Exploring The Sky

Question 1

How many times fainter is the Moon to the Sun?

Answer 1

Around a million times fainter

Question 2

How many planets are visible to the naked eye and what are they?

Answer 2

5;

• Jupiter
• Venus
• Saturn
• Mars
• Mercury

Question 3

Which two planets orbit inside that of the earth?

Answer 3

Mercury and Venus

Question 4

Which 3 planets orbit outside that of the earth?

Answer 4

Jupiter, Mars & Saturn

Question 5

When was Uranus discovered?

Answer 5

1781

Question 6

When was Neptune discoered?

Answer 6

1846

Question 7

Why do stars twinkle?

Answer 7

Distance and irregularities within the Earth’s atmosphere

Question 8

How many stars are bright enough to be seen by the naked eye under good observing conditions?

Answer 8

Around 6,000

Question 9

How many stars are estimated to be in the Galaxy?

Answer 9

2 x 10-11

Question 10

Between which two planets is the asteroid belt that Ceres was found?

Answer 10

Mars & Jupiter

Question 11

Which asteroid belt is Pluto found?

Answer 11

Kuiper

Question 12

How frequently does Halley’s Comet return near to the sun?

Answer 12

Every 76 years

Question 13

What creates the glow of a meteor?

Answer 13

When a body enters the atmosphere it becomes vaporised

Question 14

What is an Aurorae?

Answer 14

When charged particles enter the earth’s atmosphere

Question 15

Which stars are always above the horizon?

Answer 15

Circumpolar stars

Question 16

What is the observer’s meridian?

Answer 16

The greatest altitude of a star above the horizon along the north-south line.

Question 17

Which term is given to the seven stars that can always be seen from Glasgow and can be used as way of finding the Pole Star?

Answer 17

The Plough

Question 18

How many arc seconds are in one degree?

Answer 18

3, 600

Question 19

For an observer, the altitude of the Pole Star is about:

Answer 19

56 degrees

Question 20

What does the declination of a star tell us?

Answer 20

How far north or south the celestial equator is

Question 21

What is the declination of the Pole Star?

Answer 21

89.3 degrees

Question 22

Johann Bayer (1603) introduced which star map?

Answer 22

Uranometria

Question 23

How was Johann Bayer’s (1609) map of Uranometra labelled?

Answer 23

By their constellation and by a Greek letter. A being the brightest and getting smaller as the alphabet proceeds.

Question 24

How did John Flamsteed (1725) label his stars?

Answer 24

He numbered stars in order of increasing right ascension.

Question 25

How many stars did Henry Draper catalogue?

Answer 25

About 250,000

Question 26

What is the brightness of a star measured by?

Answer 26

It’s magnitude

Question 27

According to Ptolemy, how would he define the brightest stars such as Sirius?

Answer 27

By one of six magnitudes. The brightest would be 1st magnitude, following a descending order.

Question 28

According to Hipparrchus, what magnitude of difference was there between stars?

Answer 28

2.5x brighter.

Question 29

According to Pogson, the difference of 5 magnitudes would equate to what factor?

Answer 29

A factor of 100.