Astronomy Vocab

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

• neutron star

• nebula

• black hole

• protostar

Stellar explosion that emits massive amounts of energy and higher mass elements;

• Nebula

• Black Hole

• Supernova

• Galaxy

Star corpse that results from the supernova of stars that are not big enough to create black holes. Smallest and densest stars known

• Neutron Star

• Main Sequence Star

• BlackHole

• Red Giant

Star corpse of a star that is not large enough to go supernova. Outer layers lost as planetary nebula

• Main Sequence

• Black Dwarf

• White Dwarf

• Red Giant

Specific areas of space where the stars form a pattern when viewed from earth

• Orion

• Constellation

• Big Bang

• Constant

Distance from the earth to the sun (about 1.496 x 10¹¹ m)

• Astronomical Unit (au)

• Light year

• Speed of light

• Solar mass

Planet that orbits a star other than the sun

• Dwarf planet

• Exoplanet

• Endoplanet

• Tiny planet

Scatter graph of stars showing the relationship between their luminosities and temperature

• HD Diagram

• H-R Diagram

• H-P Diagram

• RD Diagram

Study of interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation

• Spectral class

• Specturm

• Spectroscopy

• Stethoscope

Large mass that forms out of a nebula; “pre-star” stage

• Amatuer Star

• Main Sequence

• White dwarf

• Protostar