Standing outside on a clear night and looking up at the stars and moon is simply amazing. The sight can be breathtaking. Lately, my son (and general manager of this newspaper) has taken quite an interest in photographing the Milky Way Galaxy. His photographs are amazing, as you can attest to in the picture below.
How much do you know about the Milky Way Galaxy? Take this little quiz and find out!
1. Which type of galaxy is the Milky Way? Barred spiral; unbarred spiral; elliptical.
2. The nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way is: Ursa Major II; the Andromeda galaxy; the Whirlpool galaxy; NGC 2419.
3. About how many stars are in the Milky Way? 100 billion; 100 million; 1 trillion.
4. Which component of the Milky Way makes up most of its mass? Dark matter; stars; gas and dust.
5. What is the name of the black hole thought to exist at the center of the Milky Way? Baade’s Window; large Magellanic Hole; Sagittarius A.
6. What is Baade’s Window? A region of the Milky Way galaxy especially devoid of stars; one of the brightest visible patches of the Milky Way in the night; a square hole in the upper region of the Milky Way galaxy.
7. About how many galaxies are in the universe? Hundreds; thousands; millions; billions.
8. The galaxy where few new stars are formed because of a lack of free gas is: an irregular galaxy; a spiral galaxy; a twirl galaxy; an elliptical galaxy.
9. Which part of the Milky Way galaxy contains the most stars? Galactic halo; Galactic disk; Nuclear bulge.
10. How many years does it take for our solar system to complete an orbit around the Milky Way? 50 million; 130 million; 240 million.
ANSWERS:
1. Barred spiral. 2. The Andromeda Galaxy. 3. 100 billion. 4. Dark matter. 5. Sagittarius A. 6. One of the brightest visible patches of the Milky Way in the night. 7. Billions. 8. An elliptical galaxy. 9. Galactic disk. 10. 240 million.