Interstellar Medium — MCQs January 8, 2026August 20, 2025 by u930973931_answers 50 Score: 0 Attempted: 0/50 Subscribe 1. What is the interstellar medium (ISM)? (A) The matter between stars in a galaxy (B) The dark energy driving expansion (C) The cosmic background radiation (D) The gravitational field of a black hole 2. What is the primary composition of the ISM? (A) Hydrogen and helium gas (B) Carbon and oxygen gas (C) Dark matter particles (D) Metals and silicates 3. Approximately what percentage of a galaxy’s visible mass does the ISM represent? (A) 1–10% (B) 25–30% (C) 50% (D) 75% 4. Which phase of the ISM is the coldest and densest? (A) Molecular clouds (B) Ionized gas regions (C) Warm neutral medium (D) Hot ionized medium 5. What role does the ISM play in galaxies? (A) Acts as raw material for star formation (B) Destroys stars (C) Produces black holes (D) Causes galaxies to shrink 6. The ISM is enriched with heavier elements by: (A) Stellar winds and supernova explosions (B) Planetary orbits (C) Cosmic microwave background (D) Gravitational lensing 7. Dust in the ISM primarily absorbs and scatters: (A) Radio waves (B) Infrared light (C) Visible and ultraviolet light (D) Gamma rays 8. Which wavelength is most effective for studying the ISM? (A) Radio (B) Gamma-ray (C) Visible (D) X-ray 9. The 21-cm line is a key diagnostic of the ISM because it arises from: (A) Hydrogen atom spin-flip transition (B) Oxygen recombination (C) Ionized helium (D) Carbon dioxide molecules 10. What effect does interstellar dust have on starlight? (A) Brightens it (B) Reddening and dimming (C) Turns it blue (D) Makes it polarized only 11. Which ISM component is responsible for star formation? (A) Hot ionized gas (B) Warm neutral medium (C) Molecular clouds (D) Cosmic rays 12. What is the typical temperature of the hot ionized medium in the ISM? (A) 10 K (B) 10⁴ K (C) 10⁶ K (D) 10⁸ K 13. Cosmic rays in the ISM are composed mostly of: (A) Neutrons (B) Protons and atomic nuclei (C) Dark matter (D) Photons 14. Which process clears away ISM gas around newborn stars? (A) Gravitational collapse (B) Supernova explosions and stellar winds (C) Accretion disks (D) Galaxy rotation 15. Which molecules are most commonly detected in molecular clouds? (A) Water and ammonia (B) Hydrogen molecules (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) (C) Methane and nitrogen (D) Silicates and metals 16. Interstellar dust grains are primarily composed of: (A) Silicates, carbon, and ices (B) Hydrogen and helium (C) Plasma and neutrinos (D) Iron and nickel 17. What effect do shock waves from supernovae have on the ISM? (A) Destroy molecular clouds permanently (B) Trigger collapse of clouds to form new stars (C) Remove dust from galaxies (D) Reduce metallicity 18. Which observational method reveals cold molecular gas in the ISM? (A) X-ray imaging (B) CO emission in the radio band (C) Visible-light telescopes (D) Gamma-ray bursts 19. Which term describes the small-scale, clumpy structure of the ISM? (A) Cosmic web (B) Interstellar filaments (C) Galactic halo (D) Quasar jets 20. What is the “bubble” created by stellar winds and supernovae in the ISM called? (A) Interstellar void (B) Superbubble (C) Galactic hole (D) Cosmic tunnel 21. Which ISM component is found in H II regions? (A) Neutral hydrogen (B) Ionized hydrogen (C) Dust only (D) Cosmic rays 22. How does metallicity in the ISM increase over time? (A) Through continuous star formation and death (B) By dark matter interactions (C) By galactic mergers only (D) By black hole evaporation 23. The average density of the ISM in the Milky Way is approximately: (A) 1 particle per cm³ (B) 10⁶ particles per cm³ (C) 10⁹ particles per cm³ (D) 10⁻⁶ particles per cm³ 24. Which ISM component can be studied through X-ray astronomy? (A) Cold dust (B) Hot ionized gas (C) Neutral hydrogen (D) CO molecules 25. The “extinction curve” in astronomy describes: (A) Loss