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Astronomy: explore STEM content (page 24 of 26) · openstem

All fields Software Mathematics Physics Chemistry Biology Engineering Astronomy Environmental Other Astronomy Astronomy groups

Explore STEM Content

Search the community's STEM library — free to study, yours to make your own.

Astronomy

Stars, orbits, cosmology and observation on openstem — flashcards, notes, quizzes and plots shared by the community. Study free, or clone anything into your library.

Content Groups1

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Note~175 words · 1 min

Looking Up Through History For most of human history, people had only their eyes to study the sky. A few curious thinkers changed forever how we understand our place in the universe. A Slow Change of Mind Big ideas in science rarely change

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Astronomers Who Changed How We See the Sky

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Astronomy · L1 · Astronomers Who Changed How We See the Sky

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · How a Meteor Shower Happens

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Astronomy · L1 · How a Meteor Shower Happens

Flowchart11 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · A Rocket Launch, Step by Step

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Astronomy · L1 · A Rocket Launch, Step by Step

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L2 · The Sun's Structure and Activity

02Astronomy · L2 · The Sun's Structure and Activity

03Astronomy · L2 · Inside the Sun, Layer by Layer

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · The Sun's Structure and Activity

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Astronomy · L2 · The Sun's Structure and Activity

Flashcards8 cards

What physically causes a Cepheid variable to pulsate?1 / 8

Cepheids pulsate due to the kappa (κ) mechanism: in a particular temperature zone within the star (where helium is partially ionised), the gas's opacity increases as it is compressed, rather than decreasing as it normally would. This traps radiation, driving further expansion, which then decreases opacity and lets radiation escape, causing the star to contract again — a self-sustaining pulsation cycle rather than a one-off event.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Variable Stars: Cepheids, RR Lyrae & Asteroseismology

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Astronomy · L4 · Variable Stars: Cepheids, RR Lyrae & Asteroseismology

Flashcards8 cards

Why is Mars nicknamed the 'Red Planet'?1 / 8

Iron-rich dust covering its surface has rusted, giving Mars a reddish color.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Mars Exploration

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Astronomy · L1 · Mars Exploration

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Galaxy Formation

02Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Structure Formation and Galaxy Assembly

03Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Halo Assembly and Galaxy Growth

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Galaxy Formation

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Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Galaxy Formation

Flashcards8 cards

What is the leading scientific explanation for how the Solar System formed?1 / 8

The nebular hypothesis — the Sun and planets formed together from a single collapsing cloud of gas and dust.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · How the Solar System Formed

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Astronomy · L2 · How the Solar System Formed

Collection2 items

01Astronomy · L4 · The Solar System — Planets & Their Properties

02Astronomy · L4 · The Solar System: planets, asteroid belt, and Kuiper Belt

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · The Solar System

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Astronomy · L4 · The Solar System

Quiz5 questions

A star has a parallax angle of 0.1 arcseconds. What is its distance, using d = 1/p?

A0.1 parsecsB1 parsecC10 parsecsD100 parsecs

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · The Cosmic Distance Ladder

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Astronomy · L3 · The Cosmic Distance Ladder

Note~586 words · 3 min

Variable stars: Cepheids, RR Lyrae, and asteroseismology Some stars do not shine at constant brightness — they pulsate, rhythmically expanding and contracting. Two classes of these pulsating variables, Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars, are among

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Variable stars: Cepheids, RR Lyrae, and asteroseismology

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Astronomy · L4 · Variable stars: Cepheids, RR Lyrae, and asteroseismology

Note~254 words · 1 min

Three Kinds of Leftovers Not everything orbiting the Sun is a planet or moon. The solar system is full of smaller bodies — leftover material from its formation 4.6 billion years ago — and they come in a few distinct types. Why Comets Grow T

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

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Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

02Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

03Astronomy · L2 · Meteoroid, Meteor, Meteorite

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

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Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

Flashcards8 cards

What is an exoplanet?1 / 8

A planet that orbits a star other than our own Sun.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Exoplanets

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Astronomy · L2 · Exoplanets

Flashcards8 cards

How many seasons are there, and what are their names?1 / 8

Four: spring, summer, fall (autumn), and winter.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · The Four Seasons

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Astronomy · L1 · The Four Seasons

Note~212 words · 1 min

Interactive Astronomy Plots The Astronomy Visualised collection contains interactive graphs that let you explore fundamental astronomical relationships by adjusting parameters in real time. Hubble's Law The Hubble Law plot shows recession v

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Interactive Astronomy: Exploring the Universe with Graphs

