Julian Date: 2459117.16
2020-2021: XVIII
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, September 25, 2020
Remote Planetarium 96: Astronomy and Mythology Quiz
Call it the evolutionary principle: small changes lead to larger changes. Last week we included one mythology question in the test. That little alteration elicited requests for more mythology in the quizzes. Many subscribers seem to really like, even prefer, that section. One subscriber told me that he, "well, only reads the mythology part, anyway, and I'm sorry, I hope that doesn't offend you." Oh, not at all. We know that though astronomy is everywhere, it isn't necessarily for everyone. So, every subsequent Remote Planetarium quiz will include astronomy and mythology questions based on the previous four articles.
This week's quiz will contain only 15 questions, as last week's quiz actually posted on Monday. Five questions from each article. Thank you, as always, for subscribing to the DA and for continuing to explore the Universe with us!
1. _______________________ is the largest member of the Local Group of Galaxies.
a. The Milky Way Galaxy
b. The Andromeda Galaxy
c. The Triangulum Galaxy
d. The Large Magellanic Cloud
2. Astronomers have counted about ________ galaxies in the Local Group. These galaxies include dwarf and irregular galaxies.
a. 30
b. 50
c. 80
d. 200
3. Why don't astronomers think that they have an accurate count of all the galaxies within the Local Group?
a. some of the galaxies consist only of dark matter and aren't visible
b. some of the galaxies are blocked from view by the Milky Way Galaxy
c. the Local Group galaxies they observe are so far away that they have probably dissipated by now.
d. none of the above.
4. Why did sailors try to kill the musician Arion?
a. he often insulted and mocked them.
b. because his mother was a sorceress and nobody likes a son of a witch
c. because they wanted to steal his gold
d. because Hera transformed Arion into a bear and the sailors thought he was going to eat them.
5. How did Arion manage to escape from the sailors who wanted to kill him?
a. Poseidon transformed him into a cloud that ascended into the sky when the sailors attacked him
b. Arion was carried away from the boat by the dolphin Delphinus
c. Arion's music lulled the sailors into a sleep. While they napped, Arion helmed the ship to the nearest port and fled
d. Circe turned the sailors into swine and tossed them into the ocean
6. What kind of stars enabled Edwin Hubble to estimate the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy?
a. red dwarfs
b. Cepheid variables
c. G2V stars
d. Blue stragglers
7. The "Great Debate" in April 1920 pertained to which then-unresolved matter?
a. if the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the Universe.
b. if planets existed outside our solar system
c. if black holes were observable
d. none of the above
8. The Andromeda Galaxy is also known as M31. What does the M signify?
a. the galaxy type. M stands for "Major Spiral"
b. that it is part of the Messier catalog
c. its distance. M stands for "megaparsec."
d. the year of its discovery. This scheme combines Roman and Arabic numerals. M31 indicates that observations of this galaxy were first recorded in 1031.
9. Gaia is the Earth mother. Who is Gaia's mother?
a. Athena
b. Metis
c. Aphrodite
d. She doesn't have a mother. Gaia was born out of Chaos, or nothingness.
10. Why did Gaia couple with Tartarus to sire Typhon?
a. Because a Delphic oracle told her that she needed to sire 13 children. She only had 12
b. She wanted to conceive a powerful child who would liberate the Titans from Tartarus and then avenge their imprisonment
c. Gaia thought that a child with Tartarus would become a great healer
d. none of the above
11. What is the shape of the Local Group of Galaxies?
a. it doesn't truly have a shape
b. dumb bell shaped
c. donought shaped
d. saddle shaped
12. The Local Group of Galaxies is part of the ___________.
a. Virgo Cluster
b. M66 Cluster
c. Ursa Major Cluster
d. M101 Cluster
13. What will eventually happen to the Magellanic Clouds?
a. they will escape from the Local Group of Galaxies
b. they will be ripped apart by the Milky Way's tidal forces
c. they will collide to form one giant Magellanic Cloud
d. astronomers don't know.
14. Why was Daedalus banished from Athens?
a. he built a labyrinth in the middle of the city
b. he pushed his nephew off a cliff
c. he killed Aegeus with pipes of boiling water
d. he created an unflattering sculpture of Aegeus
15. When King Minos traveled to different kingdoms in search of Daedalus, he presented a challenge to each king. What was that challenge?
a. to thread a seashell
b. to square a circle
c. to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
d. to build a maze from which nobody could escape.
ANSWERS
1. _______________________ is the largest member of the Local Group of Galaxies.
b. The Andromeda Galaxy
With an estimated diameter of 200,000 light years and a stellar population exceeding 600 million, the Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy within the Local Group of Galaxies. The Milky Way is the second largest member.
