Astronomy Test
  • 1. What takes place in the center of the sun?
A) helium is formed
B) hydrogen fuses together
C) nuclear fusion
D) all of the answers are correct
  • 2. True or False The sun gives off all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A) False
B) True
  • 3. Which planet is largest?
A) Jupiter
B) Mercury
C) Saturn
D) Uranus
  • 4. Name the order of the planets
A) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
B) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
C) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
D) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
  • 5. What causes the seasons?
A) The tilt of the earth's axis
B) How close earth is to the sun
C) Both the tilt of the earth's axis and the earth's orbit
D) The earth's orbit
  • 6. What month does the 1st day of spring occur?
A) June
B) March
C) May
D) April
  • 7. What causes tides?
A) The earth's gravity
B) The moon's gravity
C) an earthquake
D) a tsunami
  • 8. Neap tides cause what to happen to tides?
A) They cause tsunamis
B) They have no effect on the height of tides
C) They are lower than usual
D) They are higher than usual
  • 9. What causes the phases of the moon
A) The moon's orbit
B) The sun's gravity
C) The earth's orbit
D) The earth's rotation
  • 10. How long does it take for the moon to complete all of its phases?
A) 1 year
B) 29 days
C) 1 week
D) 2 weeks
  • 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) Buzz Aldren
B) Alan Shepard
C) Neil Armstrong
D) John Glenn
  • 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 earth passes through the moon's shadow.
B) The earth passes through the sun's shadow.
C) The moon passes through it's own shadow.
D) The moon passes through the earth's shadow.
  • 15. What causes a solar eclipse?
A) The earth passes through the moon's shadow.
B) The earth passes through the sun's shadow.
C) The sun passes through the earth's shadow.
D) The moon passes through the earth's shadow.
  • 16. What is the name of our galaxy?
A) Milk and Juice
B) One way
C) Milky Way
D) Snickers
  • 17. What type of galaxy is ours?
A) Regular
B) Spiral
C) Elliptical
D) Irregular
  • 18. What is the hottest star?
A) super giant
B) blue
C) yellow
D) red
  • 19. The Big Bang Theory explains.....
A) how long it will take to travel in space
B) the formation of the universe
C) how stars explode
D) how the sound travels through space
  • 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 billion miles
B) 1 light year
C) 93 million miles
D) 93 thousand miles
  • 22. What causes the aurora borealis?
A) sunset
B) solar wind
C) the moon
D) northern lights
  • 23. Which planet is smallest?
A) Mercury
B) Moon
C) Earth
D) Mars
  • 24. Between which two planets are most of the asteroids located?
A) Saturn and Uranus
B) Uranus and Neptune
C) Jupiter and Saturn
D) Mars and Jupiter
  • 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 has volcanoes
B) It has life
C) It is the last inner planet
D) It has a moon
  • 27. What causes the comet's tail?
A) the asteroids
B) solar wind
C) astronomers aren't sure
D) the gravity of the sun
  • 28. What is unusual about most comets orbits?
A) The don't orbit they hit the sun.
B) It is highly elliptical
C) They travel in the opposite direction around the sun
D) They are perfectly circular
  • 29. About what date do the seasons change?
A) 21st
B) 1st
C) 15th
D) the last day of the month
  • 30. What is the 1st day of Fall called?
A) Autumnal Equinox
B) Autumnal Solstice
C) Vernal Equinox
D) Vernal Solstice
  • 31. Spring tides are higher because....
A) The gravity of the sun.
B) The combined gravity of the moon and earth.
C) The combined gravity of all the planets and the moon
D) The combined gravity of the sun and moon
  • 32. Where do the world's highest tides occur?
A) In the Indian Ocean
B) Sweden
C) Canada
D) United States
  • 33. What is the postion of the sun, moon and earth for a new moon?
A) moon, earth, sun
B) earth, sun, moon
C) Sun, earth, moon
D) Sun, moon, earth
  • 34. What is it called as the moon goes from new moon to full moon?
A) gibbous
B) waning
C) crescent
D) waxing
  • 35. What is it called as the moon goes from full to new?
A) gibbous
B) waxing
C) waning
D) crescent
  • 36. What year did the moon walk take place?
A) 1969
B) 1979
C) 1959
D) 1949
  • 37. What was the name of the first satellite in space?
A) Sputnik
B) Cosmo 1
C) Explorer 1
D) Apollo 1
  • 38. Who was the first man in space?
A) Yuri Gargarin
B) Neil Armstrong
C) John Glenn
D) Alan Shepard
  • 39. What is the famous quote from the first moon walk?
A) Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
B) "To go places and do things that have never been done before - that's what living is all about."
C) "Houston, we have a problem."
D) "That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."
  • 40. During what phase of the moon does a lunar eclipse take place?
A) 1st quarter
B) Full
C) New
D) Last Quarter
  • 41. During what moon phase does a solar eclipse take place?
A) Full
B) Last Quarter
C) New
D) 1st quarter
  • 42. Why doesn't each eclipse happen every month?
A) It depends on what time of year it is
B) They do occur once a month you just can't seem them from all places on the earth
C) It depends on the earth's orbit
D) The moon doesn't revolve around the earth in the same plane as the earth
  • 43. About how far away is the nearest star besides the sun?
A) 400 light years
B) 40 light years
C) 4 light years
D) 40,000,000 miles
  • 44. Which of the following is not a constellation of the zodiac?
A) Orion
B) Cancer
C) Libra
D) Leo
  • 45. Which is not a circumpolar constellation?
A) Ursa Major
B) Both of the answers are circumpolar
C) Ursa Minor
D) Neither of the answers are circumpolar
  • 46. Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star...
A) from right where it is
B) from 100,000 miles away
C) from 1 light year away
D) from a standard distance
  • 47. Apparent magnitude is the brightness of a star....
A) from 1 light year away
B) from a standard distance
C) from right where it is
D) from 100,000 miles away
  • 48. What is the closest major galaxy to ours?
A) Hercules
B) Andromeda
C) Alpha Centuari
D) Crab Nebula
  • 49. Astronomers think the universe is about...
A) 4 billion years old
B) 1 million years old
C) 1 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) a closed universe
D) an open universe
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