CCA: Brown Dwarfs Quiz

What is the process that stars use to generate energy in their cores?

• Fusion of hydrogen into helium

• Fission of uranium

• Combustion of carbon

• Oxidation of iron

What prevents stars from expanding due to the heat generated by the fusion process?

• Radiation pressure

• Gas pressure

• Magnetic field

• Gravity

What is the minimum mass needed for an object to initiate hydrogen fusion in its core?

• 5 times the Sun’s mass

• 1.5 times the Sun’s mass

• 0.5 times the Sun’s mass

• 0.075 times the Sun’s mass

What is the name given to objects that are more massive than a planet but not quite massive enough to become a true star?

• Super planets

• Sub-stellar objects

• Brown dwarfs

• Low-mass stars

What is the distinguishing characteristic of brown dwarfs that helps differentiate them from regular stars?

• Presence of water in their atmosphere

• Fusion of deuterium in their cores

• Emission of visible light in the infrared

• Presence of lithium in their spectrum

What is the name of the orbiting observatory launched by NASA in 2009 to scan the entire sky looking at infrared light?

• Chandra

• Spitzer

• Hubble

• WISE

What is the color that some brown dwarfs appear to be due to the absorption of specific colors of light by molecules in their atmospheres?

• Magenta

• Yellow

• Green

• Cyan

What is the nearest star system to Earth that includes a binary pair of brown dwarfs?

• Luhman 16

• WISE 0855−0714

• Alpha Centauri

• Proxima Centauri