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Space Voab
Question | Answer |
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meteoroid | a small piece of metal or stone that orbits the sun |
meteor | a streak of light in the sky that forms when a piece of rock from space burns up in Earth's atmosphere (related term: shooting star) |
meteorite | a piece of rock or metal from space that strikes Earth's surface |
star | a massive ball of gas in outer space that gives off heat, light, and other forms of radiation |
comet | a body of ice and dust that travels in a long, narrow orbit around the Sun |
asteroid | a small object made of rock or metal that orbits the sun |
Hertzprung-Russell diagram | a two-dimensional graph, devised independently by Ejnar Hertzsprung |
planetary nebula | a large cloud of gas and dust in outer space ejected by an aging star near the end of its life cycle |
solar nebula | the cloud of dust and gas created by the gravitational collapse of interstellar molecules from which it is believed the solar system was created |
white dwarf | a relatively small, dense star at the end of its life cycle, which generates little or no energy and has contracted to its densest state |
giant star | a star at the stage in its life cycle when it stops burning hydrogen, begins burning helium, and expands to a large, low-density star |
supergiant star | a star that is larger, brighter, and more massive than a giant star, being thousands of times brighter than the Sun and having a relatively short lifespan |
neutron star | a small-diameter, very dense star composed of neutrons held together by gravity |
black hole | a space object with surface gravity great enough that not even light waves can escape |
galaxy | a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction. |
milky way galaxy | the galaxy containing the Sun and its solar system, along with millions of other stars in a spiraling pattern, part of which can be seen as a band of "milky" diffuse light across the night sky |
sun spot | a cooler darker spot on the surface of the Sun |