2. Astronomers have counted about ________ galaxies in the Local Group. These galaxies include dwarf and irregular galaxies.
c. 80
We believe that the Local Group contains at least 80 galaxies. Eighty refers to the number of known galaxies within the group. Most of these galaxies are satellite galaxies of the two largest members, Andromeda and the Milky Way.
3. Why don't astronomers think that they have an accurate count of all the galaxies within the Local Group?
b. some of the galaxies are blocked from view by the Milky Way Galaxy.
We remember that we live along the galaxy's "Orion Spur." Consequently, we cannot see many regions along the other side of the galaxy due to the intervening gas and dust. Astronomers refer to this occluded region as the "Zone of Avoidance." Any galaxies around this zone will also not be visible to us.
4. Why did sailors try to kill the musician Arion?
c. because they wanted to steal his gold
During their return voyage from Sicily, where Arion had won a large sack of gold in a musical competition, the sailors resolved to kill Arion by throwing him overboard. They had no quarrel with Arion, himself, who was a pleasant enough fellow. They just wanted that gold for themselves.
5. How did Arion manage to escape from the sailors who wanted to kill him?
b. Arion was carried away from the boat by the dolphin Delphinus
When the sailors surrounded Arion on the ship after it left Sicily, the musician knew they intended to kill him and toss him overboard. He asked them to let him perform one last time on his lyre. They gave him his lyre and allowed him a few minutes to perform. His music summoned a school of dolphins to the ship's side. Arion quickly jumped overboard and Delphinus the dolphin carried him away to safety.
6. What kind of stars enabled Edwin Hubble to estimate the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy?
b. Cepheid variables
Cepheid variables are very useful for astronomers because a Cepheid's variability period, the time between successive minima, is directly related to its luminosity. The more luminous the Cepheid, the longer its variability period. By measuring this period, an astronomer can know the Cepheid's true brightness. Comparing this intrinsic brightness to its apparent brightness yields its distance through use of the distance modulus equation.
7. The "Great Debate" in April 1920 pertained to which then-unresolved matter?
a. if the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the Universe.
The debate pitted Harlow Shapley (1885-1972) against Heber Curtis (1872-1942). The former believed the Milky Way Galaxy to have been the only galaxy in the Universe. The latter argued that the Milky Way was but one of many galaxies. As Edwin Hubble proved less than a decade later, Curtis was correct. The Milky Way is but one of billions of galaxies.
8. The Andromeda Galaxy is also known as M31. What does the M signify?
b. it is part of the Messier catalog
French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817) compiled a catalog of celestial objects that resembled comets when observed telescopically. The Andromeda Galaxy (or the "Andromeda Nebula" as he called it) was the thirty-first entry in that catalog.
9. Gaia is the Earth mother. Who is Gaia's mother?
d. She doesn't have a mother. Gaia was born out of Chaos, or nothingness.
The mythological Universe once consisted of Chaos, an unbounded, formless nothing. Gaia was one of the primordial deities which emerged out of this chaos.
10. Why did Gaia couple with Tartarus to sire Typhon?
b. She wanted to conceive a powerful child who would liberate the Titans from Tartarus and then avenge their imprisonment.
Gaia was so distressed at the Titans' defeat at the Titanomachy and subsequent imprisonment in Tartarus that she mated with the underworld to create Typhon, a strong creature that she hoped would avenge the Titans' defeat. Instead, Typhon became indiscriminately violent and would have destroyed the entire Universe had Zeus not defeated it in battle.
11. What is the shape of the Local Group of Galaxies?
b. dumb bell shaped
The Local Group consists of the two major galaxies Andromeda and the Milky Way. Satellite galaxies are clustered around both.
12. The Local Group of Galaxies is part of the ___________.
a. Virgo Cluster
Though immensely large, the Local Group of Galaxies is just a part of a much larger structure called "The Virgo Cluster."
13. What will eventually happen to the Magellanic Clouds?
b. they will be ripped apart by the Milky Way's tidal forces
The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds will be ripped apart by the galaxy's tidal forces. Their component stars will form stellar streams first and then the stars will eventually become incorporated into the Milky Way Galaxy.
14. Why was Daedalus banished from Athens?
b. he pushed his nephew off a cliff
Daedalus tried to kill his nephew Calos because the latter's skills were becoming superior to his own. Fortunately, Athena transformed Calos into a partridge during his descent, thereby sparing his life.
15. When King Minos traveled to different kingdoms in search of Daedalus, he presented a challenge to each king. What was that challenge?
a. to thread a seashell
Minos reasoned correctly that Daedalus was hiding in one of the kingdoms near Crete. He offered a rich reward to anyone who could thread a seashell. He knew that any king who presented him with a threaded seashell had to have been the one harboring Daedalus, the only one crafty enough to be able to solve the problem.
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