Astronomy current events question: origin of "boomerang" Smith Cloud

Astronomy 210L, spring semester 2016
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!)

Ann Jenkins, Ray Villard, and Andrew Fox


, "Hubble Sees Monstrous Cloud Boomerang Back to our Galaxy" (January 28, 2016)
nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/hubble-sees-monstrous-cloud-boomerang-back-to-our-galaxy

The Smith Cloud originated from the outer parts of the Milky Way disk, based on measurements of its:
(A) central supermassive black hole.
(B) Doppler redshifts.
(C) lack of solar systems.
(D) star formation rate.
(E) chemical composition.

Correct answer: (E)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 2 students
(B) : 5 students
(C) : 3 students
(D) : 11 students
(E) : 23 students