Astronomer: A scientist who works in a field of research that deals with celestial bodies, space, and the physical universe.
Average: A term for the arithmetic mean, which is the sum of a set of numbers divided by the size of that group.
Black Hole: A region of space with an extremely strong gravitational field from which matter and radiation (including light) cannot escape.
Space: An adjective referring to the universe, i.e. the cosmos and everything in it.
Data: Facts or statistics collected for analysis, but not necessarily organized in a meaningful way. In the case of digital information (the type stored in a computer), these data are usually numbers stored in binary code, represented as a string of 0s and 1s.
Real Thing: A person or thing that exists and can be uniquely defined or characterized (meaning something separate and distinct from some general group).
Galaxy: A collection of stars held together by gravity, including mysterious dark matter that is normally invisible to the naked eye. Massive galaxies, such as the Milky Way, often contain more than 100 billion stars; the faintest galaxies may only have a few thousand. Some galaxies also contain gas and dust that can form new stars.
Mass: A number that indicates how much an object resists acceleration or deceleration. It is essentially a measure of how much material the object is made of.
Neutron Star: The extremely dense corpse of a once-massive star. When the star died in a supernova explosion, its outer layers were ejected into space. Its core then collapsed under the force of gravity, fusing the protons and electrons in its atoms into neutrons (hence the name star). A teaspoonful of a neutron star on Earth would weigh over a billion tons.
Observatory: (in astronomy) A building or structure (such as a satellite) that houses one or more telescopes. It can also be a system of structures that make up a telescope complex.
Pulsar: The name given to a spinning, super-dense neutron star. In Earth terms, a teaspoon would weigh 1 billion tons. It represents the end of a star that began with a mass 4-8 times that of the Sun. When a star dies in a supernova explosion, its outer layers are ejected into space. Then its core collapses under the force of gravity, fusing the protons and electrons of the star’s atoms into neutrons (hence the star’s name). As these stars spin, they emit short, regular pulses of radio waves or x-rays (and sometimes alternating between both).
Wireless: Refers to radio waves or devices that receive these transmissions. Radio waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that people often use for long-distance communication. Longer than visible light waves, radio waves are used to transmit radio and television signals. They are also used in radar. Many celestial bodies also radiate some of their energy as radio waves.
Star: The basic building blocks from which galaxies are made. Stars form when gravity compresses gas clouds. When a star becomes hot enough, it emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The Sun is the closest star to us.
Sun: The star at the center of Earth’s solar system. It is located about 27,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is also a general term for stars like the Sun.
Telescope: A light concentrator that makes distant objects appear closer, usually using a lens or a combination of curved mirrors and lenses, although some also collect radio radiation (energy from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum) via a network of antennas.
Source: www.snexplores.org
