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) True
B) False
  • 3. Which planet is largest?
A) Jupiter
B) Saturn
C) Mercury
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, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
D) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
  • 5. What causes the seasons?
A) How close earth is to the sun
B) Both the tilt of the earth's axis and the earth's orbit
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) March
D) April
  • 7. What causes tides?
A) a tsunami
B) The moon's gravity
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 sun's gravity
B) The moon's orbit
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) 1 week
B) 1 year
C) 2 weeks
D) 29 days
  • 11. What is a blue moon?
A) when the moon appears blue in color
B) when the man on the moon is sad
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) Alan Shepard
B) Neil Armstrong
C) John Glenn
D) Buzz Aldren
  • 13. How did the solar system form?
A) Both of the answers are correct.
B) None 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 the earth's shadow.
B) The earth passes through the sun's shadow.
C) The earth passes through the moon's shadow.
D) The moon passes through it's own shadow.
  • 15. What causes a solar eclipse?
A) The moon passes through the earth's shadow.
B) The earth passes through the sun'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) Milky Way
B) Milk and Juice
C) One way
D) Snickers
  • 17. What type of galaxy is ours?
A) Elliptical
B) Irregular
C) Regular
D) Spiral
  • 18. What is the hottest star?
A) red
B) blue
C) yellow
D) super giant
  • 19. The Big Bang Theory explains.....
A) the formation of the universe
B) how the sound travels through space
C) how long it will take to travel in space
D) how stars explode
  • 20. What type of star is the sun on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram?
A) main sequence
B) red giant
C) white dwarf
D) super giant
  • 21. How far away is the sun from the earth?
A) 93 million miles
B) 93 thousand miles
C) 93 billion miles
D) 1 light year
  • 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) Mars
C) Earth
D) Moon
  • 24. Between which two planets are most of the asteroids located?
A) Mars and Jupiter
B) Uranus and Neptune
C) Jupiter and Saturn
D) Saturn and Uranus
  • 25. Which planet is closest to Earth?
A) Moon
B) Mars
C) Mercury
D) Venus
  • 26. Why is Earth unique in the solar system?
A) It has life
B) It has a moon
C) It has volcanoes
D) It is the last inner planet
  • 27. What causes the comet's tail?
A) solar wind
B) the asteroids
C) the gravity of the sun
D) astronomers aren't sure
  • 28. What is unusual about most comets orbits?
A) They are perfectly circular
B) The don't orbit they hit the sun.
C) It is highly elliptical
D) They travel in the opposite direction around the sun
  • 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) Autumnal Equinox
C) Vernal Equinox
D) Vernal Solstice
  • 31. Spring tides are higher because....
A) The gravity of the sun.
B) The combined gravity of all the planets and the moon
C) The combined gravity of the sun and moon
D) The combined gravity of the moon and earth.
  • 32. Where do the world's highest tides occur?
A) Sweden
B) Canada
C) United States
D) In the Indian Ocean
  • 33. What is the postion of the sun, moon and earth for a new moon?
A) Sun, moon, earth
B) moon, earth, sun
C) earth, sun, moon
D) Sun, earth, moon
  • 34. What is it called as the moon goes from new moon to full moon?
A) crescent
B) waning
C) waxing
D) gibbous
  • 35. What is it called as the moon goes from full to new?
A) gibbous
B) waning
C) waxing
D) crescent
  • 36. What year did the moon walk take place?
A) 1959
B) 1969
C) 1979
D) 1949
  • 37. What was the name of the first satellite in space?
A) Sputnik
B) Explorer 1
C) Cosmo 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) "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) Full
C) Last Quarter
D) 1st quarter
  • 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) 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) It depends on the earth's orbit
  • 43. About how far away is the nearest star besides the sun?
A) 400 light years
B) 4 light years
C) 40,000,000 miles
D) 40 light years
  • 44. Which of the following is not a constellation of the zodiac?
A) Cancer
B) Leo
C) Orion
D) Libra
  • 45. Which is not a circumpolar constellation?
A) Ursa Minor
B) Neither of the answers are circumpolar
C) Both of the answers are circumpolar
D) Ursa Major
  • 46. Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star...
A) from right where it is
B) from 100,000 miles away
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 a standard distance
C) from 100,000 miles away
D) from 1 light year away
  • 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) 1 million years old
B) 4 billion years old
C) 14 billion years old
D) 1 billion years old
  • 50. Astronomers think the universe is...
A) an open universe
B) None of the answers are correct
C) astronomers aren't sure if it is open or closed
D) a closed universe
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