Astronomy and Earth Science Concepts

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how far light can travel in one year; a measurement of distance not time. 1 light year = 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers)

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Light year

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a graph that compares stellar characteristics such as temperature, brightness, and color

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Hertzsprung Russell (HR) diagram

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a measurement on the HR diagram of how bright a star shines in comparison to the sun

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Luminosity

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a violent explosion that occurs when a massive star dies and throws off gas and debris into space at tremendous speeds

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Supernova

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the medium mass star around which Earth orbits

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Sun

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a collection of billions of stars along with their solar systems, gas and dust held together by gravity that rotates around its center.

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Galaxy

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the barred spiral galaxy in which the sun is found located on an outer spiraling arm.

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Milky Way galaxy

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a planet-sized star that remains after a low mass star dies and sheds its outer layers of gas as a planetary nebula

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White dwarf

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the late stage of life of a medium sized star when it expands to form a much larger star with a much lower temperature.

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Red giant

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an incredibly dense star that forms from the collapsed core of a massive star as it dies in a supernova

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Neutron star