of starlight intensity due to ISM dust (B) Expansion of galaxies (C) Decay of radioactivity (D) End of black holes 26. Turbulence in the ISM is caused mainly by: (A) Rotation of Earth (B) Stellar winds, supernovae, and magnetic fields (C) Cosmic background radiation (D) Orbital motion of planets 27. Which ISM component is necessary for planet formation? (A) Warm ionized gas (B) Interstellar dust grains (C) Gamma-ray photons (D) Neutrinos 28. What fraction of the ISM mass is typically in dust? (A) ~1% (B) ~25% (C) ~50% (D) ~75% 29. Which ISM phase is maintained by ultraviolet starlight ionization? (A) Warm neutral medium (B) Cold neutral medium (C) Warm ionized medium (D) Molecular clouds 30. The transition between neutral and ionized regions of hydrogen is called: (A) Stromgren sphere (B) Oort cloud (C) Galactic bulge (D) Roche limit 31. What is the primary coolant in molecular clouds? (A) Hydrogen recombination (B) Carbon monoxide emission (C) Iron absorption lines (D) Dark matter interactions 32. How do astronomers detect interstellar dust directly? (A) Optical telescopes (B) Infrared emission (C) Gamma-ray bursts (D) Neutrino detectors 33. What is the main heating source of the diffuse ISM? (A) Cosmic rays and UV starlight (B) Supermassive black holes (C) Planetary nebulae (D) Galaxy rotation 34. The ISM is part of which larger galactic cycle? (A) Cosmic inflation (B) Star-gas-star cycle (C) Dark energy cycle (D) Nuclear fusion cycle 35. Which ISM structure is shaped by magnetic fields? (A) Filaments and alignments of dust grains (B) Stellar cores (C) Planetary rings (D) Pulsar beams 36. Which ISM observation method relies on starlight polarization? (A) Detecting magnetic field directions (B) Measuring dark matter density (C) Estimating stellar mass (D) Observing gamma rays 37. The ISM pressure is balanced between: (A) Gas, radiation, and magnetic fields (B) Dark matter and gravity (C) Stellar orbits and dust (D) Supernovae and black holes 38. Which region of the ISM glows due to recombination radiation? (A) H II regions (B) Cold neutral medium (C) Hot ionized medium (D) Dark nebulae 39. Which ISM structure blocks background starlight, appearing as dark patches? (A) Emission nebulae (B) Reflection nebulae (C) Dark nebulae (D) Supernova remnants 40. The ISM metallicity affects: (A) Star and planet formation processes (B) Galactic rotation speed (C) Cosmic expansion (D) Black hole evaporation 41. Which particles in the ISM align with magnetic fields and polarize light? (A) Electrons (B) Dust grains (C) Protons (D) Neutrinos 42. The lifetime of giant molecular clouds is typically: (A) 1 million years (B) 10–30 million years (C) 100 million years (D) 1 billion years 43. Which process can strip ISM gas from galaxies in clusters? (A) Ram-pressure stripping (B) Tidal locking (C) Cosmic background heating (D) Stellar flaring 44. What is the ISM density in molecular clouds compared to average ISM? (A) Lower (B) About the same (C) Much higher (D) Negligible 45. Which molecule is a tracer of dense star-forming regions? (A) O₂ (B) NH₃ (Ammonia) (C) CH₄ (D) H₂O₂ 46. Which ISM component scatters blue light more than red, causing reddening? (A) Gas ions (B) Dust grains (C) Cosmic rays (D) Plasma waves 47. Which large-scale structure of ISM gas surrounds the Milky Way? (A) Halo gas corona (B) Superbubble (C) Planetary nebulae (D) Intergalactic void 48. The ISM is replenished mainly by: (A) Galactic mergers (B) Stellar mass loss and supernovae (C) Dark energy (D) Big Bang nucleosynthesis 49. The ISM is removed from galaxies mainly through: (A) Star formation feedback and galactic winds (B) Black hole jets (C) Planetary nebulae only (D) Tidal locking 50. Why is studying the ISM important? (A) It determines the expansion rate of the Universe (B) It is the birthplace of stars and planetary systems (C) It explains black hole physics (D) It replaces dark matter in galaxies