ASTR BC 1753x Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Interstellar Cloud, Scientific Notation, Drake Equation

• School: Barnard College
• Department: Physics and Astronomy
• Course: ASTR BC 1753x
• Professor: Mary Putman, David Kipping

Document Summary

A large, glowing ball of gas that generates heat and light through nuclear fusion. A moderately large (nearly round) object which orbits a star and has cleared its neighborhood. ". Planets may be primarily rocky or gaseous in composition. Mercury, venus, earth and mars (the rocky surfaced planets) Asteroids-a relatively small and rocky object which orbits a star (a leftover planet building block) Comets-a relatively small and icy object which orbits a star (a leftover planet building block from the gas giants) Where water can exist- the habitable zone around a star. Mars and venus are on the edges of the habitable zone, but earth is in it. A star and all the material which orbits it, including its planets, moons and small bodies. An interstellar cloud of gas and/or dust between stars. A great island of stars in space, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center.