Answers

1. How many planets are there in our solar system?

a) Eight b) Nine c) Ten d) Eleven
Answer: A Eight. There are officially eight planets in our solar system Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is no longer classified as a planet. There are also moons, asteroids and
comets as well as the Kuiper Belt which includes Pluto.
2. Are the orbits of the planets on the same plane?
a) Yes, more or less b) No, theyre all over the place
Answer: A Yes, the planets orbit in or close to a plane around the Sun called the ecliptic. The ecliptic is inclined
7 degrees from the plane of the Suns equator.
3. In our solar system, the planets known as the giant planets are also known as the outer planets?
a) True b) False
Answer: A True. The giant planets, also known as gas giants are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and have
diameters greater than 48,000 km. They are also the outer planets. The small planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, are also the inner planets.
4. Which statement describes the atmosphere of the planet correctly?
a) Venus is mostly carbon dioxide b) Mercury is mostly nitrogen c) Earth is mostly oxygen d) Saturn is mostly
helium
Answer: A Venus is 96% Carbon dioxide and 4% nitrogen. For the other planets Mercury doesnt really have
an atmosphere; Earth is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen; and Saturn is 19% helium and the rest hydrogen.
5. To weigh roughly two-thirds less than what you do on Earth, which planet would you be on?
a) Uranus b) Mars c) Venus d) Jupiter
Answer: B Marss surface gravity is only 38 percent of the gravity of Earth.
6. How long does it take for light from the Sun to reach Earth
a) 1 minute b) 8 minutes c) Instantaneous d) 24 hours?
Answer: B 8 minutes . The Earth is 149.6 million km from the Sun, and since light travels at 299,792,458 m / s it
takes just over 8 minutes to reach the Earth.
7. It takes the Sun 225-250 million years to do one revolution of the Milky Way Galaxy. How fast does the
Sun travel?
a) 220km in a second b) 220km in an minute c) 220 km in a hour d) 220km in a year
Answer: A 220km in a second.
8. How old is the solar system
a) 5000 years b) 5 million years c) 5 billion years d) 500 billion years
Answer: C 5 billion years. The solar system is presumed to have formed at the same time as the Sun, about 5
billion years ago.
9. In 2007, Voyager 2 crossed the heliosheath boundary and into the vast region at the edge of our solar
system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars. What did this crossing
confirm about the shape of our solar system?
a) Its squashed b) Its round c) Its like a donut d) Its a horseshoe shape.
Answer: A Its squashed. Because Voyager 2 crossed the heliosheath boundary 16 billion kilometres from where
Voyager 1 crossed in 2004, scientists were able to confirm that the solar system is squashed or dented and that
the bubble carved into space by the solar wind is not perfectly round.
 10. True of False. The immediate galactic area around our solar system is a cloud known as the Local
Fluff which is within an otherwise sparse region called the Local Bubble.
a) True b) False
Answer: A True. Bizarre though it sounds, the Sun is inside a located inside a cloud, known as the Local Fluff,
which is located in the middle of a hot bubble called the Local Bubble.

Astronomy Quiz - The Universe

1. The list of heavenly bodies from the largest to the smallest is:
A planet, solar system, universe, galaxy

B universe, solar system, star, galaxy

C universe, galaxy, solar system, planet

2. A collection of hundreds of stars around a common centre is called a:

A solar system

B galaxy

C light year

3. The name of the galaxy in which our solar system is situated is the:
A Andromeda

B Milky Way

C Clouds of Magellan

4. An egg-shaped galaxy is called:

A elliptical

B spiral

C irregular

5. What type of galaxy is the Milky Way galaxy?

A irregular

B ellipyical

C spiral

6. The nearest spiral galaxy apart from the Milky Way galaxy is:
A Clouds of Magellan

B Andromeda

C Orion's Belt

7. The distance that light travels in one year is called:

A a light year

B a light ray

C an astronomical unit

8. The centre of a solar system is a:

A star

B planet

C solar

9. The satellite that orbits a planet is a:

A meteor

B moon

C comet

10. A mass of frozen rock and gas that has a tail pointing away from the
sun is a:
A meteorite

B comet

C planet
11. The correct name for a 'shooting star' is a:
A star

B moon

C meteor

12. The asteroid belt in our solar system is between the planets of:
A Mars and Jupiter

B Mars and Earth

C Earth and Mercury

13. The estimated age of the universe is:

A about 50 million years old

B between 7 and 20 million years old

C between 7 and 20 billion years old

14. The theory that the universe originated from a gigantic explosion of a
central large and dense mass is the:
A Organic Evolution Theory

B Steady State Theory

C Big Bang Theory

15. The theory that the universe is continually being created at various
parts of the universe is the:
A Steady State Theory

B Big Bang Theory

C Theory of Plate Tectonics

Scientists at the South Pole are using a new camera with a telescope to study the
Cosmic Microwave Background. They hope to learn:

Please choose from one of the following options.

how the universe looked at different points in its history

what the universe looked like before the Big Bang

how the outer edge of the universe looks in the present day

Hint #1
The Cosmic Microwave Background is light from 13.7 billion years ago, when the
universe began.

1. Why are light-years used to measure the size of galaxies? b

Because the indicate the number of years in the Universe

Other measurements are too small to denote the great distances

Light travels faster than the eye can see

2. Is there any proof that the Big Bang really happened? a

There is evidence that it could have happened but no proof

Yes, because telescopes can look into the past to see the explosion

No, but there is proof that it did not happen

3. How can there be other universes? c

It is nonsense, because this is the only Universe

Space ships have already been to those universes

They may exist outside the boundaries of our Universe

*I***************************************************************************

1. Now that Pluto is no longer included, how many planets are there in the Solar System?
2. What is the smallest planet in the Solar System?
3. What is the largest planet in the Solar System?
4. What is the hottest planet in the Solar System?
5. The sixth planet from the Sun features an extensive ring system, what is the name of this planet?
6. The chemical element uranium was named after what planet?
7. What planet in the solar system is farthest from the Sun?
8. What is the second smallest planet in the solar system?
9. What planet is closest in size to Earth?
10. The moon Titan orbits what planet?
11. What planet is nicknamed the Red Planet?
12. True or false? Neptune is larger than Saturn.
13. The Galilean moons orbit what planet?
14. What planet is closest to the Sun?
15. What is the seventh planet from the Sun?
16. True or false? Venus has more atmospheric pressure than Earth?
17. Triton is the largest moon of what planet?
18. What is the brightest planet in the night sky?
19. What is the third planet from the Sun?
20. Phobos and Deimos are moons of what planet?

Planet Quiz Answers

1. 8 2. Mercury 3. Jupiter 4. Venus

5. Saturn 6. Uranus 7. Neptune 8. Mars
9. Venus 10. Saturn 11. Mars 12. False
13. Jupiter 14. Mercury 15. Uranus 16. True
17. Neptune 18. Venus 19. Earth 20. Mars