Question

In the 1960s, Maarten Schmidt determined that quasars were very distant objects by

A) determining how luminous they were.
B) determining how small the source of light was from its variations in luminosity.
C) discovering that they were embedded in distant galaxies.
D) determining their redshifts.
E) determining their parallax angles

Answer 1

In the 1960s, Maarten Schmidt determined that quasars were very distant objects by studying their redshifts.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the 1960s, Maarten Schmidt determined that quasars were very distant objects by D) determining their redshifts.

Redshift is a shift in the wavelength of light emitted by an object that is moving away from an observer. When a source of light such as a quasar moves away from us, the light waves it emits become stretched, causing their wavelengths to become longer. By measuring the extent to which the light from a quasar has been stretched, astronomers can determine the quasar's redshift, which indicates its distance from Earth.

Therefore, in order to determine the distance of quasars, Maarten Schmidt studied the redshifts of these objects and found that they were located very far away.