Chapter 16 Mastering Astronomy

25 July 2022
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question
Which of these galaxies would you most likely find at the center of a large cluster of galaxies?
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a large elliptical galaxy
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We determine the distance of a Cepheid by
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determining its luminosity from the period-luminosity relation and then applying the inverse square law for light
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Which kind of object is the best standard candle for measuring distances to extremely distant galaxies?
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a white dwarf supernova
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Why do virtually all the galaxies in the universe appear to be moving away from our own?
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Because expansion causes all galaxies to move away from nearly all others.
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Which of these galaxies is most likely to be oldest?
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a galaxy in the Local Group
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When we observe a distant galaxy whose photons have traveled for 10 billion years before reaching Earth, we are seeing that galaxy as it was when the universe was
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4 billion years old
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What is a key assumption in our most successful models for galaxy formation?
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Some regions of the universe were slightly denser than others.
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Observations indicate that galaxies with more massive central black holes tend to also have
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a greater mass of stars in their central bulges
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The luminosity of a quasar is generated in a region the size of
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the solar system
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The primary source of a quasar's energy is
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gravitational potential energy