Discuss each question with your team. Be prepared to explain the reasoning behind your team's answers after the quiz.
How recently did astronomers begin to discover planets outside our solar system?
Within the last twenty years
The early 1900s
The 1800s
The 1600s
Which of the following is not a method used by astronomers to find exoplanets?
Directly imaging the planets using telescopes
Measuring the Doppler shift of the star to detect small 'wobbles' caused by orbithing planets
Measuring changes in the intensity of the star caused by transiting planets
Using radio waves to 'ping' extra-solar planets like a ship's sonar
Roughly how many exoplanets have astronomers discovered thus far?
10
100
1,000
10,000
Which of these strange types of objects have astronomers discovered outside of our solar system?
Large gas giants with very small orbits called 'Hot Jupiters'
Planets in orbit around stellar remnants like neutron stars and pulsars
Massive terrestrial planets called 'Super Earths'
Free-floating planets that drift through interstellar space
All of the above
These labs involve applying some of the foundational techniques combined with actual observations using dedicated telescopes to learn more about astronomical phenomena.
