Astronomy current events question: age and history of asteroid Itokawa

Astronomy 210L, fall semester 2018
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!)

Press release, "Particles Collected by Hayabusa Give Absolute Age of Asteroid Itokawa" (August 8, 2018)
resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/research/2018/20180808_1

Analysis of __________ from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa spacecraft provide evidence for the age and history of asteroid Itokawa.
(A) stray particles.
(B) surface crater density.
(C) radar pulses.
(D) orbital fluctuations.
(E) magnetic fields.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186
(A) : 17 students
(B) : 5 students
(C) : 3 students
(D) : 1 student
(E) : 0 students