ASTR 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter Chapter 1.1: Solar System, Laniakea Supercluster, Milky Way

• School: George Mason University
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: ASTR 111
• Professor: Rebecca Ericson

Document Summary

Ancestors thought the earth to be stationary (geocentric model) Galaxies we see from hubble is one layer in our universe -- cosmic address . Solar system - a star and all objects that orbit it. Milky way galaxy - name of our galaxy; refers to band of light we see in sky when we. Galaxy - great island of stars in space, containing millions, billions or even trillions of stars, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center. Local group - group of about 40 galaxies to which milky way belongs. Galaxy clusters (cluster of galaxies)- groups of galaxies with many more large members. Superclusters - largest known structures in the universe, consisting of many clusters of sheets with huge voids between them galaxies, and individual galaxies. Our local group is located on outskirts of the local supercluster, called. Astronomical unit (au) - earth"s average distance from sun (~150 million km/93 million mi. )