Space: The physical universe beyond the Earths atmosphere

Celestial Object: Any object that exists in space

Planet: An object that orbits a star (and is not a star itself), is spherical, and does not share its orbit with another
object (i.e. a circular orbit). Planets reflect the light of stars, and are always rotating and revolving around a star
Examples: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Inner Planet: A planet whose orbit lies within the Asteroid Belt. Inner planets have a solid, rocky surface
Examples: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Outer Planet: A planet whose orbit lies beyond the Asteroid Belt. Outer planets are made of gas, and do
not have a surface
Examples: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Dwarf Planet: A round celestial body that orbits the Sun. It may share its orbit with another planet (i.e. an
elliptical orbit); however it is not a satellite
Examples: Pluto, Eris, Sedna, EL61, Ceres

Moon: A natural satellite of any planet. Earths moon causes the rising and falling of tides
Eclipse: An astral phenomenon in which one celestial object moves directly in front of another
Lunar Eclipse: The phenomenon in which a full moon passes into the Earths shadow
Solar Eclipse: The phenomenon in which the shadow of the Moon falls on the Earths surface
Constellation: A group of star that forms distinctive patterns in the sky. There are 88 official constellations.
Some constellations can only be seen during certain seasons. Stars within a constellation are very far apart
Examples: Aries, Cancer, Gemini, Pisces, Orion, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor

Asterism: An unofficial group of stars that form distinctive patterns in the sky. They are NOT a smaller part of a
constellation
Examples: Orions Belt, Big Dipper, Great Square of Pegasus, Winter Triangle, Summer Triangle

Star: A celestial body made up of hot gases, mainly hydrogen and helium. Stars emit light, are stationary, and are
very far away from the earth
Examples: Sun, Proxima Centauri (closest star to the sun), Sirius, Pollux, Rigel

Meteoroid: A piece of rock moving through space

Meteor: A meteoroid that hits the Earths atmosphere and burns up
Meteorite: A meteor that does not burn up completely in the Earths atmosphere
Comet: An object composed of rocky material, ice, and gas. It originates from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.
Comets orbit the Sun. When they come close enough, the sunlights pressure causes small particles to separate,
forming a whitish dust tail. The ultraviolet light from the sun ionizes the gas atoms and form a gas ion tail.
Examples: Halley, Hale-Bopp, Shoemaker-Levy 9, Swift-Tuttle, Wild 2

Asteroid: A rocky object in space that orbit the sun in the Asteroid Belt. They can range in size, and are made up
of rock and metal. Unlike comets, asteroids remain solid even when close to the Sun

Asteroid Belt: A belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is the origin of asteroids
Trans-Neptunian Object: Objects that originate from beyond Neptune
Kuiper Belt: A belt beyond Plutos orbit, located 30 - 35 AU away from the Sun. It is the origin of comets and
asteroids

Oort Cloud: A spherical cloud located from 5,000 - 100,000 AU away from the Sun. It is the origin of comets
Finding Stars
Polaris
Sirius
Locate the Big Dipper in Ursa Minor. Locate the end star on
Extend Orions Belt (three bright stars in centre of Orion) to
the rim of the Big Dipper, and extend vertically in a straight
the left until you reach the brightest star in the sky.
line to Polaris in Ursa Minor.

Solar System: A group of planets that circle one or more stars

Binary Stars: Stars that orbit each other
M
My
My
My
Mr.
MERCURY

INNER PLANETS
B
E
Very
Excellent
Very
Exhausted
Very
Energetic
Vitols
Educated
VENUS
EARTH

M
Mother
Mother
Mother
Many
MARS

J
Just
Just
Jabbed
Joyful
JUPITER

OUTER PLANETS
S
U
N
Sent
Us
Nachos
Slept
Until
Noon
Seven
Ubiquitous
Ninjas
Students
Using
Nicknames
SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE

Astronomical Unit: The average distance between the earth and the Sun. Significantly smaller than a light-year
Light-year: The distance that light travels in one year, about 9.5 * 1012 km
Solar Mass: A unit of measurement for the masses of stars and galaxies. The Sun is one solar mass
Luminosity: A stars total energy output per second, measured in joules per second (J/s)
Gravitational Force: The force of attraction between all masses in the universe. It depends on the masses of the objects and
the distance between them

Retrograde Motion: The movement of an object, usually a planet, from east to west rather than from west to east
Rotation: The time it takes for a planet takes to complete full, stationary, rotation around its axis. Earths rotation causes
daytime, and nighttime, as well as different seasons in some regions

