Astronomy Quiz

Question 1

light year

Answer 1

Measure of distance (6 trillion miles or 10 trillion kilometers) light travels in a year.

Question 2

galaxy

Answer 2

Huge group of stars. Universe contains billions of galaxies. One galaxy contains billions of stars. Nearest star to our star (the Sun) is 4.2 light years away.
Can be 100,000 light years across.

Question 3

star

Answer 3

A heated gas

Question 4

comets

Answer 4

A ball of ice and dust and rocks

Question 5

ellipse

Answer 5

Shape of how planets travel around the sun.

Question 6

star

Answer 6

Balls of hydrogen gas burning by nuclear fusion.
Form when a cloud of dust contracts and heats up.
Different sizes brightness and temperatures
Hottest stars white to blue
Coolest stars red
May exists for billion of years
Sun is a star 5 billion years old and expected to survive another 5 billion years.
When they use up their hydrogen, they may become white dwarfs or explode into super nova

Question 7

moons

Answer 7

Natural satellites which orbit a planet. Smaller than planet they orbit.

Question 8

Big Bang

Answer 8

The explosion that created the universe.

Evidence includes galaxies moving away from each other.

Question 9

HR Diagram

Answer 9

A plot showing information about stars

Question 10

Gas Giants

Answer 10

a large planet of relatively low density consisting predominantly of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.

Question 11

meteor

Answer 11

a small body from space that enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

Question 12

Equinox

Answer 12

The time when the sun crosses the celestial equator. (Northern Hemisphere Spring/Vernal: March 21; Autumnal: Sept. 21).
Southern Hemisphere reversed

Question 13

moon phases

Answer 13

Full moon- see lighted half
New Moon-See dark half
Crescent-sliver is lit (less than half)
Quarter-Half lighted part visible
Gibbous moon- 3/4 lighted part is visible
Waxing-getting brighter
Waning-getting darker

Question 14

Orbit

Answer 14

The carved path a celestial object or spacecraft.

Question 15

Tides

Answer 15

The rising and falling of the sea.

Question 16

Gravity

Answer 16

The force that attracts a body to the center of the Earth. (The force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun and the moon in orbit around the Earth).

Question 17

nuclear fusion

Answer 17

Nuclei of a low atomic number fuse to form a nucleus.

Question 18

Eclipse

Answer 18

An object passes in front of another object. Lunar (full moon passes into Earth’s shadow). Solar eclipse - when a new moon passes in front of the sun during daylight and the moon’s shadow hits Earth.

Question 19

Equinox

Answer 19

The time when the sun crosses the celestial equator. Not tilted toward or away from sun. Axis straight up and down. (Northern Hemisphere Spring/Vernal: March 21; Autumnal: Sept. 21).
Southern Hemisphere reversed

Question 20

Solstice

Answer 20

Maximum tilt toward/away from Sun. (Northern Hemisphere: Summer: June 21; Winter: Dec. 21). Southern Hemisphere reversed.

Question 21

Tides

Answer 21

The rising and falling of the sea, due to gravitational pull.