Title Text: In Quest of the Universe, Fourth Edition
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Study Quizzes

Please read each question and select your answer from the choices provided. You must complete all of the questions in order to view your results. At the end of each exam, you have the option to e-mail your results to your instructor.


1:  The spiral structure of our Galaxy is
A: seen only in young, very bright stars.
B: seen only in the vicinity of our solar system.
C: a temporary stage in our Galaxy's evolution.
D: due to a compression wave.
E: due to material that gathers around the Galaxy's magnetic field lines.

2:  The observed rotation curve for our Galaxy suggests that
A: unseen mass exists in the Galactic halo.
B: the Galactic mass is distributed uniformly at large distances from the center.
C: most of the Galaxy's mass is near its center.
D: stars revolve around the Galactic center with the same period.
E: the orbital speeds of the stars vary linearly with their distance from the Galactic center.

3:  The 21-cm radiation
A: is composed of photons of low energy.
B: can travel through interstellar dust.
C: is produced when an electron in a hydrogen atom changes its spin direction.
D: cannot be seen at visible wavelengths.
E: (All of the above.)

4:  Which of the following was formed first in our Galaxy?
A: The groups of O- and B-type stars we see now.
B: Our solar system.
C: The globular clusters.
D: The stars in the Galactic nucleus.
E: The stars in a galactic cluster.

5:  You are observing a star in a distant galaxy. The star orbits the center of the galaxy at a distance of 50 kiloparsecs with a period of 100 million years. You conclude that the mass of this galaxy is at least
A: 10 trillion solar masses.
B: 100 trillion solar masses.
C: 100 billion solar masses.
D: 10 billion solar masses.
E: (We do not have enough information to answer the question.)

6:  According to the density wave theory, star formation would be seen
A: in the Galactic halo.
B: all over the Galaxy in a uniform way.
C: in the Galactic nucleus.
D: on the inside edge of a spiral arm.
E: on the outside edge of a spiral arm.

7:  We believe there is a black hole at the Galactic center. This is based on observations
A: of the velocities of stars closer than 2 parsecs to the center.
B: of gamma rays emanating from a very small region in the Galactic nucleus.
C: of X-ray variability from Sgr A* that lasted less than 10 minutes.
D: the orbit of the star S2 around Sgr A*.
E: (All of the above.)

8:  Which of the following supports the idea that our Galaxy was formed as a result of collisions between smaller galaxies?
A: Observations of streams of stars in the Galactic halo
B: The discovery in 2003 of a ring of stars, 120,000 light-years in diameter, around our Galaxy
C: Observations of a high-velocity cloud "raining" material into the Galaxy
D: (Both A and B but not C.)
E: (None of the above.)

9:  Population II stars in our Galaxy are found mostly
A: in globular clusters.
B: in galactic clusters.
C: in the Galactic nucleus.
D: in the vicinity of our solar system.
E: in the Galactic disk.

10:  We cannot use star counting in the Galactic disk in order to locate its center because
A: the stars in the Galaxy do not belong in the disk.
B: the distribution of the stars in the disk is not uniform.
C: we cannot observe stars in the disk except in our vicinity due to the effects of interstellar dust on starlight.
D: the number of stars in our Galaxy is very large.
E: there are no stars close to the center.

Optional: Enter your name and your instructor's E-mail address to have your results E-mailed to him or her.
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