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Quiz about Across The Universe An Astronomical Journey

Across The Universe; An Astronomical Journey Quiz

Is there anything more magnificent than the night sky? I can't think of a thing that can top it. Take a flying leap into this amazing and mysterious place via these ten questions.

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

Author
wytchwood

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
330,496

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
304

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. You gaze into the night sky and find the constellation of Orion including Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, the three instantly recognizable stars that make up his belt. The pattern of stars that makes up his belt is known by what name? Hint

Astrolabe

Asterism

Astrakhan

Astragalas

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Question 2 of 10

2. A protostar is a star in the "fetal" stage of its life. It travels through infancy, childhood, and adulthood before reaching its "golden years". A star that has reached old age is known as what? Hint

Red giant

White dwarf

Neutron star

Supernova

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Question 3 of 10

3. The explosion that gave birth to the universe is known as the "Big Bang". How long ago did this massive explosion occur? (I've rounded up to the nearest billion.) Hint

14 billion years

50 billion

2 billion

22 billion

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Question 4 of 10

4. Who discovered the universe is not finite, but rather is expanding and growing? Hint

Edwin Hubble

Isaac Newton

Albert Einstein

Nicolaus Copernicus

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Question 5 of 10

5. When we experience a meteor shower, it's because we've just passed through the tail of a comet.

True

False

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Question 6 of 10

6. Every 243 years, with two transits occurring eight years apart, a planet passes between the Sun and the Earth appearing as a small, black dot traveling across the face of the Sun. Which planet takes part in this mini solar eclipse? Hint

Venus

Mercury

Mars

Jupiter

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Question 7 of 10

7. The constellation of Cassiopeia takes the shape of what letter? Hint

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Question 8 of 10

8. Moons that orbit on the edge of a planetary ring, such as two of Saturn's moons, Pandora and Prometheus, keep the rings in check, gravitationally speaking. Because of their function, by what name are they known? Hint

Herder moons

Shepherd moons

Sentinel moons

Guardian moons

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Question 9 of 10

9. The sun generates its energy by nuclear fusion.

True

False

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Question 10 of 10

10. According to scientists/astronomers, only 45% of the matter that comprises the universe is visible.

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Asterism

An asterism is a pattern or group of stars which is not a constellation. The Big Dipper and Orion's Belt are probably the most common asterisms.

Answer: White dwarf

Stars expand as they age and will go through many stages before collapsing or exploding. White dwarfs are stars that have reached a ripe old age.

3. The explosion that gave birth to the universe is known as the "Big Bang". How long ago did this massive explosion occur? (I've rounded up to the nearest billion.)

Answer: 14 billion years

After the Big Bang, the universe remained in darkness for 200 million years. Gradually, space matter began to form stars and planets, which in turn began to give off light. Scientists are now seeing that light, which has traveled across time and space for 13 billion light years, from the stars that were born when the universe began.

4. Who discovered the universe is not finite, but rather is expanding and growing?

Answer: Edwin Hubble

Hubble discovered this fact in 1929, leading Einstein to declare his own views on the subject, known as the "cosmological constant", his "great blunder".

5. When we experience a meteor shower, it's because we've just passed through the tail of a comet.

Answer: True

The debris found in a comet's tail, usually no bigger than a grain of sand, enters our atmosphere at a high rate of speed, glowing as a result of that speed, and usually extinguishes in a blaze of glory, giving us a spectacular show of "falling stars".

Answer: Venus

Persian astronomers first observed the transit in 1032 CE. A pair of transits occurred in 2004 with the second of the pair in 2012. The next pair of transits will not occur until 2117 and 2125.

7. The constellation of Cassiopeia takes the shape of what letter?

Answer: W

The constellation Cassiopeia is named for a shrewish and vain queen mentioned in Greek mythology. Easily recognizable, she consists of five bright stars in the shape of the letter "W".

Answer: Shepherd moons

Shepherd moons exert a gravitational force on the rings that keep them compressed and orderly. By the way, Enya released an album in 1991 titled "Shepherd Moons".

9. The sun generates its energy by nuclear fusion.

Answer: True

Every second the sun fuses 600 million tons of hydrogen atoms into helium. It's been doing this for 4.57 billion years and is expected to continue doing it for another 5 billion years.

10. According to scientists/astronomers, only 45% of the matter that comprises the universe is visible.

Answer: False

Its actually more amazing than that....we can see only 5% of the matter that comprises the universe. The rest is comprised of invisible "dark matter", a theory founded by, and a term coined by, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in 1930.

Source: Author wytchwood

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