Do You Know Our Solar System? Trivia Quiz

Answer: About 109 times

The diameter of the Sun is approximately 1,392,000 km. The sun is approximately 149.6 million kilometres from the Earth and it takes around 8 minutes and 19 seconds for its light to reach us.

Answer: Because of its closeness to the Sun

It was not until the 1970s that radar imaging was used and the Mariner 10 space probe was able to send back some images. Although Mercury has areas of smooth plains, it is heavily cratered like our Moon. It has no moons and almost no atmosphere. Mercury is the messenger of the Roman Gods.

Answer: Its rotation is slower than its orbit

Venus' rotation takes 243 days which is longer than its orbit of 224.7 days. It also rotates clockwise, a rare phenomenon it only shares with Uranus. Venus is sometimes called Earth's "Sister Planet" as it is similar in size, but that is the only similarity. Venus is known as the "Morning Star" and "Evening Star" and besides the Sun and our Moon, is the brightest object in the sky. Like Mercury, Venus does not have a moon. Venus is the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty.

Answer: Fifth largest

Earth has a diameter of 12,756.3 kilometres. However, it was not called "Earth" in the English language until around the 16th century and comes from Old English and Germanic languages. Prior to that it was known as "Tellus" in Roman Mythology and "Gaia" in Greek Mythology. It is the only planet not named from Greek/Roman mythology.
The size of the planets are: 1 Jupiter 2. Saturn 3. Uranus 4. Neptune 5. Earth 6. Venus 7. Mars 8. Mercury. Earth is the fourth smallest and the fifth LARGEST planet.

Answer: Iron oxide on its surface

Mars is covered in iron oxide which is blown into the atmosphere thus causing it to look red. It is unknown where this iron oxide comes from. Mars is somewhat similar to Earth although it is only approximately half its size. Mars has polar ice-caps and it tilts to produce seasons.

The surface is covered with craters similar to our Moon. It also has valleys and deserts as does the Earth. Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to visit Mars in 1965 and the first spacecraft, Viking 1, landed on Mars in 1976. Mars has two very small moons, Phobos and Deimos and is named after the Roman God of War.

Answer: Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet

The Shoemaker-Levi 9 Comet was discovered by Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy in 1993. In 1994 the comet collided with Jupiter and many pieces of the comet crashed to the surface, a result of which was that atmospheric plumes reached thousands of metres high

Jupiter is famous for its "Great Red Spot", a massive storm that is large enough to hold two Earths. Jupiter has faint rings and at least 63 known moons, four of which are large Galilean Moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and is a little larger than the planet Mercury. In Roman Mythology, Jupiter was King of the Gods and the ruler of Olympus.

Answer: Water ice

The rings of Saturn are composed of millions of particles varying in size from a couple of centimetres to a kilometre. These particles are mainly water ice and there could also be some ice-coated rock particles. Saturn has 53 known satellites. Titan is its largest moon and is about 50% larger than Earth's Moon. Saturn is the Roman God of Agriculture.

Answer: 1781

Uranus had been seen as early as 1690 but it was thought that it was only another star. The name "Uranus" was not commonly used until about 1859. It was named "The Georgian Planet" by its discoverer, William Herschel, in honour of King George III. Others have called it "Herschel" after its discoverer. Uranus also has rings and has 27 moons which are named for characters created by Shakespeare and Pope, the largest of which is named "Titania". Uranus is the Greek God of the Sky.

Answer: 164.8 Earth years

The distance of Neptune from the Sun is about 30 times further than the Earth from the Sun. When Neptune is at it farthest orbit, it is approximately 4,546,000,000 km from the Sun. The largest of Neptune's 13 moons is Triton, and scientists seem to think that it is the coldest object in our Solar System, (estimated temperature minus 235 C). Neptune also has rings like the other three gas Planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.

It was not until 1968 that the first of these rings was discovered. Neptune is named for the Roman God of the Sea.

Answer: 384,400 km

From the 382kg of rocks taken from the Moon by the Apollo and Luna spacecraft, it is estimated that the Moon is between 3 and 5 billion years old. The moon rocks brought back to earth in 1969 are still being studied by scientists.