CC #37: The Milky Way

What is the shape of the Milky Way galaxy?

• Flat, disk-shaped

• Spherical

• Elliptical

• Irregular

How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?

• Thousands

• Millions

• Billions

• Hundreds of billions

Who discovered that the Milky Way's glow was made up of stars?

• Johannes Kepler

• Galileo Galilei

• Isaac Newton

• Nicolaus Copernicus

Where is the Sun located in the Milky Way galaxy?

• In the center

• In the outermost edge

• In one of the major spiral arms

• Halfway out from the center, in the suburbs

What flawed method did astronomers initially use to map the Milky Way?

• Telescope imaging

• Star counting

• Spectroscopy

• Radio wave analysis

What phenomenon explains the formation of spiral arms in the Milky Way?

• Orbital resonance

• Traffic jams of stars and nebulae

• Gravitational pull from black holes

• Magnetic field interactions

How long does it take for our Sun to orbit the galaxy?

• 25 million years

• 25 billion years

• 2.5 billion years

• 250 million years

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-4

Where does most of the star formation occur in the Milky Way?

• At the central bulge

• In the spiral arms

• On the outer parts

• Nowhere, star formation occurs evenly across the galaxy

What is at the very center of the Milky Way galaxy?

• A large nebula

• A supermassive black hole

• An empty void

• A dense cluster of stars

What is the Milky Way's halo?

• A spherical cloud of stars surrounding the galaxy

• A ring of dust around the galaxy

• A magnetic field protecting the galaxy

• A bright ring visible from Earth