Twenty Questions About Comets Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mixture of ice, rock and dust

Comets are sometimes referred to as dirty snowballs.

Answer: Edmund Halley

In 1705 Edmund Halley predicted that the comets of 1531, 1607 and 1682 were the same comet and that it would return in 1758. The comet returned as predicted and was named after Halley. Charles Messier discovered 19 comets, Catherine Herschel found 8. SOHO is a satellite that has discovered more comets than any person (over 500 to date).

Answer: True

Long period comets are believed to originate from the theoritical Oort Cloud and short period comets are believed to come from the Kuiper belt. Further spacecraft missions could change this.

Answer: Dust Tail

The dust tail of a comet can be up to 10 million kilometers or longer.

Answer: hairy stars

Aster kometes meaning hairy stars.

Answer: After their discoverer

The only exception was Comet Halley, which was predicted to return by Edmund Halley, rather than because he discovered it.

Answer: Giotto

The mission was named after Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337). He was impressed by the reappearance of Comet Halley in 1301. In his 1304 fresco painting of the Adoration of the Maji he transformed the Star of Bethlehem into a golden comet. The Rosetta mission is an ESA mission to Comet Wirtanen. Sakigake was the Japanese mission to Comet Halley.

Answer: United States

The United States backed out due to financial concerns.

Answer: True

Yes it was. It was also the first spacecraft to take close-up images of a comet nucleus, and the first to encounter two comets. The other comet was Comet Grigg-Skjellerup.

Answer: Swift-Tuttle

The peak date is August 12 of each year. A new Moon can make for an impressive display of these meteors.

Answer: Comet Hale-Bopp

Comet Hale-Bopp got as bright as -0.8 magnitude. Magnitude is a logarithmic scale used by astronomers. Most people can see down to 6th magnitude in a very dark sky site. Magnitude 1 is 2.512 times brighter than magnitude 2. Magnitude 2 is 2.512 times brighter than magnitude 3, etc. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter in July of 1994. Comet West graced our skies in 1976, and Giacobini-Zinner is a short period comet of six and a half years.

Answer: 1577

Tycho Brahe observations of the comet of 1577 helped to establish that comets were beyond the orbit of the Moon.

Answer: Comet Encke

Comet Encke orbits the Sun in about 3.5 years, Comet Halley in 76 years, Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 in about 6.4 years and Comet Borrelly in just under 7 years.

Answer: King Louis XV of France

Although Charles Messier discovered 13 comets independently and 6 other comets with co-discoverers, he is more famous for the catalog of objects he made. This catalog contains objects that resembled comets but did not move against the night sky. Amateur astronomers search out these objects and even do what is called a Messier marathon in March.

This is when all 110 objects are possible to see in one night. This list of objects include galaxies, clusters, nebulae and even a supernova remnant.

Answer: Fred Whipple

Fred Whipple proposed this theory in 1950, it was confirmed by the Giotto mission to Comet Halley in 1986. He was the director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory from 1955 to 1973.

Answer: Comet Ikeya-Seki

Comet Ikeya-Seki was classified as a sun grazing comet since it approached the Sun so closely. Comet Mrkos visited in 1957 as did Comet Arend-Roland, Comet Kohoutek visited in 1974.

Answer: Comet Ikeya-Seki

Comet Ikeya-Seki was visible in the daytime, being brighter than Venus. According to some Japanese observers they estimated the magnitude at -15, which is brighter than the Moon.

Answer: 2061

Halley's nucleus was found to be very dark, it is darker than coal and one of the darkest objects in the solar system.

Answer: Yes

The Comet is also inclined 18 degrees to the ecliptic.

Answer: No

The average is 76 years but there are variances due to the gravitional pull of the planets as the Comet passes by them. It has varied up to about 79 years.