K and is associated with sunspots
nebula: large cloud of interstellar gas and dust that collapses on itself, due to its own gravity, and forms a hot, condensed object that will become a new star
apogee and perigee: a-farthest point in the Moon's elliptical orbit to Earth
p-closest point to the Moon's elliptical orbit to Earth
lunar eclipse: occurs only during a full moon, when Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, and Earth's shadow falls on the Moon
solar eclipse: occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun and the Moon casts a shadow on Earth, blocking Earth's view of the Sun; can be partial or total
summer solstice: occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at 23.5° north latitude, around June 21, and results in the maximum number of daylight hours for the northern hemisphere and the minimum number for the southern hemisphere
Synchronous rotation: describes the state at which the Moon's orbital and rotational periods are equal
vernal equinox: occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and results in day and night of equal length for both northern and southern hemispheres
autumnal equinox: occurs when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and results in day and night of equal length for both northern and southern hemispheres
ecliptic: plane that contains Earth's orbit around the Sun
ejecta: material that falls back to the lunar surface after being blasted out by the impact of a space object
highlands: light-colored, mountainous, heavily cratered areas of the Moon, composed mostly of lunar breccias
interferometry: process that links separate telescopes so they act as one telescope, producing more detailed images as the distance between them increases
mare: dark-colored, basaltic, smooth plain on the Moon, between 3.1 and 3.8 billion years old, that formed from lava welling up and filling in large impact basins
reflecting telescope: a type of telescope that uses mirrors to focus visible light
refracting telescope: a type of telescope that uses lenses to focus visible light
spinoff: NASA technology that has been passed to commercial industries for common use
black hole: small, extremely dense remnant of a star whose gravity is so immense that not even light can escape its gravity field
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (H-R diagram): graph that relates stellar characteristics -- class, mass, temperature, magnitude, diameter, and luminosity
neutron star: collapsed, dense core of a star that forms quickly while its outer layers are falling inward, has a radius of about 10 km, a mass 1.5 to 3 times that of the Sun, and contains only neutrons
Big Bang Theory: proposes that the universe began as a single point and has been expanding ever since
halo: spherical region that surrounds the Milky Way's nuclear bulge and disk
inflationary universe: model predicting that the universe if flat; can explain the walls and voids in the distribution of galaxies
steady-state theory: proposes that the universe is the same as it has always been
seasons and tides: Seasons are created by the Earth's 23.5 degree tilt and motion around the sun
The tide is the regular rising and falling of the ocean's surface caused by changes in gravitational forces external to the Earth. The primary changing gravitational field is due to the Moon while the secondary field is caused by the Sun.
Impact Theory: moon had been bombarded by many craters, however the traces were not eliminated because there was no erosion or water on the moon therefore the impact has been preserved
spiral arm: Spiral arms are regions of stars that extend from the center of spiral and barred spiral galaxies. These long, thin regions resemble a spiral and thus give spiral galaxies their name.
The sun is located in the minor arm ____ at a distance of avout 28 00 ly from the galacentic center: Orion
spiral galaxy: a galaxy having a spiral structure; arms containing younger stars spiral out from old stars at the center
elliptical galaxy: An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy in the Hubble sequence characterized by the following physical properties: * No or at most inconsiderable amount of angular momentum.* No or at most inconsiderable amount of interstellar matter, no young stars, no open star clusters* Consisted of old, so-called Population II stars* Larger elliptical galaxies typically have a system of globular clusters
irregular galaxy: An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not fall into the Hubble classification for galaxies. These are galaxies that feature neither spiral nor elliptical morphology.

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