Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is clearly true) or does not make sense (or is clearly false). Explain clearly.
We know that a black hole lies at our galaxy’s center because numerous stars near it have vanished over the past several years, telling us that they’ve been sucked in.

Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is clearly true) or does not make sense (or is clearly false). Explain clearly.
The Sun’s velocity around the Milky Way tells us that most of our galaxy’s dark matter lies near the center of the galactic disk.

Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is clearly true) or does not make sense (or is clearly false). Explain clearly.
The carbon in my diamond ring was once part of interstellar dust grains.

Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is clearly true) or does not make sense (or is clearly false). Explain clearly.
Many spectacular ionization nebulae are seen throughout the Milky Way’s halo.

Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is clearly true) or does not make sense (or is clearly false). Explain clearly.
If I could see infrared light, the galactic center would look much more impressive.

Use the following questions to check your understanding of what the images show and what we can learn by comparing them.
The image of X-ray emission uses different colors to represent different levels of brightness. The dark blue color represents the least bright X-ray emission. Which color represents the brightest X-ray emission?

. What are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and the Sagittarius and Canis Major Dwarfs?

Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is clearly true) or does not make sense (or is clearly false). Explain clearly.
Planets like Earth probably didn’t form around the very first stars because there were so few heavy elements back then.

From the list below, supply the words needed to complete the paragraph. Some words will not be used. humility dolorous agrarian gadfly gargantuan avid explicit formidable epistle B. The atmosphere at Aunt Agnes's farmhouse was ___ during the wake. No one could believe that Agnes was gone. At least, they reasoned, the ____ equestrian died while doing something that she loved. There was no definite explanation as to why Agnes's horse bucked her off, but by the looks of the ____ animal tracks the horse had been spooked by a[n] ____ wolf, perhaps the largest ever seen. The threat of wolves was nothing new to the ___ Van Ness family, who had been farming the northern valley for six generations. Wolves had attacked horses on the farm in the past, especially during extremely cold winters such as this one. Children on the farm always had ___ instructions to stay within sight of the house, but sometimes not even that was enough to protect the family from the hungry, silver predators. Needing a break, Vicky wandered up the stairway to the second floor. Memories of her youth flashed through her head as she entered Agnes's room and sat on the corner of the bed. That's when she noticed the dusty corner of an old shoebox protruding from beneath the vanity. Curious, Vicky retrieved the box and, to her surprise, she found thirty years of hand-written ___, some of which were for Agnes, and some of which Agnes wrote but never sent.

What is Sgr A*? What evidence suggests that it contains a massive black hole?

What evidence suggests that the Milky Way formed from the merger of smaller protogalactic clouds?

Briefly describe the characteristics that distinguish disk stars from halo stars.

What triggers star formation within a spiral arm? How do we think spiral arms are maintained?

How do we know that spiral arms do not rotate like giant pinwheels? What makes spiral arms bright?