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Planetary Postcards Trivia Quiz

Melanie Heng is on a trip through the Solar System, sending postcards back to her friends on Earth. Use the descriptions to guess Melanie's location.

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

Author
ElusiveDream

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
346,670

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Easy

Avg Score
9 / 10

Plays
1951

Last 3 plays: Guest 79 (10/10), chuckdaniel (7/10), pattycake26 (10/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. "Dear Lewis, Here I am in the hottest place in the Solar System. The temperature's off the scale at 5,537 degrees Celsius. As I write this postcard, I'm watching the eruption of a huge fountain of flaming gas. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Mars

Venus

The sun

Jupiter

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "Dear Jocelyn, I recently arrived on a tiny planet that closely resembles the moon. It's quite warm, around 450 degrees Celsius (thank god I remembered to pack my sunscreen). As I write this postcard, I'm exploring a large crater called the Caloris Basin. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Phobos

Pluto

Deimos

Mercury

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. "Dear Ben, I've just landed on an extremely hot planet that's covered in thick cream-coloured clouds. The temperature's no less than 480 degrees C and the surface is dotted with active volcanoes. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Saturn

Jupiter

Venus

Neptune

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. "Dear Erica, Here I am on a cold planet with a very dusty landscape. The average temperature is -63 degrees C. As I write this postcard, I'm sitting near the edge of an enormous canyon. I've also seen a truly colossal volcano. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Mars

Titan

Europa

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. "Dear Reese, As I write this postcard, I've just passed Mars and now I'm zooming through what appears to be a never-ending collection of gigantic rocks. Fortunately, I've managed to avoid any major collisions. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

The Neptunian Cloud

The Oort Cloud

The Asteroid Belt

The Kuiper Belt

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. "Dear Taryn, I've just arrived in orbit around the largest planet in the Solar System. The temperature is around -145 degrees C. As I write this postcard, I'm sitting at the window of my spaceship, admiring the planet's colourful clouds. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Saturn

Eris

Jupiter

Uranus

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. "Dear Glenn. I've just landed on a small icy moon that's orbiting (with many others) around the Solar System's second-largest planet. The temperature is around -175 degrees C. As I write this postcard, I'm setting up my camera to take photos of the planet's spectacular rings. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

What planet is Melanie looking at? Hint

Saturn

Neptune

Uranus

Jupiter

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. "Dear Brenna, The planet I've just arrived at is a beautiful turquoise colour.
The temperature is approximately -224 degrees C. As I write this postcard, I'm observing the planet's unusual axis of rotation. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Pluto

Neptune

Eris

Uranus

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. "Dear Ross, The planet that I'm currently orbiting is a brilliant shade of sapphire blue. The average temperature is -221 degrees C. As I write this postcard, I'm observing an enormous storm, swirling over the southern hemisphere. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

What is Melanie viewing? Hint

Jupiter

Ceres

Triton

Neptune

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. "Dear Cayla. I've just arrived at one of the coldest planetoids in the Solar System. The temperature is approximately -234 degrees. See you soon. Love, Melanie."

Where is Melanie? Hint

Pluto

Charon

Nix

Hydra

Most Recent Scores

Dec 13 2024 : Guest 79: 10/10
Dec 06 2024 : chuckdaniel: 7/10
Nov 04 2024 : pattycake26: 10/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: The sun

At 100 times the size of Earth, the Sun is the largest and hottest thing in the Solar System.

Every so often the Sun shoots out fountains of flaming gas called prominences, which can be many thousands of miles high.

The surface temperature is around 5,537 degrees Celsius.

Answer: Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. The diametre of the Caloris Basin is 1,550 kilometres, making it Mercury's largest impact crater.

Pluto is either the Solar System's smallest planet or one of its larger planetoids, and lies approximately 3,670 million miles from the Sun.

Rather than being planets, Phobos and Deimos are small potato-shaped asteroids that orbit around Mars.

Answer: Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is similar in size to Earth.

Its atmosphere is made almost entirely of carbon dioxide and the thick clouds are made from drops of sulphuric acid. The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus is almost 90 times more than what it would be on Earth.

The highest mountain on Venus is Maxwell Montes, which stands approximately 10,600 metres tall.

Answer: Mars

Due to its red colour, the ancient Romans named Mars after their God of War.

The largest features on Mars are Olympus Mons, a 22-kilometre-high volcano and the Mariner Valley, a canyon that measures almost 4,000 kilometres long.

Io and Europa are two of Jupiter's moons while Titan is Saturn's largest moon.

Answer: The Asteroid Belt

The Asteroid Belt is a large band filled with irregular-shaped chunks of rock that spin around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

The Oort Cloud is a massive cloud of comets that circles the entire Solar System.

About 20 times the size of the Asteroid Belt, the Kuiper Belt is situated within the orbit of Pluto.

To my knowledge, the Neptunian Cloud does not exist.

Answer: Jupiter

At 318 times the weight of Earth, Jupiter is a swirling ball of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. There is no solid surface.

Jupiter takes 11.9 years to orbit the Sun at a distance of approximately 484 million miles.

Answer: Saturn

Saturn is often regarded as being the Solar System's most beautiful planet. Its rings are made from thousands of pieces of rock that range in size from being as small as a grain of rice to as big as a house.

Saturn has 62 known moons and, lying at a distance of 887 million miles, orbits the Sun in 29.5 years.

8. "Dear Brenna, The planet I've just arrived at is a beautiful turquoise colour. The temperature is approximately -224 degrees C. As I write this postcard, I'm observing the planet's unusual axis of rotation. See you soon. Love, Melanie." Where is Melanie?

Answer: Uranus

At a distance of 1,783 million miles, Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.

While the other planets have an almost upright axis of rotation, Uranus is lying on its side. Astronomers still aren't sure why.

Uranus has fifteen known moons.

Eris is the name astronomers have given to a planet popularly known as "Planet X".

Answer: Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet in the Solar System. At an average distance of 2,794 million miles, it takes 165 years to orbit the Sun.

The storm that Melanie is watching is known to astronomers as the "Great Dark Spot" which is similar to Jupiter's "Great Red Spot". Neptune is also the windiest planet, with gusts of up to 1,240 miles per hour.

Ceres is an asteroid while Triton is the largest of Neptune's thirteen known moons.

10. "Dear Cayla. I've just arrived at one of the coldest planetoids in the Solar System. The temperature is approximately -234 degrees. See you soon. Love, Melanie." Where is Melanie?

Answer: Pluto

At an average distance of 3,670 million miles, Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the Sun.

Unfortunately, astronomers no longer regard Pluto as being a planet. Instead, they call it a Dwarf Planet.

Nix, Charon and Hydra are Pluto's moons.

Source: Author ElusiveDream

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