Question

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' claim?

Choose 1 answer:
A. There's an age difference of about 2 billion years between certain stars in the thick disk.
B. The stars in the Milky Way tend to have very similar chemical compositions.
C. The thin disk contains about twice as many stars that can be seen from Earth as the thick disk does.
D. The telescopes used by the researchers have detected stars of similar ages in galaxies other than the Milky Way.

Answer 1

Option A supports the researchers' claim as it indicates an age difference among stars in the thick disk, which aligns with our understanding of the Milky Way's formation and the impact of past galactic collisions.

Step-by-step explanation:

Among the provided options to support the researchers' claim about the formation of our Galaxy, option A directly correlates with the provided information about the Milky Way's formation. According to the data, the ages of stars are indicative of where they are found within our Galaxy, which gives clues to the Galaxy's history. If there's an age difference of about 2 billion years between certain stars in the thick disk (as stated in option A), this supports the claim that there are different generations of stars within the thick disk, backing up the theory that the thick disk may have been altered by past events such as collisions with other galaxies, leading to the fluffing up of star orbits and subsequent settling down of gas to form younger stars in the thin disk.