20170901

Astronomy current events question: Kuiper belt object (KBO) 2014 MU69

Astronomy 210L, fall semester 2017
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)
Bill Keeter, "New Horizons' Next Target Just Got a Lot More Interesting" (August 3, 2017)
nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-next-target-just-got-a-lot-more-interesting
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is targeted to fly past Kuiper belt object (KBO) 2014 MU69, which may be an elongated single object, or:
(A) dark matter.
(B) a ring around Pluto.
(C) a diffuse debris cloud.
(D) a ringlike structure.
(E) two touching objects.

Correct answer: (E)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 7 students
(D) : 7 students
(E) : 36 students

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