Abducted by Aliens Trivia Quiz

Answer: Venus

Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty because it shone more brightly than the other five planets, capable of being viewed by the astronomers of that time.

In 1970, the spacecraft Venera 7, belonging to the Soviet Union, landed on Venus and was able to send back 23 minutes of information. It was the first successful account of a spacecraft landing on a planet.

The length of a year on Venus is equivalent to 225 Earth days.

Answer: Jupiter

The four main moons of Jupiter were discovered in 1610 by Galileo and are named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Jupiter is the noisiest object in our solar system, with the exception of the sun, emitting three different radio waves: decimeter, centimeter, and decameter.

A year on Jupiter is equivalent to 11.86 years Earth years.

The Great Red Spot is a system of spinning storms, similar to a hurricane.

Answer: Mercury

The difference in temperature between daytime and nighttime on Mercury is due to the fact that Mercury possesses almost no atmosphere, therefore nothing to retain the heat of the daytime hours.

Mercury makes an appearance thirteen times per century. In an event referred to as a transit, Mercury can be viewed from Earth. This event takes place within days of May 8th and again around November 10th.

A year on Mercury is equivalent to only 88 days on Earth.

Answer: Saturn

Saturn's rings are comprised of billions of icy particles which range in size from microscopic to tremendous; some said to be as large as a car or even a mountain range.

Although the origins of Saturn's rings remain a mystery, there are theories as to how they came to be. One such theory is that the rings are comprised of leftover material from an exploded moon.

The Cassini spacecraft was launched in 1997 to explore Saturn and in 2004 became the first craft to orbit Saturn. Its' mission has been continually extended and in 2010, was extended through to September 2017, being named the Cassini Solstice Mission.

A year on Saturn is equivalent to 29.46 Earth years.

Answer: Mars

Because of the tilt of its rotational axis, Mars' distance to the sun changes, therefore producing climate changes and thus causing a seasonal effect.

Although the name for Mars may vary in different civilizations, it is almost always named for either a god of war, or a name referring to its' red bloodlike coloring. For example in Egypt, it is referred to as "Her Desher" meaning "the red one".

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos, the larger of the two, has over time, been spinning further inward, and is believed to be on a collision path with Mars. This is predicted to happen in the next 50 million years, and when it does, it is believed that this may cause a ring to appear around Mars.

A year on Mars is equivalent to 687 Earth days.

Answer: Uranus

Uranus is made up of helium and hydrogen, but it also contains methane. It is the methane gas absorbing the red color from the sunlight that produces the blue green color.

It wasn't until the year 1977, that scientists discovered that Uranus was encompassed by rings.

It is believed that somewhere in the history of Uranus, it collided with something large enough to knock it off of its orbit, so that it is actually laying on its' side. Due to that event, the seasons of Uranus are extremely long, basically 42 years of sunlight on one side of the planet, while the other side experiences 42 years of darkness.

A year on Uranus is equivalent to 84 Earth years.

Answer: Neptune

Although Galileo noticed Neptune in 1612, he noted it as a fixed star. It was in 1846 that it was actually discovered by Johann Gottfried Galle of the Berlin Observatory. Not all the credit goes to Galle though. A French mathematician named, Urbain Joseph Le Verrier, who was studying Uranus, noted that the planet was not moving as it was expected to. He thought possibly another unknown planet could be causing the disruption, but was ignored by other French astronomers. Le Verrier then sent his findings to Galle, who then found Neptune on his first night of searching.

Neptune is the outermost planet of the four planets known as the "gas giants". These planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

A year on Neptune is equivalent to 165 Earth years.

Answer: Pluto

Ah, the age old debate; to be a planet or not to be a planet. A debate that has gone on since the year 1930 when Pluto was first discovered. Apparently from the beginning, there were those who felt that Pluto should not be classified as a planet.

In 2006, scientists came up with the classification dwarf planets, for worlds that were more developed than asteroids, but not quite as developed as planets. What is a dwarf planet you ask? Regular planets have the gravitational force to pull things into their orbits, whereas the dwarf planets lack this ability. They instead orbit the sun with like objects, such as asteroids.

Did you know that Pluto was named by a child? An 11 year old girl from England, named Venetia Burney chose the name and told her grandfather, who in turn submitted the suggestion to the Lowell Observatory, where it was accepted.

A year on Pluto is equivalent to 248 Earth years.

Answer: Moon

The Moon does not have a magnetic field, although in its lunar crust, it contains areas of magnetism. It is not known how this is possible, given the fact that the early Moon did not have the contributing factors to create a dynamo of its own.

Earth's moon is known only as the Moon, due to the fact that up until Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons in 1610, Earth's moon was the only known moon.

The waterless sea, Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin form) or Sea of Tranquility is a structure on the Moon, which consists of basalt. It is the site of the first Moon landing and contains three craters, named Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins after the first three astronauts to land there. The area gives off a bluish tint, which is said to be caused by a high metallic presence in the soil and rocks.

Answer: Earth

In 1960, NASA launched the very first weather satellite named TIROS or Television Infrared Observation Satellite.

The Earth is divided into five different spheres; biosphere (living things), lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), magnetosphere (magnetic fields), and the atmosphere.

In 2008 and 2009, scientists were able to view the breakup of the Antarctic shelf via satellite.