Quiz 1: Intro to the Universe & Galaxies
Put the astronomical units of measurement in order from largest to smallest: parsec, astronomical unit (AU) and light-year
1. astronomical unit (93 million miles) 2. parsec (about 3.26 light-years) 3. light-year (about 5.8 million miles)
Name 5 things that make up the Universe.
1. matter 2. dark matter 3. energy 4. planets. 5. the Sun or stars 6. the stars 7. us or humans 8. galaxies 9. satellites 10. gas, dust, and light 11. black holes 12. asteroids and comets 13. meteors/meteoroids/meteorites 14. Other: (really any answer is correct)
How old is our Universe?
Answer: 13.7 billion years old
WMAP - the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satellite helped determined the age of the Universe by measuring what?
Answer: CMB or cosmic microwave background radiation
Who determined that galaxies were moving farther AWAY from us, at a speed proportional to their distance from us?
Answer: Edwin Hubble
True or False: There is a clear boundary where Earth's atmosphere stops and space begins.
Answer: False
True or False: It is possible to go or fly outside of our galaxy and take a picture of it (like going to the Moon and taking a picture of Earth).
Answer: False All pictures of our galaxy are illustrations imagined and created by artists. We do not have the technology (yet) to travel far enough to leave our galaxy.
The theory of the origin and evolution of the Universe is called what?
Answer: The Big Bang Theory
A collection comprising of stars (thousands to billions), dust, planets, and other interstellar matter bound together by gravity is known as what?
Answer: a galaxy
What type of galaxy is our Milky Way galaxy?
Answer: a spiral galaxy
Define a solar or planetary system.
Answer: a star and all of the planets, moons, and other objects and materials that orbit that star
How large is our Universe?
Answer: about 94 billion light years and expanding
In the early 1900's, what did astronomers estimate the age of our Universe as and HOW did they describe it?
Answer: age of the Universe was very old/infinite and unchanging/stayed the same
The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is known as what?
Answer: an Astronomical Unit (AU) - about 93 million miles
What is the basic unit of matter that formed thousands of years after the "Big Bang" is called what?
Answer: an atom or atoms
Galaxies that contain a bar-like structure, extending from the central bulge where the spiral arms begin are known as what?
Answer: barred spiral
What is the scientific study of the large scale properties of the Universe as a whole; it attempts to understand the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the entire Universe?
Answer: cosmology
Galaxies that are thought to have formed due to two galaxies colliding are called what?
Answer: elliptical galaxies
The type of galaxy that does not have a clear bulge or disk and lacks symmetry.
Answer: elliptical galaxy
What is the shape of our Universe?
Answer: flat
Which star cluster contains more stars: a galactic or globular cluster?
Answer: globular A globular cluster contains about 1 million stars whereas a galactic cluster contains about 100 stars.
What was the first element (on the periodic table) that was produced during the origin of the Universe?
Answer: hydrogen
Galaxies that do not fall into any of the regular classes and has no distinct shape are called what?
Answer: irregulars or irregular galaxies
What is cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation?
Answer: it is thermal or heat radiation thought to be leftover from the beginning of the Universe - it's also the oldest light in the Universe
What is thought to be the first form the Universe took before the "Big Bang"?
Answer: it is thought that the Universe started out as a single, dense, hot mass only a few millimeters across
What is a cloud in deep space consisting of gas or dust (i.e. after a star explodes) and is thought to be a star forming region?
Answer: nebula or nebulae
In the early 1900's, what did astronomers first think made up our entire Universe?
Answer: our galaxy or the Milky Way galaxy
Extremely luminous (bright) objects that are comprised of a supermassive black hole and are the farthest known objects in space - what are these called?
Answer: quasars
Galaxies that have a clear bulge, and a flat, rotating disk, which are areas of new star formation are known as what?
Answer: spiral galaxies
The altitude, established by the Federation Aeronatique International, of an invisible boundary above the Earth's surface located at 100 km (62 miles) in which defines the "beginning" of space is known as what?
Answer: the Karman Line
What is the name of our galaxy in which our solar system resides?
Answer: the Milky Way Galaxy
After the initial expansion of the Universe it started to cool forming what?
Answer: the first subatomic particles - protons, neutrons, and electrons
1 solar mass is equal to what?
Answer: the mass of the Sun
Differentiate between astronomy and cosmology?
Astronomy is the study of the stars only (their life cycles, constellations,etc.) whereas cosmology is the study of the Universe as a whole (its origin, evolution, and its ending)
What is the invisible boundary above Earth's surface called that's is located at 100 km, established by the Federation Aeronatique International, and defines the "beginning" of space?
Karman Line
How are galaxies classified?
They are classified (or named) according to their shape - the shape of their bulge and disk.
How are elliptical galaxies thought to have formed?
They are thought to have formed from two galaxies colliding together.
Differentiate between a galaxy and a nebula.
galaxy: a collection comprising of stars (thousands to billions), dust, planets, and other interstellar matter bound together by gravity nebula:Latin word meaning "cloud"; is a cloud in deep space consisting of gas or dust (i.e. after a star explodes)
About how many stars to globular and galactic star clusters contain?
globular: 1 million stars galactic or open: 100 stars
