Astronomy Flashcards
Also the name of a US sitcom which theory states that the universe began when space expanded rapidly nearly 14 billion years ago?
BIG BANG THEORY
Which dwarf planet was classified as a planet until 2006?
PLUTO
The four largest moons of Jupiter are collectively named after which astronomer who discovered them in 1610?
GALILEO
Associated with a strong magnetic field what is the name of the relatively cool and dark regions on the surface of the Sun?
SUNSPOTS
Last seen in 1986 which comet will next be visible from Earth in 2061?
HALLEY’S COMET
What name is given to either of the two times of the year (in June and December) when the Sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator?
SOLSTICE
Known colloquially as the “Dog Star” what is the brightest star in the night sky?
SIRIUS
Who is best known for his three laws of planetary motion which provided a foundation for Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation?
JOHANNES KEPLER
In January 2015 NASA announced the 1000th confirmed exoplanet discovered by which Space Telescope?
KEPLER
Which is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way – the galaxies are expected to collide in 3.75 billion years time?
ANDROMEDA
What is the name of the gaseous outer layer around the Sun that can be seen by the naked eye during a total solar eclipse?
CORONA
The atmosphere of the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) is composed mainly of hydrogen and which other gas?
HELIUM
The moons of which planet are named after mythological Greek titans and giants from Inuit Norse and Gallic mythology?
SATURN
What name is given to the boundary of a black hole?
EVENT HORIZON
In c. 5 billion years time the Sun will turn into what type of star which will engulf Mercury Venus and (probably) Earth?
RED GIANT
What hypothetical form of energy thought to explain why the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate contributes c. 70% of the total energy in the observable universe?
DARK ENERGY
Which is the innermost and larger of the two moons of Mars?
PHOBOS
What is the point in the orbit of a planet where it is nearest to the Sun?
PERIHELION
Which ring of debris consisting mainly of objects composed primarily of ice extends from the orbit of Neptune between 30 and 50Astronomical Units from the Sun?
KUIPER BELT
Which two moons in the Solar System are larger than Mercury?
GANYMEDE AND TITAN
What is the name of the meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle which peaks in mid-August each year?
PERSEIDS
Commonly represented as a water snake which is the largest of the 88 constellations?
HYDRA
Which is the only planet where the rotation period (243 days) is longer than the orbital period (225 days)?
VENUS
Scheduled to launch in 2018 which telescope with a 6.5 m primary mirror is a successor instrument to the Hubble Space Telescope?
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
What is the name of the shield volcano on Mars which is the largest volcano discovered in the Solar System?
OLYMPUS MONS
Which stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun is responsible for the aurora and the fact that the tails of comets always point away from the sun?
SOLAR WIND
Which is the densest planet in the Solar System?
EARTH
Named after the American scientist who discovered them what is the name of the layers of energetic charged particles that are held in place around the Earth by the planet’s magnetic field?
VAN ALLEN RADIATION BELTS
SSSB is a term defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union to describe objects in the Solar System that are neither planets nor dwarf planets. What do the initials SSSB stand for?
SMALL SOLAR SYSTEM BODY
Rigel and Betelgeuse are the two brightest stars in which constellation?
ORION
What name is given to the division between the illuminated and dark parts of the Moon?
(LUNAR) TERMINATOR
Which gas comprises 96.5% of the atmosphere of Venus?
CARBON DIOXIDE
Around the same size as Pluto which dwarf planet was discovered in 2005 and is named after the Greek mythological goddess personifying discord?
ERIS
The asteroid belt is a region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of which two planets?
MARS AND JUPITER
Attempting to explain peculiarities of Mercury’s orbit the 19th century French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier hypothesized that they were the result of another planet to which he gave what name?
VULCAN
What is the name of the southern counterpart of the aurora borealis?
AURORA AUSTRALIS
Uranus is blue-green in colour due to the absorption of red light by which gas in the upper atmosphere?
METHANE
The division of the A Ring and B Ring of Saturn is named after which Italian astronomer who discovered it in 1675?
GIOVANNI CASSINI
Which supernova remnant and pulsar in the constellation of Taurus was the first object to be classified by Charles Messier (Messier number M1)?
CRAB NEBULA
The collapsed core of a large star what type of star is the smallest and densest star known to exist?
NEUTRON STAR
Three of the moons of Uranus are named after characters from which poem by Alexander Pope?
THE RAPE OF THE LOCK
Which planet has the highest orbital eccentricity?
MERCURY
According to the giant impact hypothesis which planet-sized object collided with the Earth over 4 billion years ago leading to the formation of the early Moon?
THEIA
Which class of exoplanets has characteristics that are similar to Jupiter but have high surface temperatures because they orbit very close to their parent stars?
HOT JUPITERS
What type of eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line with the Earth but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun?
ANNULAR ECLIPSE
The five positions in an orbital configuration (labeled L1 to L5) where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects are named after which Italian astronomer?
JOSEPH-LOUIS LAGRANGE
Which comet collided with Jupiter in 1994 providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects?
SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9
Also called the “dark night sky paradox” the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe is a paradox named after which German astronomer?
HEINRICH WILHELM OLBERS
Which moon of Saturn discovered by William Herschel in 1879 resembles the Death Star a fictional space station known from the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope?
MIMAS
The power and regularity of the signals from the first pulsar to be discovered was thought to resemble a beacon so for a time the source was nicknamed ‘LGM-1’. What do the initials LGM stand for?
LITTLE GREEN MEN
