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Astronomy: explore STEM content (page 7 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.

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Note~271 words · 1 min

Messengers Bent by Magnetic Fields Cosmic rays are charged particles — overwhelmingly protons — arriving from space at speeds approaching that of light. Unlike photons, their paths are bent by every magnetic field they cross, so, except at

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Cosmic Rays & High-Energy Astrophysics

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Astronomy · L3 · Cosmic Rays & High-Energy Astrophysics

Note~488 words · 2 min

Gravitational lensing in practice: cluster mass mapping and time-delay cosmography Beyond the qualitative fact that mass bends light, gravitational lensing is a precise quantitative tool: it maps the total mass distribution of galaxy cluste

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Gravitational lensing in practice: cluster mass mapping and time-delay cosmography

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Astronomy · L4 · Gravitational lensing in practice: cluster mass mapping and time-delay cosmography

Flashcards8 cards

What is Earth's magnetosphere?1 / 8

The region of space around Earth controlled by its magnetic field. It is squashed on the side facing the Sun and stretched into a long tail on the far side.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Auroras and Earth's Magnetosphere

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Astronomy · L2 · Auroras and Earth's Magnetosphere

Flashcards8 cards

Why is Earth sometimes called the 'Goldilocks planet'?1 / 8

Because it is not too hot and not too cold — just the right distance from the Sun for liquid water to exist.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Why Earth Is Special

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Astronomy · L1 · Why Earth Is Special

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Five Paradigm Shifts in Astronomy

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Astronomy · L3 · Five Paradigm Shifts in Astronomy

Note~291 words · 1 min

Telescopes: Windows to the Universe A telescope collects light from distant objects and focuses it so we can see detail that the naked eye cannot. There are two main types: Space telescopes like Hubble orbit above Earth's atmosphere, which

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Telescopes and Eclipses

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Astronomy · L2 · Telescopes and Eclipses

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L4 · Active Galactic Nuclei, Quasars & Supermassive Black Holes

02Astronomy · L4 · Active galactic nuclei: accretion disks, jets, and supermassive black holes

03Astronomy · L4 · The unified AGN model: same engine, different viewing angle

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Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Active Galactic Nuclei & Quasars

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Astronomy · L4 · Active Galactic Nuclei & Quasars

Note~167 words · 1 min

The Right Planet in the Right Place Of all the planets we know about, Earth is the only one confirmed to have life. That's not an accident — Earth has a rare combination of things living creatures need. Earth sits inside the Sun's 'habitabl

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Why Earth Is Special

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Astronomy · L1 · Why Earth Is Special

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L4 · Astrobiology: Biosignatures, the Fermi Paradox & Habitability

02Astronomy · L4 · Biosignature gases, the Fermi paradox, and habitability beyond the classical HZ

03Astronomy · L4 · Assessing a candidate biosignature gas

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Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Astrobiology: Biosignatures, the Fermi Paradox & Habitability

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Astronomy · L4 · Astrobiology: Biosignatures, the Fermi Paradox & Habitability

Note~138 words · 1 min

Two Kinds of Satellites A satellite is simply anything that orbits a bigger object. Some satellites formed naturally billions of years ago. Others were built and launched by people just decades ago. What Artificial Satellites Do How a Satel

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Satellites: Natural & Artificial

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Astronomy · L1 · Satellites: Natural & Artificial

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L2 · Gravity and Orbital Motion

02Astronomy · L2 · Gravity and Orbital Motion

03Astronomy · L2 · Newton's Cannonball Thought Experiment

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Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Gravity and Orbital Motion

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Astronomy · L2 · Gravity and Orbital Motion

Flowchart11 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Aurora & Magnetosphere Physics · flowchart

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Astronomy · L3 · Aurora & Magnetosphere Physics · flowchart

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L2 · Space Telescopes

02Astronomy · L2 · Space Telescopes

03Astronomy · L2 · Why Astronomers Launch Telescopes Into Space

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Space Telescopes

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Astronomy · L2 · Space Telescopes

Collection3 items

01Astronomy · L1 · Stars and Constellations

02Astronomy · L1 · Stars and Constellations

03Astronomy · L1 · Stars and Constellations Quiz

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Stars and Constellations

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Astronomy · L1 · Stars and Constellations

Flashcards8 cards

What is an asteroid made of?1 / 8

Mostly rock and metal. Asteroids are leftover building blocks that never joined together to form a planet, and most orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

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Astronomy · L2 · Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

Quiz4 questions

Which line-broadening mechanism has a width that scales with the local gas pressure/density, and so is strongest in dwarf stars relative to giants of the same temperature?

