15 Terms
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General astronomy
Industry: Astronomy
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General astronomy
Nanedi Valles
Astronomy; General astronomy
A large valley of Mars with a length of 508 km and 4 km width.
absolute magnitude
Astronomy; General astronomy
the brightness of an object that would be measured by an observer if the object was 10 parsecs away. It is a measure of the object's luminosity.
absorption line spectrum
Astronomy; General astronomy
dark lines in a continuous spectrum that are produced by cool, thin (low-pressure) gases in front of a hotter, dense object. Made by electrons jumping up farther from the nucleus of the atom.
acceleration
Astronomy; General astronomy
a change in motion = (the velocity change)/(time interval of change). It involves a change in the speed (increase or decrease) OR direction OR both speed and direction.
accretion disk
Astronomy; General astronomy
disk of gas that forms around a massive object as material spirals onto the massive object. Accretion disks around white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes form when material is drawn off a ...
active galaxy
Astronomy; General astronomy
luminous galaxy that produces most of its energy from a very compact source at its center. It has a non-thermal continuous spectrum. The energy is coming from an accretion disk of gas around a ...
adaptive optics
Astronomy; General astronomy
a technique that compensates for atmospheric turbulence by quickly adjusting the light path in the optics. This removes seeing effects and enables the telescope to achieve much better resolution, ...
