From Here to Eternity Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ceres

Ceres was discovered on January 1, 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi. For the longest time, it was considered "the eighth planet", before the discoveries of Neptune and Pluto. Then it was re-classified as the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. In 2006, it was reclassified again, but as a dwarf planet. Ceres more than likely possesses a crust made up of frozen water, carbonates, and clay; a mantle composed of ice; and a core of some sort of rock. It might even have an atmosphere and an ocean of water in liquid form under the crust!

Answer: Io

Io, a silicate rock moon, is covered by sulfur and sulfur dioxide frost, which accounts for its variegated surface colors. These sulfur deposits are a result of Io's constant volcanic eruptions, which are caused by the heat of intense friction created by gravitational pulling between Jupiter and two of the other Gallilean moons, Ganymede and Europa. Io is much larger than the earth's moon; in fact, it is the fourth largest moon in the solar system. Scientists estimate that it has over 400 volcanoes and over 100 single standing mountains, some of which are taller than Mt. Everest.

Answer: Halley's Comet

Halley's comet is a short-period comet, meaning it is one of a group of comets that complete an orbit of the sun once every 200 years or less. Of course, Halley's orbits every 75 to 76 years, or possibly 74 to 79 years because of gravitational effects. Halley's was seen in England in 1066 and was interpreted to be a sign of ill omen for King Harold II, who died at the Battle of Hastings during William the Conqueror's invasion from Normandy.

The comet can be seen on the Bayeux Tapestry, an ancient embroidered cloth detailing the Norman Invasion.

However, this is not the earliest recorded sighting of Halley's Comet; it may have been witnessed as early as 467 B.C. Comet Hale-Bopp is an example of a long-period comet; we on Earth witnessed its visit in 1997 after a 4,000-year absence.

However, because of its passage by Jupiter in the late 90's, the gravitational effect altered its orbit so that it may return in only 2400 years. This effect may continue to shorten Hale-Bopp's orbit so that in 100,000 years it may be visiting the earth as frequently as Halley's does.

Answer: the Perseids

The Perseids' name comes from the Greek Perseides, which is a term for the descendents of the Greek mythic hero Perseus. This is a fitting name as the shower's radiant, or point of apparent origin, lies within the constellation Perseus. In other words, the meteors appear to come from Perseus, as if they were "descendents" of the stars of that constellation. Of course, meteors are not "falling stars", as they have been incorrectly named, but rather debris from various non-star bodies in space. In this case, the Perseids are debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle.

The Perseids have been observed at least for 2,000 years, and during their peak--between August 9 and August 14--someone from Earth can often view 60 meteors streaking across the night sky in an hour!

Answer: Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri, technically known as Alpha Centauri C, is within the constellation Centaurus and is thought to be part of a triple star system with Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, two stars that make up a binary star system. Proxima Centauri has been "the closest star to the Sun" for about 32,000 years and will continue to possess that distinction for about another 33,000 years. To compare Proxima Centauri to our Sun, it has a diameter 1/7 that of the Sun, a mass that is 1/8 that of the Sun, and a density that is 40 times that of the Sun!

Answer: Sirius

Sirius, also known as Sirius A and Alpha Canis Majoris, has often been referred to colloquially as "the dog star", since it is the most prominent star in the Great Dog constellation. The ancient Egyptians saw its annual return to the sky as a precursor to the Nile's flooding, and the ancient Greeks associated the star with approaching summer and "the dog days" of exhausted men and aroused women.

When we humans look at Sirius with our naked eyes from Earth, what we are really seeing is a binary star system.

The other star "joined" with Sirius is Sirius B, a faint white dwarf. Sirius A's mass is about twice that of our Sun's.

Answer: Cassiopeia

One of the stars within Cassiopeia--Cas A--has been visible from earth for only about 300 years! It is the strongest source of radio waves that can be observed from outside our own Solar system. Another interesting fact is that if you were to be within the Alpha Centauri system and turned to observe our own Sun, it would now appear as a star within Cassiopeia.

As a constellation, Cassiopeia is one of the oldest; it is found on the list of constellations noted by Ptolemy.

Answer: The Pleiades

The Pleiades, or The Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster, which means its stars evolved from the same molecular cloud, but they are so loosely bound by gravity that they are susceptible to the gravitational pulls from other heavenly bodies. None should be worried about the survival of the Pleiades, however, as its integrity should last another 250 million years.

The nine brightest stars of the cluster are named for each of the Seven Sisters (Alcyone, Celeano, Electra, Maia, Merope, Sterope, and Taygeta) and their parents (Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione).

The Pleiades has been observed for three or four millennia and are even mentioned in the book of Job in the Bible's Old Testament.

Answer: Horsehead Nebula

A "nebula" is an interstellar cloud consisting of hydrogen, helium, ionized gases, and dust. From such material are stars and planets born! The Horsehead Nebula is a "dark nebula", which means that its materials are so dense that light from background emissions cannot penetrate them.

The Horsehead Nebula looks like a badly or comically drawn horse's head and neck with a red glow of light surrounding it from ionized hydrogen that is mostly blocked from view by the dark materials creating the horsehead effect. You can see bright spots at the "bottom" of the Horsehead Nebula; these are "baby" stars!

Answer: Andromeda Galaxy

If you can wait about 4.5 billion years, you won't have to travel outside our galaxy to see Andromeda; the Milky Way and Andromeda are scheduled to collide at that point. Some scientists believe that Andromeda and the Milky Way are nearly equal in mass and that Andromeda has 7.1 x 10^11 solar masses contained within it.

While Andromeda is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, it is not the closest of all galaxies. That would be Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, which is about 25,000 light years from Earth.