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