IGCSE Physics key definitions space physics

IGCSE Physics Key Definitions For 0625 AND 0972 

Space Physics

igcse-physics-key-definitions-formulae-laws-terms-space-physics 

IGCSE Physics Definitions/ Space Physics

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  • Rotation of Earth

    The circular movement of the Earth about its own axis.

  • Average orbital speed

    Defined by v = 2(pi)r / T, where r is average orbital radius and T is the orbital period.

  • Solar system

    Eight planets and their moons orbiting the Sun, plus smaller bodies such as comets, asteroids, and meteoroids.

  • Orbital distance

    The average distance from the orbiting body to the object it orbits.

  • Orbital duration (orbital time)

    Time taken by one object to complete a full orbit around another.

  • Gravitational field strength

    The gravitational force exerted per unit mass at a point; symbol g.

  • Interstellar clouds of gas and dust

    Clouds of dust, plasma, and gases found throughout galaxies, including ours.

  • Accretion disc

    A rotating structure of gas, plasma, and dust surrounding objects like stars or black holes.

  • Planetary data

    Information about the planets obtained from research and exploration.

  • Stars

    Massive, self-luminous celestial objects composed mainly of hydrogen and helium.

  • Protostars

    Young stars formed by accretion within a nebula.

  • Stable stars

    Stars in hydrostatic equilibrium: outward gas pressure balances inward gravitational pull (e.g. the Sun).

  • Sun

    A bright, luminous, stable star located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way and at the centre of the Solar System.

  • Galaxy

    A vast system of billions of stars with their systems, gas, and dust bound by gravity; over a hundred billion exist in the universe.

  • Milky Way

    Our spiral galaxy containing the Solar System and billions of stars.

  • Universe

    All of space, time, matter, and the laws that govern them.

  • Light-year

    The distance light travels in a vacuum in one year.

  • Red giants

    Luminous, cool-surface stars in late evolution with large radii and reddish-orange colour (e.g. Aldebaran, Mira).

  • Red supergiants

    Red supergiants are aging giant stars with a minimum of 15 solar masses. [solar mass refers to the mass of the sun, when used as a unit of mass. One solar mass is equal to 1.989 x 1030 kg

  • Supernova

    A powerful, luminous stellar explosion at the end of a massive star’s life (e.g. Kepler’s Supernova).

  • Nebula

    Nebula is a Latin word for fog or cloud.It consists of interstellar clouds consisting of Helium, Cosmic Dust, ionised gases, hydrogen as well as molecular clouds. [There are in all 5 different types of Nebulae, namely;emission nebulae, reflection nebulae, dark nebulae, planetary nebulae, and supernova remnants.

  • Black hole

    A black hole is a region in the space, in which the effect of gravity is so strong, that it lets nothing escape out f it, not even light.The region appears to be black and circular.[ There are approximately 100 billion super massive black holes]

  • Redshift

    Redshift is a phenomenon in which the spectrum of an astronomical object gets displaced towards the longer( red) wavelength.

  • Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR)

    Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) is the leftover of the cosmic radiation after the big bang.

  • Hubble constant H0

    : Hubble constant is the ratio of the speed at which the galaxy is moving away from the Earth to its distance from the Earth

 

 

 

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