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PCS Earth Science
Chapter 29 Vocabulary - Stars
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| photosphere | the inner layer of the sun's atmosphere; the intensely luminous surface of a star (especially the sun) |
| chromosphere | a gaseous layer of the sun's atmosphere (extending from the photosphere to the corona) that is visible during a total eclipse of the sun |
| solar wind | a stream of electrically charged particles produced by the sun's corona |
| sunspot | a cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere |
| solar flare | an eruption of gas from the sun's surface that occurs when the loops in sunspot regions suddenly connect |
| prominence | a loop of gas that protrudes from the sun's surface, linking parts of sunspot regions |
| fusion | creation of energy by joining the nuclei of two hydrogen atoms to form helium |
| fission | a splitting apart |
| constellation | a group of stars that form a pattern in the sky |
| binary star | a star system with two stars |
| parallax | the apparent change in position of an object when you look at it from different places |
| apparent magnitude | the brightness of a star when viewed from Earth |
| absolute magnitude | the magnitude that a star would have if it were viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs (32.62 light years) from the earth |
| luminosity | energy output from the surface of a star per second; measured in watts; brightness |
| Hertzsprung-Russell diagram | organizes the family of stars into a diagram; across bottom is star's temperature and side is star's absolute magnitude; a star's temperature and color depend on how big the star is |
| main sequence | a diagonal area on an H-R diagram that includes more than 90 percent of all starts; a band that slopes diagonally from the upper left to the lower right of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and contains about 90 percent of stars |
| corona | the outer layer of the sun's atmosphere |
| spectrum | the band of color produced when white light passes through a prism |
| parsec | a unit of distance that is equal to 3.26 light years |
| black hole | an object whose gravity is so strong that nothing, nut even light, can escape |
| nebula | a cloud of gas and dust in outer space visible in the night sky either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter |
| Neutron Star | a star that has collapsed under its own gravity |
| protostar | early form of a star; this stage lies between the collapsing of dust and gas and the beginning of nuclear fusion |
| pulsar | a rapidly spinning neutron star that emits rapid pulses of radio and optical energy |
| supernova | a gigantic explosion in which a massive star collapses and throws its outer layers into space |
Created by:
Ms.Sala
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