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Gravitational Equilibrium : A state of balance in which the force of gravity pulling inward is precisely counteracted by pressure pushing outward.

Corona (solar): he tenuous uppermost layer of the !un"s atmosphere# most of the !un"s $ rays are emitted from this region% in which the temperature is about & million '. !unspots: (lotches on the surface of the !un that appear dar)er than surrounding regions. *hotosphere : he visible surface of the !un% where the temperature averages +ust under ,--- '. core (of a planet): he dense central region of a planet that has undergone differentiation. nuclear fusion: he process in which two (or more) smaller nuclei slam together and ma)e one larger nucleus. nuclear fission: he process in which a larger nucleus splits into two (or more) smaller particles. luminosity: he total power output of an ob+ect% usually measured in watts or in units of solar luminosities (.!un / 0.1 2 &-3, watts). !olar 4lares: 5uge and sudden releases of energy on the solar surface% probably caused when energy stored in magnetic fields is suddenly released. paralla2: he apparent shifting of an ob+ect against the bac)ground% due to viewing it from different positions inverse square law: A law followed by any quantity that decreases with the square of the distance between two ob+ects. spectral type :A way of classifying a star by the lines that appear in its spectrum# it is related to surface temperature. he basic spectral types are designated by a letter (6(A4G'7% with 6 for the hottest stars and 7 for the coolest) and are subdivided with numbers from - through 8. main9sequence stars (luminosity class :) :!tars whose temperature and luminosity place them on the main sequence of the 59; diagram. 7ain9 sequence stars are all releasing energy by fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. 5ert<sprung9;ussell (59;) diagram: A graph plotting individual stars as points% with stellar luminosity on the vertical a2is and spectral type (or surface temperature) on the hori<ontal a2is.

open cluster: A cluster of up to several thousand stars# open clusters are found only in the dis)s of gala2ies and often contain young stars. globular cluster: A spherically shaped cluster of up to a million or more stars# globular clusters are found primarily in the halos of gala2ies and contain only very old stars. main9sequence turnoff point: he point on a cluster"s 59; diagram where its stars turn off from the main sequence# the age of the cluster is equal to the main9sequence lifetime of stars at the main9sequence turnoff point. (rown dwarf: An ob+ect too small to become an ordinary star because electron degeneracy pressure halts its gravitational collapse before fusion becomes self9sustaining# brown dwarfs have mass less than -.-17!un. thermal pressure: he ordinary pressure in a gas arising from motions of particles that can be attributed to the ob+ect"s temperature. degeneracy pressure: A type of pressure unrelated to an ob+ect"s temperature% which arises when electrons (electron degeneracy pressure) or neutrons (neutron degeneracy pressure) are pac)ed so tightly that the e2clusion and uncertainty principles come into play. e2clusion principle: he law of quantum mechanics that states that two fermions cannot occupy the same quantum state at the same time. *lanetary nebula: the glowing cloud of gas e+ected from a low mass star ath the end of its life proton proton chain: chain of reaction by whic low mass stars (including sun) fuse hyro% into helium triple alpha process: === C>6 cycle: he cycle of reactions by which intermediate9 and high9mass stars fuse hydrogen into helium. >eutron star: he compact corpse of a high9mass star left over after a supernova# it typically contains a mass comparable to the mass of the !un in a volume +ust a few )ilometers in radius. event hori<on: he boundary that mar)s the ?point of no return@ between a blac) hole and the outside universe# events that occur within the event hori<on can have no influence on our observable universe. !werchild diagram : a measure of the si<e of the event hori<on of a blac) hole.

Ara)e equation: An equation that lays out the factors that play a role in determining the number of communicating civili<ations in our gala2y.

habitable <one: he region around a star in which planets could potentially have surface temperatures at which liquid water could e2ist.

A>A (deo2yribonucleic acid): he molecule that represents the genetic material of life on Earth.

7BC;646!!B.!: the tiny remains of bacteria% protists% fungi% animals% and plants. 7icrofossils are a heterogeneous bunch of fossil remains studied as a single discipline because roc) samples must be processed in certain ways to remove them and microscopes must be used to study them.

stromatolites: ;oc)s thought to be fossils made by ancient microbes.

e2tremophiles:.iving organisms that are adapted to conditions that are ?e2treme@ by human standards% such as very high or low temperature or a high level of salinity or radiation.

