Discuss each question with your team. Be prepared to explain the reasoning behind your team's answers after the quiz.

  1. Supernova SN1054, which formed the Crab Nebula, occurred approximately 6500 light years from Earth in the year 1054. How bright was the supernova when viewed from Earth?
    • To dim to be observed
    • So dim that a telescope had to be used to view it
    • Barely visible to the naked eye
    • Bright enough to be obvious in the night sky
    • So bright that it could be seen in the daytime sky
  2. The total nuclear yield of nuclear weapon detonations on Earth account for ________ of the total energy released in the first few seconds of a typical supernova.
    • < 1%
    • 1%
    • between 1% and 10%
    • around 45%
    • nearly equivalent
  3. Roughly how many supernovae occur on average in a galaxy per millennia?
    • 0.1
    • 1
    • 10
    • 100
  4. A pulsar is a neutron star that is ________ than Iowa City, ________ than the Sun, and can spin as fast as a kitchen blender.
    • larger, more massive
    • smaller, less massive
    • smaller, more massive
    • larger, less massive
    • It can’t really spin that fast