PHYSCI

• Brightness- The brightness of a star is described in terms of magnitude and luminosity.
• Luminosity- The actual brightness of an object such as a star
• Super Giant Stars- Luminous stars with a mass more than 10 times higher than our sun and have started to decay
• Giant Stars- Giant stars start with a mass about 0.8 to about 10 times the solar mass of our sun.
• Main Sequence White Dwarf Stars- Like our sun, they are in the central part of their evolution
• Brown Dwarf- Do not have enough mass to run a nuclear fusion process and transition from main sequence or a giant star.
• Constellations- Group of stars forming a definite shape, few examples of constellations are the Orion and Big Dipper.
• Solar Eclipse- Happens when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. It can fully or partially block the sunlight from reaching the earth.
• Total Solar Eclipse- Occurs when the moon completely covers the sun.
• Annular Solar Eclipse- An eclipse in which a  thin outer ring of the sun’s disk is not covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon.
• Partial Solar Eclipse- Takes place when the sun, earth, and moon are not exactly lined up.
• Lunar Eclipse- Happens when the moon is exactly on the opposite side of the earth to the sun.The moon then passes through the earth’s shadow.
• Total Lunar Eclipse- Happens when the moon is located within the umbra of the earth’s shadow.
• Penumbral Solar Eclipse- Happens when the moon travels on the penumbra of the earth’s shadow.
• Partial Lunar Eclipse-Happens when a part of the moon is located on the penumbra and another part is located on the umbra of the earth’s shadow.
• Mercury- Closest to the sun, has thin atmosphere, smallest planet and has many deep craters
• Venus- Hottest planet, many deep craters and volcanoes, and has the same size as earth.
• Earth- Only planet that is habitable, only planet to have liquid water, and the atmosphere is made out of water vapor.
• Mars- Considered as a red planet because of its rich iron minerals and has a rocky surface.
• Jupiter- Largest planet, stormy atmosphere, famous for the great red spot, has 80 moons.
• Saturn- Has rings around it, second biggest planet in the solar system.
• Uranus- Coldest planet and has faint rings
• Neptune- An ice giant, farthest planet
• Asteroid Belt- Disc shape that is located between  the orbits of mars and jupiter. The asteroids are made of rocks and minerals that are irregularly shaped.
• Crust- Outside layer of earth, thinnest layer and is made out of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite.
• The oceanic is denser and thinner and composed of basalt
• continental is less dense, thicker, and composed of granite.
• Mantle- Close to 3,000 kilometers in thickness, mostly made of aluminum, iron, and silicon.
• Outer Core- Made of iron and nickel and is in liquid form, 5,180 to 2,880 kilometers in thickness. Generates the earth’s magnetic field.
• Inner Core- Has a radius of 1,220 kilometers, mostly made of iron and nickel and its extremely dense. Temperature sits at 5,400 celsius
• PANGEA-  German scientist Alfred Wegener proposed that earth’s continents once formed a single, giant landmass called pangea. Over millions of years, pangea slowly broke apart, forming continents as they are today.
• Plate Tectonics- In 1915, Alfred Wegener proposed the continental drift theory, which states that parts of the earth’s crust slowly drift atop a liquid core. The bases of this theory were map fit, fossil evidence, and mid oceanic ridges.
• Wegener also developed the tectonic plates theory where it states that the earth’s lithosphere is made up of individual plates that are broken down into a dozen of large and small pieces of solid rock called slab.
• Earthquake- An intense shaking of the earth’s surface. The shaking is caused by movements in the earth’s outermost layer.
• Seismic Wave- Any sudden disturbances in the earth’s crust may produce vibration in the crust which travels in all direction from the point of disturbances.
• Focus/Hypocenter- The point on the fault where rupture occurs and the location from which the seismic waves are released
• Epicenter- The point on the earth’s surface that is directly above the focus, the point where an earthquake or or underground explosion originates.
• Fault- A rock fracture along which movement occurs.
• Fault Scarp- A break in the ground caused by an earthquake.
• Magnitude- The energy released by an earthquake at the focus. It is calculated from earthquakes recorded by an instrument called seismograph.