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8.8A Components of the Universe  

 Picture  Vocabulary  

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Universe  

All space and the matter space contains

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Star  

A self-luminous celestial body consisting of a mass of gas held together by its own gravity in

which the energy is generated by nuclear reactions in its interior  

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Nebula  

Large cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space; the location of star formation  

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Galaxy  

A large grouping of stars in space  

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Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram  

 A plot of the surface temperature (color) of

stars vs. their luminosity (brightness)  

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Elliptical-Shaped Galaxy  

 A galaxy with a bright center and very little

dust or gas  

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Spiral-Shaped Galaxy  

A galaxy with bulge in the center and very distinct long arms winding around the center  

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Lenticular-Shaped Galaxy  

Galaxy with a central bulge or bar with short arms, if any are present  

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Irregular-Shaped Galaxy  

A galaxy that does not !t into any category; a galaxy with very little symmetry  

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Black Hole  

An object with more than four solar masses squeezed into a ball only 10 km across whose

gravity is so strong that even light can not escape.  

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Supernova  

The death of a large star by explosion  

Credit: NASA