Solved

In the Eighteenth Century, Sir William Herschel Used Star Counts

Question 134

Multiple Choice

In the eighteenth century, Sir William Herschel used star counts in different regions of the sky along the Milky Way to estimate the position of the center of the Milky Way. He incorrectly concluded that the Sun was close to the center. The reason for this erroneous conclusion was that


A) the redshift of the more distant stars made them invisible to Herschel.
B) Herschel counted all "stars" in each star field and included many galaxies that were outside the Milky Way, thus confusing the distribution.
C) the large quantity of absorbing dust between stars obscured the more distant regions of the Galaxy.
D) emissions from hot hydrogen gas clouds served to hide the more distant stars, localizing his search.

Correct Answer:

verifed

Verified

Unlock this answer now
Get Access to more Verified Answers free of charge

Related Questions