Astronomy current events question: measuring characteristics of interstellar medium

Astronomy 210L, spring 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!)

Felicia Chou, Donna Weaver, Ray Villard, Elizabeth Landau, and Seth Redfield, "Hubble Provides Interstellar Road Map for Voyagers' Galactic Trek" (January 6, 2017)
nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/hubble-provides-interstellar-road-map-for-voyagers-galactic-trek

Data from the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes will be combined with Hubble Space Telescope observations to analyze properties of __________ in the space between stars.
(A) curved space-time.
(B) the speed of light.
(C) gas and dust.
(D) antimatter.
(E) dark energy.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30679, 30680
(A) : 8 students
(B) : 6 students
(C) : 20 students
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 4 students