ANatural broadeningBThermal Doppler broadeningCPressure (collisional) broadeningDRotational broadening

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Stellar Atmospheres and Spectral Line Formation

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Astronomy · L5 · Stellar Atmospheres and Spectral Line Formation

Flashcards8 cards

Why do we need rockets to reach space?1 / 8

Earth's gravity is very strong, so escaping it takes tremendous speed — only powerful rockets can do that.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Rockets

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Astronomy · L1 · Rockets

Flowchart13 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · From Millisecond Pulsar Timing to the Nanohertz Gravitational-Wave Background

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Astronomy · L5 · From Millisecond Pulsar Timing to the Nanohertz Gravitational-Wave Background

Flowchart12 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · From density fluctuations to observed CMB anisotropies and structure

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Astronomy · L4 · From density fluctuations to observed CMB anisotropies and structure

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L2 · The Copernican Revolution

02Astronomy · L2 · The Copernican Revolution

03Astronomy · L2 · Timeline of the Copernican Revolution

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Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · The Copernican Revolution

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Astronomy · L2 · The Copernican Revolution

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Exosolar System Architecture · flowchart

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Astronomy · L3 · Exosolar System Architecture · flowchart

Flashcards7 cards

What is the CMB angular power spectrum C_ℓ?1 / 7

The CMB temperature map T(θ, φ) is decomposed into spherical harmonics, ΔT/T = Σ a_ℓm Y_ℓm(θ,φ). The power spectrum C_ℓ = ⟨|a_ℓm|²⟩ (averaged over m) measures the variance of temperature fluctuations at angular multipole ℓ, which roughly corresponds to angular scale θ ~ 180°/ℓ. Plotting ℓ(ℓ+1)C_ℓ/2π against ℓ gives the characteristic series of 'acoustic peaks' that encode a wealth of cosmological information.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Angular Power Spectrum

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Astronomy · L5 · The CMB Angular Power Spectrum

Note~282 words · 1 min

A Hazy River of Light On a clear, dark night, far from city lights, you might see a pale, cloudy band stretching across the sky. That band is the Milky Way — the galaxy we live in, seen from the inside. The Milky Way is home to our Sun, Ear

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Spotting the Milky Way

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Astronomy · L1 · Spotting the Milky Way

Note~488 words · 2 min

Asteroseismology and helioseismology: reading stellar interiors from oscillations Stars ring like enormous, imperfect bells. Turbulent convection near the surface stochastically excites a rich spectrum of resonant oscillation modes, and the

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Asteroseismology and helioseismology: reading stellar interiors from oscillations

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Astronomy · L4 · Asteroseismology and helioseismology: reading stellar interiors from oscillations

Quiz4 questions

In the equilibrium-temperature energy balance, the factor of 4 in T_eq = [(1−A)S/(4σ)]^(1/4) comes from:

AThe planet absorbing sunlight over its cross-sectional area (πR²) but radiating from its full spherical surface (4πR²)BAn arbitrary calibration constant with no physical meaningCThe number of greenhouse gases typically presentDThe planet's rotation period

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Comparative Planetary Atmospheres & Climate — 4 Q

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Astronomy · L4 · Comparative Planetary Atmospheres & Climate — 4 Q

Flowchart11 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Galactic dynamics: the rotation curve problem and dark matter · flowchart

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Astronomy · L4 · Galactic dynamics: the rotation curve problem and dark matter · flowchart

Flashcards8 cards

What is the celestial sphere?1 / 8

An imaginary giant sphere surrounding Earth, onto which we project the positions of stars, as if they were all painted on its inside surface. It's a useful tool for mapping the sky, even though it isn't physically real.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Navigating the Night Sky

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Astronomy · L2 · Navigating the Night Sky

Quiz4 questions

The generalized Kepler's third law for a binary, P² = 4π²a³/[G(M₁+M₂)], differs from the single-planet version primarily by:

AUsing the orbital period squared instead of cubedBIncluding the sum of BOTH stars' masses, since neither can be assumed negligibleCRemoving the gravitational constant G entirelyDApplying only to circular orbits

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Binary Star Systems — 4 Q

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Astronomy · L4 · Binary Star Systems — 4 Q

Flashcards7 cards

Why don't astronomers measure the solar system in kilometres?1 / 7

They can, but the numbers get awkwardly huge — Neptune is over 4 billion km from the Sun. Bigger, more convenient units make distances easier to compare.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · The Scale of the Universe

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Astronomy · L2 · The Scale of the Universe

Collection3 items

01Astronomy · L4 · Galactic Dynamics & the Rotation Curve Problem

02Astronomy · L4 · Galactic dynamics: the rotation curve problem and dark matter

03Astronomy · L4 · Galactic Dynamics & Dark Matter — 4 Q

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Galactic Dynamics & Dark Matter

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Astronomy · L4 · Galactic Dynamics & Dark Matter

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