Revolution: The time it takes for a planet takes to complete a full, mobile orbit around the Sun. Earths revolution

Absolute Magnitude: The actual magnitude of a star

Apparent Magnitude: The magnitude of a star as seen from Earth
Electromagnetic Radiation: Radiation consisting of electromagnetic waves that travels at the speed of light. Electrons
constantly move, and emit and absorb photons. When they absorb a specific amount of energy, they move up an energy level.
When they drop to a lower energy level, they emit the energy in the form of ER, which sometimes produces visible light
Example: Radio Wave, Microwave, Infrared Wave, Visible Light, Ultraviolet Wave, X-ray, Gamma Ray

*As waves become more lethal (to the right), the wavelength increases

Spectral Lines: Specific wavelengths within a spectrum that is distinguished by lines. These wavelengths are blacked out
because they have been absorbed by the element. Each element absorbs certain wavelengths, producing a unique pattern of
spectral lines. They are used to determine a stars composition
Spectroscope: An optical instrument that produces a spectrum from a narrow beam of light, which is usually projected
onto a digital detector
Red-Shift: The shift of all spectral lines to the right (red) end of the spectrum. Occurs when an object is moving away
Blue-Shift: The shift of all spectral lines to the left (blue) end of the spectrum. Occurs when an object is moving closer

Refracting Telescope: A telescope that uses a lens to collect light from an object
Reflecting Telescope: A telescope that uses a mirror to collect light from an object (usually has an eyepiece on the side)
Radio Telescope: A telescope that detects radio waves
Example: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram: A graph that compares the properties of stars, mainly absolute magnitude and surface
temperature. Abbreviated as H-R Diagram
Main Sequence: A band of stars on the H-R Diagram running diagonally from the upper left (bright, hot stars) to
bottom right (cool, dim stars). About 90 percent of stars, including the Sun, are in the main sequence
Low-Mass Stars
1. Formed from a stellar nebula; which condenses into a protostar, then into a main sequence star
2. Consumes hydrogen over 10 billion years and eventually, their core collapses and contracts. Their temperature
increases and their outer layers begin to expand, becoming a red giant.
3. Its outer layers will cool down and dissipate into space (planetary nebula), revealing a white dwarf.
4. The white dwarf will cool down into a black dwarf
*Stars with higher masses consume their hydrogen more quickly
High-Mass Stars
1. Formed from a stellar nebula; which condenses into a protostar, then into a main sequence star
2. Consumes hydrogen rapidly, while their core heats up to very high temperatures. Their outer layers begin to expand,
becoming a supergiant, while creating heavy elements (e.g. iron) through fusion.
3. The core will collapse violently (since the heavier elements cannot produce fusion) and explode, creating a very bright
supernova. Heavier elements are ejected into space to form new stars
4. If the star began with a mass of 12-15 solar masses, the core will shrink to about 20 km and become very dense.
Electrons will be compressed into protons, and will eventually form a neutron star, located in the middle of its nebula
5. If the star began with a mass of more than 25 solar masses, the core from the supernova will completely vanish and
become a black hole, and object with a gravitational force so strong that nothing can escape it

Nebula: A vast cloud of gas and dust which may be the birthplace of stars
Protostar: A hot, condensed object at the centre of a nebula. It is the first stage of a star
Supernova: A massive explosion in which a stars entire outer portion is blown off
Neutron Star: A star so dense that only neutrons exist in its core
Pulsar: A neutron star that sends pulses of radiation towards Earth
Black Hole: The remnant of a supernova explosion. Its gravitational pull is so strong that nothing can escape its pull
Solar Nebula Theory: A theory suggesting that stars and planets formed from contracting, spinning disks of gas and dust.
The Sun was formed through a contracting nebula, which compresses into a protostar. As the temperature of the protostar
increases, nuclear fusion begins. This continues until the hydrogen is depleted. Planets form when particles from a nebula are
pulled to the protostars orbit by gravity, building up into larger planets

Nuclear Fusion: The process of energy production in which hydrogen nuclei combine to form helium nuclei. This begins
when a protostar reaches a temperature of ten million degrees celcius

Sunspot: An area of strong magnetic fields on the Suns photosphere (surface)

Solar Flare: A process that occurs when there are complex groups of sunspots. In a solar flare, magnetic fields eject explosive
streams of fast-moving particles (called solar wind) into the solar system. This can damage electronic equipment and cause
aurora borealis

Satellite: A celestial body, natural or artificial, orbiting a planet or star

Orbiter: An observatory that orbits other celestial objects
Lander: A spacecraft designed to land on a celestial object