Astronomy current events question: supernova "dust factory"

Astronomy 210L, spring semester 2015
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!)

Blaine Friedlander



, "Milky Way's Center Unveils Supernova 'Dust Factory'" (March 19, 2015)
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/03/milky-ways-center-unveils-supernova-dust-factory

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airplane-mounted telescope made direct observations of __________ produced by an ancient supernova.
(A) dust.
(B) hydrogen.
(C) space-time.
(D) dark energy.
(E) gravitational waves.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 23 students
(B) : 10 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 4 students
(E) : 3 students