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Binary Stars Trivia Quiz

Double and multiple star systems (often called binary systems) - groups of two or more stars that are gravitationally attracted - form an important and exciting branch of astronomy. What do you know about them?

A multiple-choice quiz by CellarDoor. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
CellarDoor

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
46,224

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
1838

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

Last 3 plays: angostura (10/10), Coachpete1 (10/10), Guest 141 (7/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which of these is the best description of the orbital motion of a binary star system? Hint

The less massive star orbits around the more massive one.

Both stars orbit around a common center of mass.

The dimmer star orbits around the brighter one.

Each star orbits around the other.

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Question 2 of 10

2. For visual binaries, which of these stars is usually designated the 'primary' component? Hint

the most iron-rich

the heavier

the brighter

the dimmer

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Question 3 of 10

3. Of the four main types of binary stars, which is detected by 'wobbles' in a point of light's motion across the sky? Hint

visual

eclipsing

spectroscopic

astrometric

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Question 4 of 10

4. Of the four main types of binary stars, which can be 'resolved' into its separate components through a telescope? Hint

eclipsing

astrometric

visual

spectroscopic

5. In ancient times, the Persian and Roman armies tested their soldiers' eyesight by seeing whether they could distinguish the two stars in what well-known 'pair', now understood to be gravitationally unrelated? Hint

Alcor and Betelgeuse

Alpha and Proxima Centauri

Mizar and Vega

Alcor and Mizar

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Question 6 of 10

6. Most known stars are single stars, with no gravitational companions.

True

False

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which of these technologies, pioneered at Georgia State's CHARA program and currently used for double-star observing at the U.S. Naval Observatory, uses computer analysis of a series of still photographs to 'freeze' the effects of atmospheric turbulence? Hint

speckle interferometry

Hipparcos imaging

filar micrometry

CCD imaging

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Question 8 of 10

8. Planets can exist in stable orbits in a binary star system.

True

False

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Question 9 of 10

9. Observations of a visual double must record two characteristics: the angle orientation of the secondary with respect to the primary, and ... what? Hint

mean differences in the solar spectra

linear separation between the two stars

angular separation between the two stars

parallax of each star

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Question 10 of 10

10. What astronomer coined the phrase 'binary star'? Hint

Asaph Hall

Sir Edmond Halley

Sir William Herschel

Clyde Tombaugh

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Most Recent Scores

Dec 12 2024 : angostura: 10/10
Nov 08 2024 : Coachpete1: 10/10
Nov 02 2024 : Guest 141: 7/10

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of these is the best description of the orbital motion of a binary star system?

Answer: Both stars orbit around a common center of mass.

For simplicity's sake, though, orbits are often plotted as the path of the secondary star with respect to the primary.

2. For visual binaries, which of these stars is usually designated the 'primary' component?

Answer: the brighter

Brightness is about the only one of those qualities that can be determined in one observation through a telescope. Mass can't be determined until an accurate orbit is calculated and Kepler's laws can be used.

3. Of the four main types of binary stars, which is detected by 'wobbles' in a point of light's motion across the sky?

Answer: astrometric

A star's apparent motion across the sky is called its 'proper motion,' and is determined by its distance from Earth, among other things. Single stars seem to travel in a straight line, but the orbital motion of binary stars causes them to 'wobble' in their motion.

4. Of the four main types of binary stars, which can be 'resolved' into its separate components through a telescope?

Answer: visual

Through a telescope of sufficient magnification, visual binaries appear as multiple points of light - they are 'resolved' into the correct image. Eclipsing binaries are oriented such that, from our perspective, one star passes in front of the other during the course of its orbit.

These are detected by changes in brightness. Spectroscopic binaries are too close to be resolved by a telescope, and are detected by changes in their spectra - analyses of their light output.

Answer: Alcor and Mizar

Although Alcor and Mizar are not a binary pair, each of those 'stars' is actually a binary star system in itself.

6. Most known stars are single stars, with no gravitational companions.

Answer: False

The International Astronomical Union's current estimates are that roughly sixty percent of all known stars are components of binary or multiple star systems. It was once thought that binary stars were the exception to the general rule - now, they ARE the rule.

Answer: speckle interferometry

Speckle interferometry is so named because the stars appear as thousands of little 'speckles' in the image. Filar micrometry is a tool to aid visual observation through the eyepiece. Hipparcos was a cataloguing satellite launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1991, and CCD cameras are standard astronomical recording equipment.

8. Planets can exist in stable orbits in a binary star system.

Answer: True

Although the gravitational dynamics are complex, planets can and do exist in stable orbits in a binary star system. The planet can either make a wide orbit around a close binary (in which case it's so far away that the stars are in effect one center of mass), or in a close orbit around one component of a wide binary (in which case the stellar companion has negligible gravitational effect on the planet).

9. Observations of a visual double must record two characteristics: the angle orientation of the secondary with respect to the primary, and ... what?

Answer: angular separation between the two stars

We observe stars from one point in the galaxy - Earth. (Interstellar distances are so vast that our planet can be treated as a single point.) Thus, we aren't in a position to measure linear distances - but we CAN measure the apparent separation in the arc of the sky.

This is called angular measure and the basic unit is the degree, although the separations are so small that we mostly use arcminutes (a sixtieth of a degree) and arcseconds (a sixtieth of an arcminute).

10. What astronomer coined the phrase 'binary star'?

Answer: Sir William Herschel

Herschel, discoverer of the planet Uranus and first to posit our galaxy's spiral shape, used the term in an 1802 paper, 'On the Construction of the Universe.' Here's hoping this quiz has helped you construct YOUR vision of the universe.

Source: Author CellarDoor

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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