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GCSE Science | Space Physics

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What 6 things make up the solar system?

  1. The Sun
  2. 8 planets (orbit the Sun)
  3. dwarf planets (orbit the Sun)
  4. Natural satelites
  5. The moons (orbit planets)

What is the solar system part of?

The Milky Way Galaxy

How was The Sun formed?

  1. The Sun was formed by a cloud of dust and gas formed together by gravitational forces.
  2. This caused fusion reactions.
  3. This led to an equilibrium between the collapse and the expansion of a star.

What are the stages of the life cycle of a star similar to the Sun?

  1. cloud of dust and gas
  2. protostar
  3. main sequence star
  4. red giant
  5. white dwarf
  6. black dwarf

Explanations

What are the stages of the life cycle of a star bigger than the Sun?

  1. cloud of dust and gas (nebula)
  2. protostar
  3. main sequence star
  4. red super giant
  5. supernova
  6. neutron star/ black hole

Explanations

How are new elements formed?

  1. Fusion occurs when hydrogen nuclei
  2. collide with other nuclei
  3. They combine to form helium.

How are elements larger than iron formed?

They are formed in a super nova.

Describe a circular orbit

Gravitational force keeps objects in an orbit.

A circular orbit has a constant speed but the direction is changing. This means the velocity is constantly changing.

What happens when the speed of an orbit changes?

  1. if the orbit speeds up
  2. the object transfers its gravitational potential into kinetic energy
  3. so the radius of the orbit would decrease

What is Red Shift?

Light waves from further galaxies have a larger wavelength.

This provides evidence that the universe is expanding.

What determines the amount of Red Shift?

The speed at which the object is travelling at relative to the observer.