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Quiz about Match the Star
Quiz about Match the Star

Match the Star Trivia Quiz


There are many well-known stars in our night skies. Can you match the name of the star with its description?

A matching quiz by Red_John. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
Red_John
Time
5 mins
Type
Match Quiz
Quiz #
402,965
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
246
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 81 (7/10), Jane57 (10/10), bernie73 (2/10).
(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.
QuestionsChoices
1. Red giant star, located approximately 65.3 light years away in the constellation Taurus  
  Pollux
2. Binary star system, consisting of a yellow main sequence star and an orange main sequence star, located approximately 4.4 light years away in the constellation Centaurus  
  Canopus
3. Red dwarf star, located approximately 5.9 light years away in the constellation Ophiucus  
  Betelgeuse
4. Red supergiant star, located approximately 700 light years away in the constellation Orion  
  Alpha Centauri
5. Bright giant star, located approximately 310 light years away in the constellation Carina  
  Wolf 359
6. Blue-white supergiant star, located approximately 2620 light years away in the constellation Cygnus  
  Deneb
7. Orange giant star, located approximately 33.78 light years away in the constellation Gemini  
  Proxima Centauri
8. Red dwarf star, located approximately 4.2 light years away in the constellation Centaurus  
  Sirius
9. Binary system, consisting of a white main-sequence star and a white dwarf star, located approximately 8.6 light years away in the constellation Canis Majoris  
  Barnard's Star
10. Red dwarf star located approximately 7.9 light years away in the constellation Leo  
  Aldebaran





Select each answer

1. Red giant star, located approximately 65.3 light years away in the constellation Taurus
2. Binary star system, consisting of a yellow main sequence star and an orange main sequence star, located approximately 4.4 light years away in the constellation Centaurus
3. Red dwarf star, located approximately 5.9 light years away in the constellation Ophiucus
4. Red supergiant star, located approximately 700 light years away in the constellation Orion
5. Bright giant star, located approximately 310 light years away in the constellation Carina
6. Blue-white supergiant star, located approximately 2620 light years away in the constellation Cygnus
7. Orange giant star, located approximately 33.78 light years away in the constellation Gemini
8. Red dwarf star, located approximately 4.2 light years away in the constellation Centaurus
9. Binary system, consisting of a white main-sequence star and a white dwarf star, located approximately 8.6 light years away in the constellation Canis Majoris
10. Red dwarf star located approximately 7.9 light years away in the constellation Leo

Most Recent Scores
Oct 02 2024 : Guest 81: 7/10
Sep 13 2024 : Jane57: 10/10
Sep 12 2024 : bernie73: 2/10
Sep 03 2024 : Guest 49: 1/10

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Red giant star, located approximately 65.3 light years away in the constellation Taurus

Answer: Aldebaran

Aldebaran is a red giant star, the brightest in the constellation of Taurus and the fourteenth brightest in the night sky. Aldebaran is regarded as one of the easiest stars to locate, as it is located in the opposite direction to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, from Orion's Belt.

The star is classed as K5+III on the stellar classification spectrum, with a radius approximately 44 times that of the Sun. In 1993, evidence was found indicating the possible existence of an exoplanet orbiting Aldebaran.

This planet, which was confirmed in 2015, is estimated to be around five times the size of Jupiter, with an orbit of around 45% greater than that of Earth around the Sun.
2. Binary star system, consisting of a yellow main sequence star and an orange main sequence star, located approximately 4.4 light years away in the constellation Centaurus

Answer: Alpha Centauri

The two stars of the Alpha Centauri system are among the closest to the Sun, being located less than 4.5 light years away. The system's primary, Rigel Kentaurus (also known as Alpha Centauri A), is a yellow main sequence star classed as G2V on the stellar classification scale.

As such, it has similar properties to the Sun, which is also a G2V yellow star. Rigel Kentaurus is approximately 10% more massive, with a 22% larger radius than the Sun. The second member of the system, Toliman (aka Alpha Centauri B), is a smaller orange main sequence star classed as K1V.

It has 90% of the Sun's mass and is 14% smaller in diameter. The pair orbit a common centre of mass at a variable distance of between 11.2 and 35.6 AUs, with one orbit taking approximately 80 years.

A third member of the system, named Proxima Centauri, orbits the centre of mass at a distance of approximately 13,000 AUs.
3. Red dwarf star, located approximately 5.9 light years away in the constellation Ophiucus

Answer: Barnard's Star

Barnard's Star is a small red dwarf star that is one of the closest to the Sun, being located just under 6 light years away. As a red dwarf, it is too dim to be able to see with the naked eye, with its small size leading to it only being properly noticed just over a century ago, when astronomer EE Barnard calculated its proper motion based on photographs taken in 1888, 1890 and 1916; to commemorate this work, the star was named for Barnard. Barnard's Star is classed as M4 on the stellar classification scale, and is estimated to be anywhere between 7 and 12 billion years old, making it one of the oldest stars yet studied within the Milky Way.

