Across
- 3. Hypothetical outer shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system, source of long‑period comets
- 7. Stretching of light to longer wavelengths, revealing expansion of the universe
- 8. Region beyond Neptune populated with icy bodies and dwarf planets
- 10. Invisible mass inferred from gravitational effects in galaxies and clusters
- 11. Process in stars that forms heavier elements from lighter ones
- 13. Type of variable star used as a standard candle for measuring cosmic distances
- 15. Sudden burst of radiation and energetic particles from the Sun’s surface
- 16. Limit beyond which a white dwarf collapses into a neutron star or black hole
- 20. Apparent shift in a star’s position seen from different viewpoints, used to measure distance
- 21. Glow in the sky caused by charged solar particles spiraling along Earth’s magnetic field
- 22. Nearly massless particle that hardly interacts with matter
- 23. Small solid object in a protoplanetary disk that coalesces into planets
Down
- 1. A neutron star with a magnetic field trillions of times stronger than Earth’s
- 2. Minimum distance a satellite can orbit before tidal forces tear it apart
- 4. Type of galaxy with a smooth, featureless, ellipsoidal shape
- 5. Explosive death of a massive star, often outshining a galaxy momentarily
- 6. When one side of a body constantly faces its partner due to gravitational locking
- 9. Technique of analyzing a star’s light to determine its composition and properties
- 12. Rapidly rotating neutron star emitting beams of radiation
- 14. Boundary around a black hole beyond which nothing can escape
- 17. Planet orbiting a star outside our solar system
- 18. Extremely luminous active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole
- 19. Hypothetical point of infinite density at the core of a black hole