Space

• What type of object is the sun?

  Star
• What is the Moon?

  A natural satellite that orbits a planet
• Which galaxy is our solar system in?

  Milky way galaxy
• An Acronym to remember the planets

  My Very Exited Mum Just Sent Us Noodles
• How was a star such as the sun formed?

  Stars form a cloud of dust and gas called a Nebula pulled together by gravitational attraction. The gas here is mainly Hydrogen
• What are the different stages in how stars about the same size as the sun are formed?

  1. Nebula
  2. Protostar
  3. Main sequence star
  4. Red Giant
  5. White Dwarf
  6. Black Dwarf
• What are the different stages in the the development of stars much bigger than the sun?

  1. Nebula
  2. Protostar
  3. Main sequence star
  4. Red super giant
  5. Supernova
  6. Black hole or Neutron star
• How is a protostar formed?

  When gravity causes the Nebula to collapse, the temperature increases
• How is a Main Sequence star formed?

  When the temperature and pressure in protostar increases, the hydrogen nuclei goes thru nuclear fusion to form helium
• What does nuclear fusion release?

  Energy
• What does the fusion reaction cause to happen in the Main Sequence star?

  The force of gravity acting inwards is balanced by the force due to fusion energy acting outwards
• How is a red giant formed?

  1. Hydrogen runs out causing star to collapse
  2. The collapse causes temperature increase cause helium nuclei to fuse together to form heavier elements
  3. This causes the star to expand
• How is a white dwarf formed?

  When the red giant stops fusing helium, the star shrinks
• How is a Black dwarf formed?

  When a white dwarf cools down, it stops releasing energy causing a Black Dwarf
• How does a Red Super Giant form?

  When stars much bigger than the sun run out of hydrogen, they expand. Nuclear fusion cannot produce elements heavier than iron
• How does a Supernova form?

  1. RSG stops carrying out nuclear fusion
  2. The star explodes

  Temperature here is high enough to produce elements heavier than iron
• How are elements distributed around the universe?

  The supernova explodes
• How are the neutron star and the black hole formed?

  From the remains of the super nova after the explosion
• How are the planets and satellites able to maintain their circular orbits?

  The force of Gravity
• What happens to the velocity and speed during a circular orbit?

  Velocity is continually changing whereas the speed stays the same
• Why is the velocity constantly changing in a circular orbit?

  The direction is constantly changing
• If the speed of the satellite increases...

  The radius of its orbit decreases
• What is the Red Shift?

  The observed increase in the wavelength of light from the most distant galaxy. The further away the galaxy, the faster they are moving and the bigger the observed increase in wavelength.
• What does the red-shift provide evidence for?

  The universe is expanding and supports the Big Bang Theory
• What does the Big Bang Theory suggest?

  the universe began from a very small region that was extremely hot and dense
• What do observations of the supernova suggest?

  distant galaxies are receding ever faster
• The change of each galaxy's speed with distance is evidence of...

  an expanding universe
• What are some examples of unknown things about the universe?

  • dark mass
  • dark energy