Astronomer: Earlier estimates of the distances of certain stars from Earth would mean that these stars are about 1 bi...

Ravi on July 10, 2019

@Samantha-Alexis,

Great question. Let's look at (D).

(D) says, "How bright celestial objects appear to be depends on how
far away from the observer they are."

You're right—(D) just restates something that we already know, so
there's no way that it can do anything for us.

(C) says, "The brighter a star is, the younger it is."

We know from the stimulus the stars are brighter, and if brighter
stars mean younger stars, then we don't necessarily have the paradox
of there being stars that are older than the universe, so (C) helps to
explain why the astronomer's estimates of the stars' distances from
Earth help resolve the earlier conflict between the ages of these
stars and the age of the universe. Thus, (C) is the correct answer
choice.

Does this answer your question? Let us know if you'd like more clarification!

dace on August 3, 2019

Doesn't question D incorrectly reverses the premise brought forth in the stimulus?

dace on August 3, 2019

Can't type. Doesn't question D incorrectly reverse* the premise brought forth in the stimulus?

Ravi on August 4, 2019

@dace,

No, (D) actually restates what's told to us in the second to last
sentence, which is a premise. We're told there that "the farther away
the stars are, the greater their intrinsic brightness must be, given
their appearance to us on Earth." (D) paraphrases this.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions!