Astronomy Test
  • 1. What takes place in the center of the sun?
A) hydrogen fuses together
B) helium is formed
C) all of the answers are correct
D) nuclear fusion
  • 2. True or False The sun gives off all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A) False
B) True
  • 3. Which planet is largest?
A) Saturn
B) Mercury
C) Jupiter
D) Uranus
  • 4. Name the order of the planets
A) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
B) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
C) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
D) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
  • 5. What causes the seasons?
A) The earth's orbit
B) How close earth is to the sun
C) Both the tilt of the earth's axis and the earth's orbit
D) The tilt of the earth's axis
  • 6. What month does the 1st day of spring occur?
A) April
B) March
C) May
D) June
  • 7. What causes tides?
A) The earth's gravity
B) a tsunami
C) The moon's gravity
D) an earthquake
  • 8. Neap tides cause what to happen to tides?
A) They have no effect on the height of tides
B) They cause tsunamis
C) They are lower than usual
D) They are higher than usual
  • 9. What causes the phases of the moon
A) The earth's rotation
B) The earth's orbit
C) The moon's orbit
D) The sun's gravity
  • 10. How long does it take for the moon to complete all of its phases?
A) 29 days
B) 2 weeks
C) 1 year
D) 1 week
  • 11. What is a blue moon?
A) when the moon appears blue in color
B) The first full moon of a month
C) when the man on the moon is sad
D) The second full moon of a month
  • 12. Who was the first person on the moon?
A) John Glenn
B) Neil Armstrong
C) Alan Shepard
D) Buzz Aldren
  • 13. How did the solar system form?
A) From the gravitational attraction between molecules.
B) Both of the answers are correct.
C) From a the gases left over from an exploding star.
D) None of the answers are correct.
  • 14. What causes a lunar eclipse?
A) The moon passes through the earth's shadow.
B) The earth passes through the moon's shadow.
C) The earth passes through the sun's shadow.
D) The moon passes through it's own shadow.
  • 15. What causes a solar eclipse?
A) The earth passes through the moon's shadow.
B) The moon passes through the earth's shadow.
C) The sun passes through the earth's shadow.
D) The earth passes through the sun's shadow.
  • 16. What is the name of our galaxy?
A) One way
B) Snickers
C) Milk and Juice
D) Milky Way
  • 17. What type of galaxy is ours?
A) Regular
B) Elliptical
C) Irregular
D) Spiral
  • 18. What is the hottest star?
A) yellow
B) red
C) blue
D) super giant
  • 19. The Big Bang Theory explains.....
A) how stars explode
B) how long it will take to travel in space
C) how the sound travels through space
D) the formation of the universe
  • 20. What type of star is the sun on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram?
A) main sequence
B) white dwarf
C) red giant
D) super giant
  • 21. How far away is the sun from the earth?
A) 93 thousand miles
B) 93 billion miles
C) 1 light year
D) 93 million miles
  • 22. What causes the aurora borealis?
A) the moon
B) northern lights
C) sunset
D) solar wind
  • 23. Which planet is smallest?
A) Moon
B) Mars
C) Earth
D) Mercury
  • 24. Between which two planets are most of the asteroids located?
A) Mars and Jupiter
B) Saturn and Uranus
C) Uranus and Neptune
D) Jupiter and Saturn
  • 25. Which planet is closest to Earth?
A) Venus
B) Mercury
C) Moon
D) Mars
  • 26. Why is Earth unique in the solar system?
A) It has volcanoes
B) It is the last inner planet
C) It has a moon
D) It has life
  • 27. What causes the comet's tail?
A) astronomers aren't sure
B) solar wind
C) the asteroids
D) the gravity of the sun
  • 28. What is unusual about most comets orbits?
A) They are perfectly circular
B) The don't orbit they hit the sun.
C) They travel in the opposite direction around the sun
D) It is highly elliptical
  • 29. About what date do the seasons change?
A) 1st
B) 15th
C) 21st
D) the last day of the month
  • 30. What is the 1st day of Fall called?
A) Autumnal Solstice
B) Vernal Equinox
C) Autumnal Equinox
D) Vernal Solstice
  • 31. Spring tides are higher because....
A) The combined gravity of the moon and earth.
B) The combined gravity of the sun and moon
C) The combined gravity of all the planets and the moon
D) The gravity of the sun.
  • 32. Where do the world's highest tides occur?
A) Canada
B) In the Indian Ocean
C) United States
D) Sweden
  • 33. What is the postion of the sun, moon and earth for a new moon?
A) Sun, moon, earth
B) earth, sun, moon
C) moon, earth, sun
D) Sun, earth, moon
  • 34. What is it called as the moon goes from new moon to full moon?
A) crescent
B) waxing
C) gibbous
D) waning
  • 35. What is it called as the moon goes from full to new?
A) waxing
B) gibbous
C) waning
D) crescent
  • 36. What year did the moon walk take place?
A) 1969
B) 1959
C) 1979
D) 1949
  • 37. What was the name of the first satellite in space?
A) Apollo 1
B) Cosmo 1
C) Explorer 1
D) Sputnik
  • 38. Who was the first man in space?
A) Alan Shepard
B) Yuri Gargarin
C) John Glenn
D) Neil Armstrong
  • 39. What is the famous quote from the first moon walk?
A) "That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."
B) Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
C) "To go places and do things that have never been done before - that's what living is all about."
D) "Houston, we have a problem."
  • 40. During what phase of the moon does a lunar eclipse take place?
A) Full
B) 1st quarter
C) Last Quarter
D) New
  • 41. During what moon phase does a solar eclipse take place?
A) 1st quarter
B) Full
C) Last Quarter
D) New
  • 42. Why doesn't each eclipse happen every month?
A) The moon doesn't revolve around the earth in the same plane as the earth
B) It depends on what time of year it is
C) They do occur once a month you just can't seem them from all places on the earth
D) It depends on the earth's orbit
  • 43. About how far away is the nearest star besides the sun?
A) 4 light years
B) 400 light years
C) 40,000,000 miles
D) 40 light years
  • 44. Which of the following is not a constellation of the zodiac?
A) Leo
B) Orion
C) Libra
D) Cancer
  • 45. Which is not a circumpolar constellation?
A) Ursa Minor
B) Neither of the answers are circumpolar
C) Ursa Major
D) Both of the answers are circumpolar
  • 46. Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star...
A) from 100,000 miles away
B) from right where it is
C) from a standard distance
D) from 1 light year away
  • 47. Apparent magnitude is the brightness of a star....
A) from right where it is
B) from 1 light year away
C) from 100,000 miles away
D) from a standard distance
  • 48. What is the closest major galaxy to ours?
A) Andromeda
B) Alpha Centuari
C) Hercules
D) Crab Nebula
  • 49. Astronomers think the universe is about...
A) 1 million years old
B) 1 billion years old
C) 4 billion years old
D) 14 billion years old
  • 50. Astronomers think the universe is...
A) None of the answers are correct
B) astronomers aren't sure if it is open or closed
C) an open universe
D) a closed universe
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