Galaxies- Scientists and Types Quiz

What is a galaxy?

• A single star with planets orbiting it

• A cloud of interstellar dust and gas alone

• A gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter

• A constellation of stars forming a recognizable pattern

What does the word "galaxy" mean in Greek?

• Starry

• Spiral

• Milky

• Infinite

An image of a spiral galaxy

According to Greek Myth, what event is considered the origin of the Milky Way?

• The birth of Zeus

• The birth of Heracles

• The flight of Icarus

• The creation of the world by the Titans

Who was the ancient Greek philosopher that first proposed the idea of the atom?

• Aristotle

• Socrates

• Democritus

• Plato

What did Democritus propose about the Milky Way?

• It was a single star

• It was a band of very distant stars

• It was a nearby galaxy

• It was a cluster of asteroids

What did the Arabian astronomer Alhazen conclude about the Milky Way's parallax?

• It was measurable and close to Earth

• It showed significant parallax

• There was no parallax, indicating the Milky Way is very distant from Earth

• The Milky Way's parallax confirmed it was part of the Earth's atmosphere

Who confirmed Democritus's ideas by being the first to observe the faint individual stars that made up the Milky Way's band in 1610?

• Thomas Wright

• Galileo

• Isaac Newton

• Johannes Kepler

What did Thomas Wright speculate about the Milky Way in 1750?

• It was the center of the universe

• It was a static structure

• It was a dynamic structure held together by gravitational forces

• It was composed of countless separate galaxies

Who initiated the task of figuring out the structure of the Milky Way?

• Isaac Newton

• Albert Einstein

• William Herschel

• Galileo Galilei