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20 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Constellation
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patterns of start that were named in honor of mythological characters or great heroes.
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binary star
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pairs of stars pulled toward each other by gravity.
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light year
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the better unit to express stellar distance, which is the distance light year travels in one year.
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apparent magnitude
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how bright a star really is.
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main sequence star
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a star that falls into the category on the H-R diagram; This category contains the majority of stars and runs diagonally from the upper left to the lower right on the H-R diagram.
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red giant
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a large, cool star of high luminosity; a star occupying the upper-right portion of the H-R diagram.
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supergiant
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a very large, very bright red giant star. Betelgeuse is a bright red star and part of this category.
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Cepheid variable
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stars that get brighter and fainter in regular pattern
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nova
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a sudden brightening of a star. During the eruption, the outer layer of the star is ejected at high speed.
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nebulae
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clouds of dust and gases. If the interstellar matter is close to a very hot star, it will glow.
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protostar
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a developing star not yet hot enough to engage in nuclear fusion.
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supernova
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how stars in their lives in a brilliant explosion.
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white dwarf
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the remains of low-mass and medium mass stars.
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neutron star
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the remnants of supernova events.
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pulsar
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a source that radiates short bursts or pulses of radio energy.
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black hole
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objects that are very hot, their gravity is so strong that not even light can escape their surface.
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galaxy
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groups of stars, dust, and gases held together by gravity.
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galaxy cluster
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a system of galaxies containing from several to thousands of member galaxies, our own is called the Local group.
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Hubble's Law
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an idea that states that galaxies are retreating from us at a speed that is proportional to their distance.
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big band theory
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the universe began as a violent explosion from which the universe continues to expand, evolve, and cool.
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