click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
vocab p.65 science
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Star | any of the heavenly bodies, except the moon, appearing as fixed luminous points in the sky at night. |
Apparent magnitude | the magnitude of a star as it appears to an observer on the earth. |
luminosity | the quality of being intellectually brilliant. |
absolute magnitude | the magnitude of a star as it would appear to a hypothetical observer at a distance of 10 parsecs or 32.6 light-years. |
nebula | Also called diffuse nebula. a cloud of interstellar gas and dust. Compare dark nebula, emission nebula, reflection nebula. |
nuclear energy | energy released by reactions within atomic nuclei, as in nuclear fission or fusion. |
super nova | the explosion of a star, possibly caused by gravitational collapse, during which the star's luminosity increases by as much as 20 magnitudes and most of the star's mass is blown away at very high velocity, sometimes leaving behind an extremely dense core. |