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Astronomy · L3 · Interactive Astronomy: Exploring the Universe with Graphs

Collection3 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Galactic Chemical Evolution

02Astronomy · L5 · Galactic Chemical Evolution: Yields, Enrichment Timescales, and Gradients

03Astronomy · L5 · Galactic Chemical Evolution

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Galactic Chemical Evolution

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Astronomy · L5 · Galactic Chemical Evolution

Flowchart11 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Accretion Disks: The Eddington Limit and the Alpha-Disk Model · flowchart

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Astronomy · L5 · Accretion Disks: The Eddington Limit and the Alpha-Disk Model · flowchart

Quiz4 questions

An active galactic nucleus is powered primarily by:

ANuclear fusion in a dense cluster of young starsBGravitational energy released as matter accretes onto a supermassive black holeCCollisions between galaxy clustersDRadioactive decay of heavy elements in the galactic core

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Active Galactic Nuclei & Quasars — 4 Q

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Astronomy · L4 · Active Galactic Nuclei & Quasars — 4 Q

Quiz5 questions

What does a flat galaxy rotation curve suggest?

AThe galaxy has less mass than it appears toBThere is more unseen mass than the visible matter alone accounts forCNewtonian gravity is completely wrongDThe galaxy is not actually rotating

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Dark Matter & Dark Energy

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Astronomy · L3 · Dark Matter & Dark Energy

Note~416 words · 2 min

One Data Point Is Not a Trend Until 1995, the only planetary system available to study was our own — eight planets on nearly circular orbits, rocky worlds close to the Sun and gas giants far out, with a wide, empty gap between them. Theorie

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Exosolar System Architecture

@openstem

Astronomy · L3 · Exosolar System Architecture

Flashcards7 cards

What are the three main galaxy shapes in the Hubble sequence?1 / 7

Spiral, elliptical, and irregular — with barred spirals as a common variant of the spiral type.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Galaxy Types & the Milky Way

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Astronomy · L3 · Galaxy Types & the Milky Way

Flashcards8 cards

What is a mean-motion resonance between two orbiting bodies?1 / 8

A situation where two bodies' orbital periods form a ratio of small whole numbers (for example 2:1 or 3:2), so their relative alignment repeats in a fixed, predictable pattern on every cycle — producing a small gravitational tug that repeats at the same orbital phase every time, rather than averaging away as it would at a random, non-resonant period ratio.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Orbital Resonances, Lagrange Points & the Restricted Three-Body Problem

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Astronomy · L4 · Orbital Resonances, Lagrange Points & the Restricted Three-Body Problem

Quiz4 questions

In the ΛCDM hierarchical structure-formation picture, which forms first?

AThe largest structures (superclusters), which later fragmentBSmall dark matter halos, which subsequently merge into larger structuresCFully formed spiral galaxies, directly from the primordial gasDGalaxy clusters, simultaneously with the halos inside them

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Galaxy Formation

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Astronomy · L5 · Hierarchical Galaxy Formation

Note~350 words · 2 min

Two Very Different Orbits Not all satellites orbit at the same height, and the altitude a satellite flies at changes everything about how it behaves. A satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), only a few hundred kilometres up, races around the p

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Satellite Orbits and GPS

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Astronomy · L2 · Satellite Orbits and GPS

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Astronomers Who Changed How We See the Sky · flowchart

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Astronomy · L1 · Astronomers Who Changed How We See the Sky · flowchart

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Accretion Disk Physics

02Astronomy · L5 · Accretion Disks: The Eddington Limit and the Alpha-Disk Model

03Astronomy · L5 · From Viscous Accretion to the Eddington Limit

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Accretion Disk Physics

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Astronomy · L5 · Accretion Disk Physics

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Relativistic Jets: Doppler Beaming & Superluminal Motion

02Astronomy · L5 · Relativistic Jets: Doppler Beaming and Apparent Superluminal Motion

03Astronomy · L5 · Approaching Jet or Receding Counter-Jet?

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Relativistic Jets: Doppler Beaming & Superluminal Motion

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Astronomy · L5 · Relativistic Jets: Doppler Beaming & Superluminal Motion

Note~216 words · 1 min

The King of the Planets Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest. It is so massive that all the other planets combined could almost fit inside it. Unlike Earth, Jupiter has no solid ground. It is a giant ball of gas,

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Jupiter, the Giant Planet

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Astronomy · L1 · Jupiter, the Giant Planet

Collection3 items

01Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Angular Power Spectrum

02Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Angular Power Spectrum and Cosmological Parameters

03Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Angular Power Spectrum

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Power Spectrum

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Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Power Spectrum

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