Astronomer: Earlier estimates of the distances of certain stars from E

Question

Astronomer: Earlier estimates of the distances of certain stars from Earth would mean that these stars are about 1 billion years older than the universe itself, an impossible scenario. My estimates of the distances indicate that these stars are much farther away than previously thought. And the farther away the stars are, the greater their intrinsic brightness must be, given their appearance to us on Earth. So the new estimates of these stars’ distances from Earth help resolve the earlier conflict between the ages of these stars and the age of the universe.

Which one of the following, if true, most 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?

(A) The stars are the oldest objects yet discovered in the universe.
(B) The younger the universe is, the more bright stars it is likely to have.
(C) The brighter a star is, the younger it is.
(D) How bright celestial objects appear to be depends on how far away from the observer they are.
(E) New telescopes allow astronomers to see a greater number of distant stars.

Source: LSAT

Sateni7628 · Accepted Answer

Took me a while to understand after picking up a wrong choice.

Earlier estimates: Stars are about 1 billion years older than the universe.

Astronomer's observations: Start are in fact farther and the brightness increases with distance.

Choice C fills up the gap and explains that stars are not actually 1 billion years older than the universe by supporting that the brighter a star appears, the younger it could be.

Just restarted my GMAT life. KUDOs please

broall · Answer

There is a missing gap in the argument: How could the further distance from the stars to the Earth have influence on the age of it? Choice C fills this gap well.

rahul6019 · Answer

There is a direct relation between distance and brightness, so correct answer is C.

Skywalker18 · Answer

Astronomer: Earlier estimates of the distances of certain stars from Earth would mean that these stars are about 1 billion years older than the universe itself, an impossible scenario. My estimates of the distances indicate that these stars are much farther away than previously thought. And the farther away the stars are, the greater their intrinsic brightness must be, given their appearance to us on Earth. 
So the new estimates of these stars’ distances from Earth help resolve the earlier conflict between the ages of these stars and the age of the universe.

Which one of the following, if true, most 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?

Boil it down - So the new estimates of these stars’ distances from Earth help resolve the earlier conflict between the ages of these stars and the age of the universe.
stars farther away and brighter --> not actually older than the universe

Type - Explain

(A) The stars are the oldest objects yet discovered in the universe.- Irrelvant - whether they are the oldest doesn't help us conclude that they are actually younger than we thought. 
(B) The younger the universe is, the more bright stars it is likely to have. - Irrelevant
(C) The brighter a star is, the younger it is. - Correct
(D) How bright celestial objects appear to be depends on how far away from the observer they are.- Irrelevant
(E) New telescopes allow astronomers to see a greater number of distant stars.- Out of scope

Answer C

gmat1393 · Answer

Merged posts.

Akela 
This question was already posted by you on 2 Oct, 2017.
Kindly search before posting any Questions

Thanks!

VerbalBot · Answer

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Astronomer: Earlier estimates of the distances of certain stars from E

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Astronomer: Earlier estimates of the distances of certain stars from E

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