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Early Astronomers Three Trivia Quiz

Here is another quiz on Astronomers. This is a much harder quiz than the first two, but give it a try. Some of these Astronomers are from recent years.

A multiple-choice quiz by almach. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
almach

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
91,695

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
460

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Who identified the first white dwarf star? Hint

Otto Heckmann

William Huggins

Riccardo Giacconi

Walter Sydney Adams

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Question 2 of 10

2. Who first proposed a large telescope in space? Hint

Lyman Spitzer, Jr.

Galileo

Edwin Hubble

George Hale

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Question 3 of 10

3. Who discovered the first Trojan asteroid, 588 Achilles? Hint

Alfred Fowler

Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf

Bart J. Bok

E. Margaret Burbidge

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Question 4 of 10

4. Whose early photographs of Mars helped to disprove that canals existed on Mars? Hint

Percival Lowell

William Henry Pickering

Alvin Clark

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

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Question 5 of 10

5. Who is the father of U.S. rocketry? Hint

Albert Einstein

Edwin Hubble

Ernest Rutherford

Robert Goddard

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Question 6 of 10

6. Who discovered cepheid variables? Hint

Ernest Cepheid

Annie Jump Cannon

Albert Einstein

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

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Question 7 of 10

7. Who was the first person to show that some nebulae have pure emission spectra? Hint

Bart Bok

William Huggins

Jacobus C. Kapteyn

William A. Fowler

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Question 8 of 10

8. Who found the first optical counterpart to a radio source, known as a Quasar? Hint

S. Chandrasekhar

Harold D. Babcock

Allen Sandage

Ejnar Hertzsprung

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Question 9 of 10

9. What female Astronomer discovered eight comets? Hint

Maria Mitchell

Annie Jump Cannon

Caroline Herschel

Vera Rubin

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Question 10 of 10

10. Who first proposed a Sun-centered Solar System? Hint

Plato

Ptomely

Aristarchus

Aristotle

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who identified the first white dwarf star?

Answer: Walter Sydney Adams

He identified Sirius B as the first white dwarf. Minor Planet 3145 Walter Adams is named after him as is a Lunar crater.

2. Who first proposed a large telescope in space?

Answer: Lyman Spitzer, Jr.

Lyman Spitzer, Jr. was born on June 26, 1914. He proposed the large telescope in 1946. He was analyzing data from the Hubble Space Telescope the day he died, on March 31, 1997. Minor Planet 2160 Spitzer is named after him.

3. Who discovered the first Trojan asteroid, 588 Achilles?

Answer: Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf

The first Trojan asteroid is 588 Achilles. Max Wolf founded and directed the K�nigstuhl Observatory in Heidelberg. Max Wolf has a lunar crater named after him as well as an asteroid.

4. Whose early photographs of Mars helped to disprove that canals existed on Mars?

Answer: William Henry Pickering

William Henry Pickering also discovered Phoebe, a small satellite of Saturn in 1898. He was born on July 19, 1846 and died on February 3, 1919. Minor Planet 784 Pickeringia, is named after him.

5. Who is the father of U.S. rocketry?

Answer: Robert Goddard

Robert Goddard invented the liquid propulsion system. Although his first rocket only flew for 2.5 seconds, he believed space flight to the Moon was possible.

6. Who discovered cepheid variables?

Answer: Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Henrietta Swan Leavitt reported the period luminosity relationship of cepheid variable stars in 1912. She was born in 1868 and died in 1921.

7. Who was the first person to show that some nebulae have pure emission spectra?

Answer: William Huggins

He corrected identified the Orion nebula (M42) as being gaseous. He has a minor planet, 2635 Huggins, named after him as well as Lunar and Martian craters. He was born on February 7, 1824 and died on May 12, 1910.

8. Who found the first optical counterpart to a radio source, known as a Quasar?

Answer: Allen Sandage

Sandage found plenty more in his career. He has minor planet 9963 Sandage named after him. He has also helped to revise the Hubble Constant. He was born on June 18, 1926 and is still alive as of today (2002).

9. What female Astronomer discovered eight comets?

Answer: Caroline Herschel

Caroline Herschel was born on March 16, 1750 in Hannover, Hanover (Germany) and she died on January 9, 1848 also in Hannover. She lived for quite a while with her brother William in England. Caroline discovered the eight comets between the years 1786 through 1797. Caroline Lucretia Herschel has a Minor Planet named after her "281 Lucretia".

10. Who first proposed a Sun-centered Solar System?

Answer: Aristarchus

It is interesting to note that the only reason we know this is because Archimedes made mention of it in an article. The only work of Aristarchus to survive is his writings "On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon". Aristarchus was born around 310 BC in Greece
and died around 230 BC in Greece.

Source: Author almach

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Lanni before going online.
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