As with any field of scientific study, astronomy has a long list of important terminology. So we've put together this glossary where you can check you fully understand the meaning of the common terms, as well as some of the more unusual words.
A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z
Words beginning with 'N' :
Nadir : the opposite of zenith, directly below an observer on the celestial sphere.
Nebula : large interstellar cloud of gas and dust.
Neutron star : one of the possible ends of a large star. It is the collapsed core of a star which has burned all its fuel. They are small (radius averaging 10 km or 6.2 mi), incredible dense and spin very quickly. They are the result of the supernova explosion of a massive star. Where their mass to be more than 3 solar masses they would collapse to form a black hole. The fastest observed neutron star spins at a rate of 716 times a second.
Nova : a star with a sudden short increase of its brightness. These outbursts are sudden and brief, lasting only hours or days. Some stars will increase their luminosity by up to 19 magnitudes.
Resources :
To support the quizzes in each section, we've put together some extra resources to provide further information:
- Articles - Alongside the quizzes, you'll find short articles on related topics, to help widen your knowledge of that area.
- Glossary - As with any field of scientific study astronomy has a long list of important terminology. So we've put together a glossary where you can check you fully understand the meaning of the more unusual words!