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