The Universe: Our Place in Space

Question 1

In Albert Einstein's famous equation E=mc2, what does 'c' represent?

Accepted Answer

the speed of light

Question 2

Since light takes time to travel, the farther out into space we look ...

Accepted Answer

the further back in time we see

Question 3

What is the cosmic microwave background?

Accepted Answer

low energy radiowaves from the Big Bang

Question 4

Dark matter is invisible, so how do scientists know it exists?

Accepted Answer

its gravity affects stars and galaxies

Question 5

Normal matter makes up how much of the total mass-energy in the universe?

Accepted Answer

less than 5 percent

Question 6

How did dark energy get its name?

Accepted Answer

astronomers don't know much about it

Question 7

The Planck satellite was launched in 2009 to measure light in the microwave band. It orbits:

Accepted Answer

the Sun

Question 8

Besides galaxies beyond the Milky Way, what were Hubble and his colleagues first to discover?

Accepted Answer

that distant galaxies move farther and farther away from us

Question 9

At the moment of the Big Bang, about 13.8 billion years ago, the universe was ...

Accepted Answer

hot and dense like the center of a star

Question 10

What is the most distant thing in space that we can see without a telescope?

Accepted Answer

the Andromeda galaxy, our closest neighbor

Questions 10