The method used by Harlow Shapley in 1917 to estimate the Sun's location in the Milky Way Galaxy was the measurement of the
A) locations of globular clusters around the Galaxy.
B) density of stars in different directions along the Milky Way.
C) distances to open star clusters and H II regions in the disk of the Galaxy.
D) structure of the Andromeda Galaxy and a comparison of it with the structure of the Milky Way.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Harlow Shapley used the distribution of globular clusters to estimate the Sun's location in the Milky Way. He observed that globular clusters were not evenly distributed across the sky but were concentrated in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, leading him to conclude that the center of the Milky Way was in that direction, and thus the Sun was not at the center of the Galaxy.

The Method Used by Harlow Shapley in 1917 to Estimate