In 2018, it was announced that an exoplanet had been detected orbiting Barnard's Star.
4. Red supergiant star, located approximately 700 light years away in the constellation Orion

Answer: Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant, and is one of the largest visible stars in the night sky. The tenth most-visible star from Earth, Betelgeuse forms the right shoulder of Orion, and is easily distinguishable by its bright red colour. Classified as M1-2Ia-ab on the stellar classification scale, Betelgeuse is identified as a so-called 'runaway star', meaning that it is moving through the interstellar medium at a high velocity having been ejected from the area of its creation.

The star's mass, estimated to be between ten and twenty times that of the Sun, allows its age to be estimated as around 10 million years, and indicates that Betelgeuse will end its life cycle as a supernova at some point within 100,000 years. Betelgeuse forms one of the points of the so called 'Winter Triangle', a grouping of three stars visible during the northern winter, alongside Sirius and Procyon.
5. Bright giant star, located approximately 310 light years away in the constellation Carina

Answer: Canopus

Canopus is the second brightest star in the night sky. A so-called 'bright giant' classed as A9 on the stellar classification scale, it is eight times as massive as, and has 71 times the radius of, the Sun. Further, its luminosity is 10,000 times that of the Sun; no closer star is more luminous than Canopus, which has meant that three times during the past four million years, Canopus has been the brightest star in the night sky, and has only been eclipsed from this position when other stars pass closer to the Solar System.
6. Blue-white supergiant star, located approximately 2620 light years away in the constellation Cygnus

Answer: Deneb

Deneb is a blue-white supergiant star that is amongst the most luminous in the night sky. The nineteenth brightest visiblestar from Earth, Deneb is located in the constellation Cygnus at a distance estimated to be more than 2600 light years. Classed as A2Ia on the stellar classification spectrum, Deneb's diameter is more than 200 times that of the Sun. Deneb is believed to be going through a phase of expansion and contraction, combined with heating and cooling, having evolved past the main sequence. Depending on its mass, the star will either evolve into a red supergiant, or will heat up before cooling once again and expand into an even more massive type, such as a yellow hypergiant or Wolf-Rayet star.

In either eventuality, Deneb is expected to ultimately explode in a supernova.
7. Orange giant star, located approximately 33.78 light years away in the constellation Gemini

Answer: Pollux

Pollux is the closest giant star to the Sun, at a distance of just 34 light years. The eighteenth brightest star in the night sky, Pollux was originally an A-type main sequence star. It has since has evolved past the main sequence to become an orange giant classified as K0III.

It is approximately twice the mass and nine times the diameter of the Sun, and is the brightest star in Gemini. In 2006, an exoplanet was confirmed as being in orbit of Pollux. This planet, which was given the name Thestias, is estimated to be just over twice the mass of Jupiter, and orbits Pollux at a distance of approximately 1.5 AUs.
8. Red dwarf star, located approximately 4.2 light years away in the constellation Centaurus

Answer: Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star that is just 4.2 light years from the Sun, making it the closest star to the Solar System. Technically part of the Alpha Centauri system, it orbits Rigel Kentaurus and Toliman at a distance of roughly 13000 AUs (0.21 light years), taking 550,000 years to complete one orbit. Unlike the two main stars in Alpha Centauri, Proxima is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Classified as M5.5 on the stellar classification scale, Proxima was first discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, who noted it had the same proper motion as Alpha Centauri, and suggested its name. Proxima has two confirmed exoplanets in orbit around it, with one, Proxima Centauri b, believed to exist within the star's estimated habitable zone.
9. Binary system, consisting of a white main-sequence star and a white dwarf star, located approximately 8.6 light years away in the constellation Canis Majoris

Answer: Sirius

Sirius is well-known as the brightest star in the night sky. The system is a binary; Sirius A is a white main sequence star classed as A0mA1Va, approximately twice as massive as the Sun, while Sirius B is a white dwarf classed as DA2. Sirius B was a main sequence star similar to its companion, although with much greater mass, which led it to expend its hydrogen core more quickly than Sirius A.

This led to it swelling into a red giant some 120 million years ago, before shrinking into its current form, which, although it retains a mass of around 1.2 solar masses, is in a body approximately the volume of Earth. Sirius A will go through a similar evolution as it uses up its hydrogen core. Sirius A forms one of the points of the so called 'Winter Triangle', a grouping of three stars visible during the northern winter, alongside Betelgeuse and Procyon.
10. Red dwarf star located approximately 7.9 light years away in the constellation Leo

Answer: Wolf 359

Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star, one of the faintest and lowest mass stars known. Located less than eight light years away, it is also one of the closest stars to the Sun, with only the three elements of the Alpha Centauri system and Barnard's Star being closer. Classed as M6.5 on the stellar classification scale, Wolf 359 cannot be seen with the naked eye.

It was discovered when its proper motion was measured by the astronomer Max Wolf in 1917. Two years later, he published a catalogue of over one thousand stars whose motions he had measured, with this numbered as number 359 on the list, which is how it received its name. Wolf 359 has less than 10% of the Sun's mass, and is only just above the threshold in which a star can initiate nuclear fusion.

Its slow rate of consumption of its hydrogen core means that Wolf 359 will be able to sustain itself as a main sequence star for an estimated eight trillion years. In 2019, evidence was found that there may be at least two exoplanets orbiting Wolf 359.
Source: Author Red_John

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