Star Clusters

When two stars are orbiting one another it's called ___

• an unary system

• a binary system

• a trinary system

• a doublet system

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Astronomers think that most stars are born in groups, called ___

• assemblages

• bundles

• clusters

• blobs

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

Loosely bound collections of dozens or thousands of stars, usually in an irregular shape, are called ___

• hexadecimal star systems

• open clusters

• globular clusters

• nebulae

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

Who was the first to discover, or at least record, that clusters were composed of many stars?

• Galileo Galilei

• Nicolaus Copernicus

• Johannes Kepler

• Edwin Hubble

In an open cluster, the stars all orbit the cluster's ___

• central black hole

• central star

• center of mass

• perimeter

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-4

NGSS.HS-PS2-4

What is the typical diameter of an open cluster?

• a few light years

• a couple of dozen light years

• a few hundred light years

• a couple of thousand light years

What is the typical distance between stars in an open cluster?

• a fraction of a light year

• a few light years

• a few dozen light years

• a few hundred light years

Very few open clusters are older than roughly 50 million years because they ___

• contain only second generation stars

• explode

• burn out

• evaporate

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-3

Over time, due to gravitational interactions, which stars are "flicked out" of an open cluster?

• supergiant stars

• neutron stars

• lower mass stars

• higher mass stars

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS2-1

NGSS.HS-PS2-4

Approximately how many open clusters have been observed?

• a dozen

• a hundred

• a thousand

• a million