Astronomy: Stars and the Sun

A large cloud of dust and gas in space that can form stars.

The force that causes particles in a nebula to attract and collapse.

The series of stages a star goes through from formation to death.

The primary process stars use to produce energy during their main sequence phase.

A phase of a star's life cycle when it expands after burning helium.

A small, dense remnant of a star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel.

A process inside stars where hydrogen atoms combine to form helium, releasing energy.

Stars that are in the stable phase of burning hydrogen, like our Sun.

Early planetary bodies that orbited the sun, around 20-30 in number.

A period that caused intense heat, melting forming planets and leading to differentiation.

The process where heavier materials sink to form a planet's core, while lighter materials create the mantle and crust.

Gas giant planets, including Jupiter, known for their size, rings, and moons.

A sparse region of space between terrestrial and Jovian planets, containing many asteroids.

Formed via seafloor spreading at the mid-Atlantic ridge.

Plates pull apart, generally no earthquakes occur.

Plates pull toward each other, often causing earthquakes.

There are three types: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic.

Volcanoes emerge from hot spots or at plate boundaries.

A form of matter that has mass but does not interact with light, making it invisible.

Rubin found galaxies rotating much faster than expected, indicating more mass was needed to hold them together.

Galaxies would need to be at least 10 times more massive to account for their rapid rotation.

Dark matter does not interact with normal matter except through gravity, passing through ordinary objects.

An unknown force causing the accelerated expansion of the universe, estimated to make up ~70% of it.

Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, a proposed type of dark matter particle with very small mass.

Cosmology is the study of the universe's origin and evolution, while astronomy focuses on celestial objects.

Despite being invisible, dark matter's mass exerts a gravitational pull affecting the motion of galaxies.

A gas giant known for its colored bands and the Great Red Spot.

One of Jupiter's 61 moons, similar in size to Earth's moon.

A gas giant known for its spectacular rings composed of rock and ice.

An ice giant with a bland appearance due to methane, rotates on its side.

A tentative explanation for geological phenomena that can be tested.

A well-tested explanation for how tectonic plates move across Earth's surface.

The study of species and ecosystems distribution over time and space.

When similar species exist in widely separated locations.

The branch of astronomy that studies the origin and evolution of the universe.

A system of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter bound by gravity.

Galaxies are moving away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distance.

The theory that the universe began from a small, hot state and has been expanding ever since.

Faint microwave radiation found throughout the universe, evidence of the Big Bang.

The phenomenon where galaxies moving away show longer wavelengths and are redder than expected.