Astronomy Vocab

Front

Interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, and gases; a "star nursery".

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nebula

Front

Stellar explosion emitting massive energy and heavy elements.

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Supernova

Front

Star corpse from a supernova of smaller stars; smallest, densest stars.

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Neutron Star

Front

Star corpse not massive enough for supernova; outer layers lost as planetary nebula.

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White Dwarf

Front

Areas in space where stars form patterns as seen from Earth

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Constellation

Front

Distance from Earth to Sun: 1.496 x 10^11 m

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Astronomical Unit (au)

Front

Planet orbiting a star other than the sun

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Exoplanet

Front

Scatter graph of stars showing the relationship between luminosity and temperature.

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H-R Diagram

Front

Study of interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation

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Spectroscopy

Front

Large mass from a nebula; “pre-star” stage

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Protostar