Listening: How the Milky Way got its shape

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B2 | Listening from video | 11 min

Watch the video (0:06 - 5:06). You can watch more than once, then answer the questions.

ONE WORD from the video.

The Milky Way never stops ____ .

Why did gravity manage to pull the early gas and dust particles closer to the center?

____ Supernovae pushed the particles inward with great force.____ The particles became much heavier as they spun faster.____ The particles collided, lost some energy and slowed down.

ONE WORD from the video.

In a star or planet, the spinning material is so dense that the outward ____ partners with gravity to make a round shape.

How did particles in galaxies like the Milky Way tend to fall?

____ Straight toward the center of the galaxy____ Parallel to the axis of rotation____ Away from the center in random directions

What causes the spiral arms of a galaxy, according to the speaker?

____ Zones of compression that travel through the galaxy as waves____ Fixed structures of stars that never move or change____ Streams of gas that are pulled in from outside the galaxy

Spiral arms contain far more young stars than the regions between them.

____ True____ False____ Not Given

Scientists think the spirals of the Milky Way were created by a nearby companion galaxy.

____ True____ False____ Not Given

What will happen to our solar system and its current spiral arm?

____ It will stay inside the same arm for ever.____ It will move deeper into the arm and then leave it.____ It will be pulled directly into the galactic center.

A NUMBER from the video.

In about ____ billion years, the Milky Way will start to merge with the Andromeda galaxy.

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