Roland's
Amateur Astronomy Quiz
Medium Difficulty
1. How many planets are there in the solar system ?
a. 7 b. 9 c.
11 d. 13
2. Which planet is closest to the Earth in size ?
a. Mercury b.
Venus c. Mars d. Neptune
3. In which constellation does the star Aldebaran ( a red giant ) lie ?
a. Orion b. Big Dipper c.
Taurus d. Scorpio
4. By what name is Alpha Cygni also known as ?
a. Rigel b. Arcturus
c. Sirius d. Deneb
5. In which constellation does the globular cluster, M13, lie ?
a. Andromeda b.
Hercules c. Monoceros d.
Sagittarius
6. Which of these is not a Messier Object ?
a. Pleiades b. Great Orion
Nebula c. Beehive d. Veil Nebula
7. Through which constellation does the Milky Way pass ?
a. Bootes b. Ursa
Major c. Cassiopeia d. Leo
8. Vesta can actually become visible to the naked eye, but what exactly is it
?
a. A Comet b. A
Moon c. An Asteroid d. A Galaxy
9. How many times does the ecliptic cross the equator of the celestial sphere
?
a. None b.
Once c. Twice d. 12 times
10. Which of these is not a zodiacal constellation ?
a. Aries b.
Libra c. Leo d. Lyra
11. Which of these does not show us a complete set of phases ?
a. Venus b. The
Moon c. Mercury d. Mars
12. Which is the least useful magnification in a 5 inch telescope ?
a. x50 b. x100 c.
x200 d. x400
13. How many Earths could you fit inside the Sun ?
a. 230 b. 1,650 c.
10,500 d 1.3 Million
14. How many Earth days does it take for Mercury to orbit the Sun once ?
a. 88 b. 108 c.
234 d. 365
15. Clavius measures about 142 miles across, but what is it ?
a. A Crater on the Moon b. A Volcano on
Mars c. An Asteroid d. An Ocean on Neptune
16. How long do Sunspots take to move from one edge to the other ?
a. 2 hours b. 2 days c. 2
weeks d. 2 months
17. What is The Terminator ?
a. A Meteor which passes close to the Earth every 666 years.
b. An Unexplored region on the far side of the Moon.
c. The edge of our Galaxy where Planets decay.
d. A boundary between the sunlit and the dark part of the
moon.
18. Which of these is not a natural satellite ?
a. The Moon b. Miranda c.
Mir d. Io
19. Which is not a Galilean Moon ?
a. Io b. Europa
c. Ganymede d. Titan
20. How many minutes does it take for your eyes to be fully used to the dark
?
a. 30 b. 15 c.
10 d. 5
21. Which instrument or view will show the Moon upside down ?
a. A naked-eye view b. A normal
telescope view
c.
Binoculars
d. A telescope fitted with a 45 degree prism
22. Which star may not be a double ( or multiple system ) ?
a. Mizar b. Castor c.
Albireo d. Spica
23. Which following star lies near the ecliptic ?
a. Regulus b. Betelgeuse
c. Sirius d. Capella
24. The Andromeda Galaxy is catalogued as which of the following ?
a. M13 b. M31 c.
M110 d. M1
25. Edwin Hubble discovered that.....
a. Mars has a South Polar cap which changes with seasons
b. Uranus has a very faint ring system
c. The Andromeda Galaxy does not lie within our own Galaxy
d. The Earth is getting closer to the Sun
