ASTRONOMY quiz
Here are sample questions from the ASTRONOMY category. Think about each answer before revealing it – and then check how you'd do against real players in the app.
What is the name of the planet shown in the photograph?
What is the astronomical instrument used in navigation until the early 18th century, the predecessor of the sextant, called?
The name comes from a Greek word meaning "star-taker".
How many times a year does the Earth orbit the Sun?
1
What is the name of the planet shown in the photograph?
Which planet is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, and whose distinctive Great Red Spot is an anticyclone that has been observed continuously since at least the 17th century?
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
How many moons does the dwarf planet Pluto have?
You can be off by 1.
5
When does astronomical winter begin?
You can be off by one day.
21 December
Astronomical winter begins at the December solstice, which falls on 21 or 22 December.
Which planet orbits the Sun in about 11.86 years?
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
In astronomy, what is the average time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth relative to the stars called?
The name comes from the Latin "sidus, sideris", meaning "star".
Which dwarf planet is named after the Roman goddess of agriculture?
Ceres was discovered in 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. The word "cereal" also comes from the goddess's name.
Which constellation is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, in?
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky because it is close to us.
Which planet of the solar system was discovered last?
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
It was discovered in 1846. It is the only planet found through mathematical calculation rather than by observing the sky.
How many time zones is the Earth divided into?
24
How many degrees of longitude correspond to a one-hour time difference?
15°
Did the astronomer Edmond Halley know Isaac Newton?
- No
- Yes
Halley persuaded Newton to write the "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" (1687) and then paid for its printing.
In which century was the planet Pluto discovered?
You can be off by one century.
XX century
The planet was discovered on 18 February 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
What is the name of the third-brightest star in the Pleiades cluster?
Only Alcyone and Atlas are brighter. Electra is a blue giant in the constellation Taurus.
How many moons does Venus have?
0
Arrange the planets of the solar system from the one closest to the Sun to the one furthest away.
- Mercury
- Earth
- Saturn
- Neptune
Belinda is a moon of which planet?
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
It is one of the planet's inner moons.
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