Stars and the Solar System Test Paper Based on CCE (With Solution)

1. Which of the following is NOT a member of the solar system?

(a) An asteroid (b) A satellite (c) A constellation (d) A comet
Ans (c) Constellation
2. Which of the following is NOT a planet of the sun?
(a) Sirius (b) Mercury (c) Saturn (d) Earth
Ans: (a) Sirius
3. Phases of the moon occur because
(a) we can see only that part of the moon which reflects light towards us.
(b) our distance from the moon keeps changing.
(c) the shadow of the Earth covers only a part of the moons surface.
(d) the thickness of the moons atmosphere is not constant.
Ans: (a)
4. Fill in the blanks:
(a) The planet which is farthest from the sun is --------------.
(b) The planet which appears reddish in colour is --------------------.
(c) A group of stars that appear to form a pattern in the sky is known as a ---------------(d) A celestial body that revolves around a planet is known as a -------------------.
(e) Shooting stars are actually not--------------------(f) Asteroids are found between the orbits of ------- and -----------------------.
Ans: (a) Neptune (b) Mars (c) constellation (d) satellite (e) stars (f) Mars , Jupiter.
5. Mark the following statement as true (T) or false (F).
(a) Pole star is a member of the solar system. ( )

(b) Mercury is the smallest planet of the solar system. ( )

(c) Uranus is the farthest planet in the solar system. ( )
(d) INSAT is an artificial satellite. ( )
(e) There are nine planets in the solar system. ( )
(f) Constellation Orion can be seen only with a telescope. ( )
Answer: (a) False (b) True (c) False (d) True (e) False (f) False
1. Which is the smallest planet of the solar system?
2. Which is the nearest planet from the sun?
3. The planet which is called red planet is:
a. Saturn b. mars c. Venus d. Neptune
4. The star which appears stationary is:
a. Sirius b. pole star c. Andromeda d. Orion
5. A group which forms definite pattern is called:
a. comet b.constellation c. meteor d. meteoroid
6. What are celestial bodies?
7. What are known as phases of moon?
8. Why does moon show different phases?
9. Write the applications of artificial satellites
10. How would you locate pole star?
11. What is an orbit?
12. Which is the nearest star to us?
13. What is a satellite?
14. What makes the earth a special planet?
15. Why does earth appears blue-green from the space?
16. Name the inert planets
17. Name one outer planet.
18. What are asteroids?
19. Distinguish between a meteor and meteorite.
20. What is the tail of comet due to?
21. Draw a neat diagram of Ursa Major, Orion

22. How are artificial satellites different from natural satellites?

23. Name some artificial satellites launched by India.
24. On what days during a month can you see more stars in the sky? Give reasons.
25. What keeps the planets move around the sun in their orbits?

The moon is the brightest object in the night sky. The stars, the planets, the moon and other objects in sky are called
celestial objects.

The various shapes of the bright part of the moon as seen during a month are called phases of the moon. The day on
which the whole disc of moon is visible is called full moon. Thereafter the size of moon goes on decreasing until it
vanishes. This day is new moon. This process takes around 15 days. The next day only a small portion of the moon
appears in the sky called crescent moon. The time period between one full moon to next full moon is slightly longer
than 29 days and is also called a month in many calendars.
The moon complete one rotation on its axis as it completes one revolution around the earth . So only, one

faces of moon is visible from earth. Moon has no atmosphere. Its surface is of dusty and barren & has
craters on it.
The distances between two celestial objects is expressed in terms of light year which is the distance
travelled by light in one year. Distance between sun and earth is slight minutes and the next nearest star to
earth i.e. Alpha centaury is 4.3 light year

The earth rotates from west to east and that's why stars appear to us to move in direction from east to west.
There is actually a star called pole star which is situated in direction of earth's axis and hence does not
appear to move.
Constellation is a group of stars forming a recognisable shape. Some of the important constellation visible to
us in the night sky are as follows:-

Ursa major or big dipper or saptarishi or great bear consists of seven prominent stars and appears in the summers. It
appears like a big ladle or a question mark. There are 3 stars in the handle of the ladle and 4 in the bowl.
Orion or hunter, visible in the winters has seven or eight bright stars. The three middle stars represent the belt of
hunter and points towards the brightest star in sky, Sirius

Cassiopeia is visible in winter in early part of the night and looks like a distorted letter W or M
The sun and the celestial bodies which revolve around it from the solar system. The celestial bodies in it constitute
the planets, comets, asteroids and meteors. The gravitational attraction between the sun and these objects keeps
them revolving around it.
Sun is the nearest star from us which emits huge amounts of heat and light. It is the source of almost all

energy on earth.
Planets do not have light of their own rather they reflect light of sun. A planet has a fixed path in which it
rotates called as orbit. Some planets are known to have moons/satellites revolving around them. Mercury,
venus, earth and mars are closer to sun and are called as inner planets whereas Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune are called outer planets.

Mercury is the planet nearest to the sun. it is also the smallest and hottest planet and is visible at horizon

just before sunrise or just after sunset.

Venus is the earth's nearest planetary neighbour. It is the brightest planet in night sky. Venus appears in
eastern sky before sunrise or western sky after the sunset and is so called Morning or evening star. Venus
has no moons and it rotates from east to west

Earth is the only planet in solar system on which life is known to exist because of right distance from sun,

right temperature range, the presence of water and suitable atmosphere with a blanket of ozone.
Earth appears blue green due to reflection of light from water and landmass. The plane of the equator is
called equatorial plane and plane in which the earth revolves round the sun is called orbital plane. These two
0

planes are inclined at an angle of 23.5 and is responsible for change of season. The earth has only one

moon.
Mars appears slightly reddish and is so called the red planet. It has 2 small natural satellites namely Phobes
and Deimos.
Jupiter is the largest planet of the solar system and can have 1300 earths in it. It rotates very fast on its axis.
Saturn appears yellowish in colour and has wide rings. It also has large numbers of satellites. It is the least

dense among all planets and has a density less than that of water.
Uranus and Neptune are the outermost planets of the solar system. Uranus also rotates from east to west

and has a highly tilted rotational axis. As a result, in its orbital motion it appears to roll on its side
Asteroids are a large number of small objects revolving around the sun present between the orbits of mars

and Jupiter. They can be seen only through large telescopes.

Comets revolve around sun in highly elliptical orbits and have very long period of revolution. A comet
appears as a bright head with a long tail. The length of the tail grows in size as it approaches the sun.

Halley's comet appears after every 76 years and was last spotted in 1986.
Meteors and shooting stars are small objects that occasionally enter the earth's atmosphere with a high
speed and due to friction by atmosphere, glow and evaporate quickly producing a bright streak which lasts
for a very short time. Some meteors are large and so can reach the earth's surface called meteorite.

Artificial and manmade satellites revolve around the earth to serve some special purpose like weather, forecasting,
telecommunications etc. Aryabhatt was the first Indian satellite.