Astronomy Test
  • 1. What takes place in the center of the sun?
A) all of the answers are correct
B) nuclear fusion
C) hydrogen fuses together
D) helium is formed
  • 2. True or False The sun gives off all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A) False
B) True
  • 3. Which planet is largest?
A) Mercury
B) Jupiter
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, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
C) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
D) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
  • 5. What causes the seasons?
A) The earth's orbit
B) Both the tilt of the earth's axis and the earth's orbit
C) How close earth is to the sun
D) The tilt of the earth's axis
  • 6. What month does the 1st day of spring occur?
A) May
B) June
C) April
D) March
  • 7. What causes tides?
A) The moon's gravity
B) a tsunami
C) an earthquake
D) The earth's gravity
  • 8. Neap tides cause what to happen to tides?
A) They have no effect on the height of tides
B) They are lower than usual
C) They cause tsunamis
D) They are higher than usual
  • 9. What causes the phases of the moon
A) The moon's orbit
B) The earth's rotation
C) The earth'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) 1 week
C) 2 weeks
D) 1 year
  • 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 second full moon of a month
D) The first full moon of a month
  • 12. Who was the first person on the moon?
A) John Glenn
B) Alan Shepard
C) Buzz Aldren
D) Neil Armstrong
  • 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) From the gravitational attraction between molecules.
D) None of the answers are correct.
  • 14. What causes a lunar eclipse?
A) The earth passes through the moon's shadow.
B) The moon passes through the earth'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 sun'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 moon's shadow.
  • 16. What is the name of our galaxy?
A) Milk and Juice
B) Snickers
C) Milky Way
D) One way
  • 17. What type of galaxy is ours?
A) Spiral
B) Elliptical
C) Irregular
D) Regular
  • 18. What is the hottest star?
A) super giant
B) yellow
C) red
D) blue
  • 19. The Big Bang Theory explains.....
A) how stars explode
B) the formation of the universe
C) how long it will take to travel in space
D) how the sound travels through space
  • 20. What type of star is the sun on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram?
A) red giant
B) white dwarf
C) main sequence
D) super giant
  • 21. How far away is the sun from the earth?
A) 93 thousand miles
B) 1 light year
C) 93 billion miles
D) 93 million miles
  • 22. What causes the aurora borealis?
A) northern lights
B) solar wind
C) sunset
D) the moon
  • 23. Which planet is smallest?
A) Moon
B) Earth
C) Mercury
D) Mars
  • 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) Moon
B) Mars
C) Venus
D) Mercury
  • 26. Why is Earth unique in the solar system?
A) It has life
B) It is the last inner planet
C) It has volcanoes
D) It has a moon
  • 27. What causes the comet's tail?
A) the asteroids
B) the gravity of the sun
C) solar wind
D) astronomers aren't sure
  • 28. What is unusual about most comets orbits?
A) They are perfectly circular
B) They travel in the opposite direction around the sun
C) The don't orbit they hit the sun.
D) It is highly elliptical
  • 29. About what date do the seasons change?
A) 1st
B) 15th
C) the last day of the month
D) 21st
  • 30. What is the 1st day of Fall called?
A) Autumnal Equinox
B) Vernal Equinox
C) Autumnal Solstice
D) Vernal Solstice
  • 31. Spring tides are higher because....
A) The combined gravity of the sun and moon
B) The combined gravity of all the planets and the 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) United States
B) Sweden
C) In the Indian Ocean
D) Canada
  • 33. What is the postion of the sun, moon and earth for a new moon?
A) earth, sun, moon
B) Sun, earth, moon
C) Sun, moon, earth
D) moon, earth, sun
  • 34. What is it called as the moon goes from new moon to full moon?
A) gibbous
B) waning
C) waxing
D) crescent
  • 35. What is it called as the moon goes from full to new?
A) gibbous
B) waxing
C) crescent
D) waning
  • 36. What year did the moon walk take place?
A) 1959
B) 1979
C) 1969
D) 1949
  • 37. What was the name of the first satellite in space?
A) Explorer 1
B) Sputnik
C) Apollo 1
D) Cosmo 1
  • 38. Who was the first man in space?
A) Yuri Gargarin
B) John Glenn
C) Neil Armstrong
D) Alan Shepard
  • 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) Full
B) Last Quarter
C) 1st quarter
D) New
  • 42. Why doesn't each eclipse happen every month?
A) It depends on the earth's orbit
B) They do occur once a month you just can't seem them from all places on the earth
C) It depends on what time of year it is
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) 40,000,000 miles
B) 400 light years
C) 40 light years
D) 4 light years
  • 44. Which of the following is not a constellation of the zodiac?
A) Orion
B) Leo
C) Cancer
D) Libra
  • 45. Which is not a circumpolar constellation?
A) Both of the answers are circumpolar
B) Ursa Major
C) Neither of the answers are circumpolar
D) Ursa Minor
  • 46. Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star...
A) from 100,000 miles away
B) from a standard distance
C) from 1 light year away
D) from right where it is
  • 47. Apparent magnitude is the brightness of a star....
A) from 1 light year away
B) from right where it is
C) from 100,000 miles away
D) from a standard distance
  • 48. What is the closest major galaxy to ours?
A) Crab Nebula
B) Andromeda
C) Alpha Centuari
D) Hercules
  • 49. Astronomers think the universe is about...
A) 14 billion years old
B) 1 billion years old
C) 1 million years old
D) 4 billion years old
  • 50. Astronomers think the universe is...
A) a closed universe
B) None of the answers are correct
C) astronomers aren't sure if it is open or closed
D) an open universe
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