Volcanoes in Space Trivia Quiz

Answer: Triton

Triton has cryovolcanoes. A cryovolcano is a volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane, instead of molten rock. Collectively referred to as cryomagma or ice-volcanic melt, these substances are usually liquids and form plumes, but can also be in vapour form.

After eruption, cryomagma condenses to a solid form when exposed to the very low surrounding temperature. Cryovolcanoes form on icy moons, and possibly on other low-temperature astronomical objects.

Answer: Saturn

The inside of Enceladus is heated because Saturn's massive gravitational pull bends and warps the planet. This creates friction and heat. This heat has to escape somehow. When it does, it creates beautiful frozen eruptions that can be seen by distant spacecraft.

Answer: Yes

Venus is covered with volcanoes. We can't see through Venus' thick atmosphere but, with the use of radar, we know that Venus has more volcanoes on its surface than any other known place in our solar system.

Answer: Io

Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Io even has lakes of molten silicate lava on its surface. Io's volcanoes are at times so powerful that they can be seen with large telescopes on Earth.

Answer: Salt

Ahuna Mons is named after the traditional post-harvest festival Ahuna of the Sumi Naga people of India.

The mountain was discovered on images taken by the Dawn spacecraft in orbit around Ceres in 2015. It is estimated to have an average height of about four km and a maximum height of about five km on its steepest side.

Answer: Olympus Mons

Olympus Mons (which is on Mars) is a gigantic shield volcano, which was formed after lava slowly crawled down its slopes. This means that the mountain is probably easy for future explorers to climb, as its average slope is only five percent. At its summit is a spectacular depression some 85 km wide.

Answer: Tharsis

These volcanoes tend to be much larger than those on Earth, probably because Mars has a weaker gravitational pull that allows the volcanoes to grow taller. These volcanoes may have erupted for as long as two billion years.

Answer: Nitrogen

The crust traps warmth from the Sun, heating some of the nitrogen, water, and ammonia inside. When it warms enough, the nitrogen becomes a gas. This gas builds up pressure and erupts.

Answer: No

Active volcanoes occur on planets that are still hot. In general, the larger the planet, the slower it cools. Small planets or moons, like Mercury and our Moon, have cooled to the point that they are no longer hot enough to melt rock. Larger planets, like Earth and Venus, are still hot and still have active volcanism.

Answer: Yellowstone

A natural disaster that we cannot prepare for, it would bring the world to its knees and destroy life as we know it. This Yellowstone Volcano has been dated to be as old as 2,100,000 years old, and throughout that lifetime has erupted on average every 600,000-700,000 years.