Our Crooked Solar System Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mars

Valles Marineris is a canyon located on Mars. This photograph was taken by the Viking 1 spacecraft launched in 1975. Scientists are still trying to determine how the canyon was formed. It has been theorized that Mars may have had water on its surface in its past, but this is yet to be proven. The canyon could have been formed by other methods, such as lava.

Answer: Venus

The Magellan spacecraft was launched in 1989. Its mission was to study the planet Venus. Magellan had instruments on board that allowed it to peer through the thick atmosphere of Venus and map its terrain. Venus' atmosphere consists of mostly carbon dioxide which heats the planet up to over 900°F, making it tough to land spacecraft onto its surface to study it up close.

Answer: Triton

Triton is the largest moon of the planet Neptune. It is unique in that it orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit (opposite of other satellites its size). It is believed that Triton may have been a captured object from the Kuiper Belt which would explain its unusual orbit. Triton is thought to contain cryo-volcanoes on its surface which eject nitrogen based substances and gives the moon a thin atmosphere.

It was observed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989.

Answer: Earth

This picture was taken by the Terra satellite and is of the Pine Island Glacier located on the continent of Antarctica. The Terra satellite is part of the EOS (Earth Observing System). The Pine Island Glacier was found to be in the process of breaking off from the rest of the continent, which may have been caused by global climate change.

Answer: Miranda

Miranda is one of the moons of the planet Uranus. It was first discovered in 1948. The surface of Miranda is very rugged with many steep canyons. Most of the moons of Uranus were named after fictional characters from works by William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Miranda was a character who appeared in "The Tempest". Titania appeared in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Phoebe and Rhea are moons of Saturn.

Answer: Enceladus

Enceladus is a moon of Saturn and was discovered in 1789. Enceladus is thought to have an ocean below its crust and is a strong candidate for the discovery of life outside of the Earth. Geysers on the moon expel water-based substances into space. The geysers contribute to the formation of Saturn's E ring.

The space probe known as Cassini took this photo of Enceladus during its mission to Saturn.

Answer: Europa

Europa is another moon that is speculated to have a ocean of water beneath its surface and is another strong candidate for finding life outside of the Earth. It is one of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter along with Io, Ganymede and Callisto. Astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered these moons in 1610.

The photograph was taken by the Galileo spacecraft which visited Jupiter in the late 1990s.

Answer: Titan

The lines in the photograph may be rivers of liquid methane on the moon of Saturn known as Titan. Titan has a thick atmosphere of mostly nitrogen and methane. The Huygens probe was launched with the Cassini spacecraft during its mission to Saturn and arrived on Titan in 2005.

The Huygens probe descended through Titan's atmosphere in order to observe the moon's atmosphere and surface features.

Answer: Iapetus

Iapetus is a Saturnian satellite that was discovered in the year 1671. The moon features a ridge of mountains that stretch along its equator. These mountains can rise as tall as 20 km above the surface of Iapetus. Iapetus is also famous for having a distinct light and dark side of its surface. The photograph was taken by the Cassini spacecraft during its mission to Saturn.

Answer: Pluto

The New Horizon spacecraft made a flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto in the year 2015. It was the first time since its discovery that Pluto was observed up close by spacecraft. New Horizons was launched in 2006 and took nine years to arrive at Pluto. New Horizons has traveled beyond Pluto and is expected to observe other objects further out in the Kuiper Belt.