Eu)araya: Eu)arya (or Eu)aryota) is one in the three9domain system of biological classification introduced by Carl Coese in &88-. he other two are Archaea and (acteria.

Archaea: he Archaea constitute a domain of single9celled microorganisms. hese microbes have no cell nucleus or any other membrane9bound organelles within their cells.

(AC E;BA (acteria (DbE)FtGHriHD ( listen)# singular: bacterium) constitute a large domain of pro)aryotic microorganisms. ypically a few micrometres in length% bacteria have a wide range of shapes% ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. (acteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth% and

are present in most habitats on the planet% growing in soil% water% acidic hot springs% radioactive waste% Cosmic bac)ground radiation is electromagnetic radiation from the s)y with no discernable source. >ucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic nuclei from pre9 e2isting nucleons% primarily protons and neutrons.

inflation (of the universe): A sudden and dramatic e2pansion of the universe thought to have occurred at the end of the GI era.

(ig (ang: he name given to the event thought to mar) the birth of the universe.

5ubble"s law:7athematical e2pression of the idea that more distant gala2ies move away from us faster: v / 5- 2 d% where v is a gala2y"s speed away from us% d is its distance% and 5- is 5ubble"s constant.

dar) energy: >ame sometimes given to energy that could be causing the e2pansion of the universe to accelerate. !ee cosmological constant.

gravitational lensing: he magnification or distortion (into arcs% rings% or multiple images) of an image caused by light bending through a gravitational field% as predicted by Einstein"s general theory of relativity.

loo)bac) time: he amount of time since the light we see from a distant ob+ect was emitted. Bf an ob+ect has a loo)bac) time of J-- million years% we are seeing it as it loo)ed J-- million years ago.

worldline: A line that represents an ob+ect on a spacetime diagram.

spacetime diagram:A graph that plots a spatial dimension on one a2is and time on another a2is.

accretion dis):A rapidly rotating dis) of material that gradually falls inward as it orbits a starli)e ob+ect (e.g.% white dwarf% neutron star% or blac) hole).

active galactic nuclei: he unusually luminous centers of some gala2ies% thought to be powered by accretion onto supermassive blac) holes. Kuasars are the brightest type of active galactic nuclei# radio gala2ies also contain active galactic nuclei.

quasar: he brightest type of active galactic nucleus.

irregular gala2ies: Gala2ies that loo) neither spiral nor elliptical.

elliptical gala2ies:Gala2ies that appear rounded in shape% often longer in one direction% li)e a football. hey have no dis)s and contain very little cool gas and dust compared to spiral gala2ies% though they often contain very hot% ioni<ed gas.

spiral gala2ies:Gala2ies that loo) li)e flat white dis)s with yellowish bulges at their centers. he dis)s are filled with cool gas and dust% interspersed with hotter ioni<ed gas% and usually display beautiful spiral arms.

nebula: A cloud of gas in space% usually one that is glowing.

reflection (of light): he process by which matter changes the direction of light.

ioni<ation: he process of stripping an electron from an atom.

interstellar medium: he gas and dust that fills the space between stars in a

gala2y.

spiral arms:the bright% prominent arms% usually in a spiral pattern% found in most spiral gala2ies.

bar: he standard unit of pressure% appro2imately equal to Earth"s atmospheric pressure at sea level.

halo: (of a gala2y)L he spherical region surrounding the dis) of a spiral gala2y.

bulge (of a spiral gala2y): he central portion of a spiral gala2y that is roughly spherical (or football shaped) and bulges above and below the plane of the galactic dis).

dis) (of a gala2y)

he portion of a spiral gala2y that loo)s li)e a dis) and contains an interstellar medium with cool gas and dust# stars of many ages are found in the dis).

gala2y: A huge collection of anywhere from a few hundred million to more than a trillion stars% all bound together by gravity.

length contraction: he effect in which you observe lengths to be shortened in reference frames moving relative to you.

time dilation: he effect in which you observe time running more slowly in reference frames moving relative to you.

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