Astronomy Concepts

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Red shift

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Due to the Doppler Effect: A shift toward longer wavelengths of the spectral lines emitted by a celestial object that is caused by the object moving away from the earth.

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Blue shift

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Due to the Doppler Effect: A shift towards the shorter wavelengths of the spectral lines of light coming from distant celestial objects moving toward the observer.

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Big Bang Theory

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The universe began from one point billions of years ago and has been expanding ever since.

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Terrestrial planet

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Planets that are small, dense/rocky and relatively close to the sun. Include- Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

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Jovian planet

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Planets that are relatively far from the sun, gaseous and large in size. They include- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

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Galaxy

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A large group of stars in space. They can contain up to trillions of stars. Held together by the force of GRAVITY.

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Light year

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Unit of distance. Distance that light can travel in one year. Very far- 10 trillion kilometers.

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Kuiper Belt

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A region of the solar system that is just beyond the orbit of Neptune and that contains small bodies made mostly of ice.

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Asteroid

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Object orbiting the sun too small to be a planet. Most are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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Comet

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Made of rock, dust and ice that travels around the Sun in a highly elliptical orbit.