AS105 HW#5

Fall 2019

1. A light-year measures _________________.

(a) time
(b) distance
(c) time and distance
(d) the warping of space-time
(e) none of the above

2. Distances to various objects in our solar system are typically measured in

(a) parsecs
(b) light-years
(c) astronomical units
(d) Schwarzchild radii
(e) planetary metrics

3. Our Universe has been rapidly expanding since the time of the Big Bang which occurred
approximately ______________ years ago.
(a) 13.7 million
(b) 13.7 billion
(c) 13.7 trillion
(d) 4.5 billion
(e) unknown

4. Which of the following best describes the current state of the universe?
(a) Its expansion is decelerating.
(b) It is contracting at a steady rate.
(c) It is static.
(d) Its expansion is accelerating.
(e) It is contracting at an unknown rate.

5. True or False. To the astonishment of astronomers the Universe seems to be heating up as it expands.

6. The Universe consists primarily of

(a) dark matter
(b) baryonic (observable) matter
(c) dark energy
(d) cosmic radiation
(e) light

7. ______Dark Matter______ is the term used to describe the mass in galaxies and clusters inferred
from rotational curves and other techniques, but not confirmed by observations at any
electromagnetic wavelength.

8. _____Hubble’s Law________ is a relationship between a galaxy’s distance and its recession velocity.
It is based on the analysis of light from other galaxies and indicates that more distant galaxies recede
faster than nearby ones regardless of one’s position in the Universe.

9. The energy associated with the Big Bang is still detectable today and is known as the __Cosmic
Microwave Background___.
10. ____Dark Energy______ is an unknown form of energy that manifests itself as a repulsive force
accelerating the expansion of the Universe. It is thought to be a residual energy associated with space
itself. Einstein referred to it in his theory of relativity as the cosmological constant.

11. Galaxies are not spread smoothly over the sky but rather are clumped into loose groups known as
clusters that ___
(a) generally remain at fixed distances from each other
(b) are separating from one another at high velocities
(c) are moving in random directions
(d) orbit a common center
(e) move together at high speed in the same direction