Basic Astronomy Trivia Quiz

Answer: yellow dwarf

The Sun is known as a class G main sequence star (also known as a yellow dwarf). Yellow dwarves only make up around 7.5 percent of the stars in the universe.

By contrast, class M stars, which include red dwarves and red giants make up around 75 percent of stars in the universe. The Sun will eventually become a red giant, but not for about five billion years.

Answer: Venus

Venus is often referred to as Earth's twin as the two planets are similar in size and composition. Venus has a diameter of approximately 7,520 mi (12,100 km), while the Earth has a diameter of approximately 7,915 mi (12,740 km). Both Venus and Earth are believed to have a solid iron/nickel inner cores, a liquid iron/nickel outer core, a liquid mantle and a thin outer crust.

However, Venus might be Earth's 'evil' twin as the atmospheres of the two planets have developed completely differently from one another. Venus' atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide (CO2) which blankets the planet in intense heat. Earth's atmosphere is about 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen; a combination that has allowed life to exist on our planet.

Answer: False

The Earth orbits the Sun once in approximately 365.25 days. In order to compensate for the additional six orbital hours, society has adopted leap years, which will add an additional day to the calendar (February 29) once every four years.

Answer: Yes

All four of the Jovian (aka gas giant) planets are confirmed to have a ring system. Saturn of course has rings, which are visible using some of the simplest telescopes available. Uranus has the second most prominent ring system in the Solar System. They sit on their side, matching the planet's axial rotation.

Jupiter and Neptune both have very faint ring systems. Jupiter's rings were discovered by NASA using images from Voyager 1 in 1979. Neptune's rings were discovered in 1984 by a science team from Chile.

Answer: Titan (Saturn)

Titan was discovered by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens on March 25, 1655. It is the only known moon of the Solar System with a thick atmosphere like the Earth's. For centuries, Titan's atmosphere, which consists of mostly nitrogen and methane, prevented astronomers from observing the moon's surface.

In 2004, the Cassini/Huygens probe would reveal stunning features on Titan's surface. Titan's thick atmosphere hides a surface that features liquid lakes and streams similar to the Earth. However, instead of consisting of water, these lakes and streams are made from liquid hydrocarbons like ethane and methane.

Answer: It has not cleared its orbit

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and it was considered to be the ninth planet of the Solar System for decades. However, in the late 1990s/early 2000s, numerous objects were being discovered out in the Kuiper Belt (region of space beyond Neptune) that had similar sizes and compositions to Pluto.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided to redefine what a planet should truly be. They determined that a planet needed to orbit the Sun, be large enough to become completely round and must have enough gravity to clear out any nearby objects from its orbit. It was determined that Pluto did not meet the third requirement and it was demoted.

Answer: The Dog Star

Sirius (or The Dog Star) is the most prominent star in the constellation Canis Major (The Great Dog) and is often considered to be the brightest star in the night sky.

Sirius is a binary star system, meaning that it consists of two stars that are gravitationally linked to each other. One of the stars (designated Sirius A) is a class A main sequence star that is approximately double the size of the Sun. The second star (Sirius B) is classified as a white dwarf, which is the core of a dying star that has shed its outer layers.

Answer: Orion

Rigel and Betelgeuse are two stars that can be found in the constellation Orion (The Hunter). Betelgeuse is a class M red supergiant star that can be found at the right shoulder of Orion. The massive Betelgeuse is believed to be in the twilight of its long life and is expected to go supernova within the next 100,000 years.

Rigel can be found at what is often depicted as Orion's left knee. Rigel is actually a ternary star system, meaning there are three stars that are gravitationally linked to one another. All three stars of Rigel are classified as type B blue supergiants, which are much larger than the Sun.

Answer: False

Polaris which is found in the Ursa Minor (also called Little Bear or Little Dipper) constellation has only been the North Star since around the year 500 CE. Before this the North Star is believed to have been the star Kochab, which is also part of Ursa Minor. However, while Kochab came close it was not believed to be as accurately positioned as Polaris is today.

In about a few thousand years from now, Polaris will be dethroned as the North Star. It is currently believed that the star Errai, which can be found in the constellation Cepheus (The King) will eventually take Polaris' place.

Answer: spaghettification

A black hole theoretically forms when a supermassive star dies. Instead of simply exploding as a supernova, sometimes a supermassive star will collapse in on itself and the intense gravity of the core will draw in all matter and light within a certain distance.

If a person were to be unfortunate enough to cross the event horizon (outermost edge of a black hole's gravitational influence), then their body would be stretched out as if it were a piece of dough being formed into a single strand of spaghetti.