Astronomy questions bank

4- How old is our solar system

(a) 800 million years.
(b) 5 billion years
(c) 2 billion years
(d) 7 billion years

5- The average distance between the earth and the sun is equal to,
(a) One light year
(b) One astronomical unit
(c) One parsec
(d) Two parsec

6- Which planet contains Olympus Mons, the largest volcano of the solar system?
(a) Mercury
(b) Earth
(c) Mars
(d) Venus

7- Comets are belived to originate from,

(a) Asteroid belt
(b) Interstellar medium
(c) Oort cloud
(d) All the previous answers

8- What was the first asteroid discovered in 1801 and named after the Roman goddess of harvest?
(a) Juno
(b) Hygiea
(c) Ceres
(d) Oort

9- When a new asteroid is discovered, it is named after,

(a) The year of discovery
(b) A goddess in Greek mythology
(c) The name chosen by the discoverer
(d) The name related to the nearest planet

10- When an asteroid is assigned a number in front of its name, what additional information does that
provide?

(a) The year of discovery

(b) Its distance from the sun
(c) Its orbit has been calculated
(d) The name related to the nearest planet

11- In the asteroid belt, some areas are almost free of asteroids. These are known as,
(a) Kirkwood's gaps
(b) Roche's gaps
(c) Cassini divisions
(d) Cassini and Roche's divisions
12- The asteroids that cross the earth's orbit are known as,
(a) Apollo objects
(b) Amor objects
(c) Trojan asteroids
(d) Newton asteroids

13- What is the name given to the two asteroids groups sharing the Jupiter's orbit?
(a) Trojan asteroids
(b) Armor objects
(c) Apollo objects
(d) Newton asteroids

14-.The true statement regarding asteroids,

(a) Total mass of the asteroid belt is less than 20% of earth's moon.
(b) They are never larger than 100 km in diameter.
(c) No asteroid has a satellite of its own.
(d) All the previous answers

15- Asteroids which are made up of carbon-rich material and have low albedos are called,……………..
(a) C-type asteroids
(b) M-type asteroids
(c) S-type asteroids
(d) A- type asteroids
16- The nucleus of a comet …………………….
(a) is visible from earth-based telescopes.
(b) has an irregular shape.
(c) has a higher density than ice.
(d) All the previous answers

17- How old is the Moon?

(a) 2.6 billion years

(b) 4.6 billion years
(c) 900 million years
(d) 100 million years

18- The Moon's mass is about ……………….

(a) 1/20 of Earth's mass

(b) 1/8 of Earth's mass
(c) 1/50 of Earth's mass
(d) 1/10 of Earth's mass

19- A person weighing 60kg on the Earth would weight, ………

(a) 15 kg on the Moon

(b) 10 kg on the Moon
(c) 60 kg on the Moon
(d) 35 kg on the Moon
20- Compared to earthquakes, 'moonquakes',

(a) Have the same intensity.

(b) Are million times weaker
(c) Are stronger than earthquakes.
(d) Are two times weaker.

21. A lunar month (a complete cycle of phases from new moon to the subsequent new moon) is longer than
the orbital period because, ………………….

(a) The moon travels in an elliptical orbit

(b) The Moon slow rotation on its axis

(c) The earth moves along its orbit.

(d) The moon high rotation on its axis

22- Correct statement about Planet Mercury

(a) Not visible to the naked eye

(b) The hottest planet of the solar system
(c) The closest planet to the sun
(d) All the previous answers

23- Planet mercury does not have

(a) A magnetic field

(b) Impact craters
(c) Active volcanoes
(d) All the previous answers

24- What is the CORRECT relationship between the Mercury's rotation and orbital periods?

(a) Rotation = 1/6 orbital period

(b) Rotation = 5/6 orbital period
(c) Rotation = 2/3 orbital period
(d) Rotation = 1/3 orbital period

25- What is the correct statement about Mercury transits?

(a) They are less frequent than Venus transits

(b) Nicolas Copernicus was the first astronomer to record a transit
(c) Next Mercury transit is expected on 2016
(d) All the previous answers

26- Planet Venus ………………………..

(a) Is the brightest planet in the night sky
(b) Is larger than the Earth
 (c) Has two moons
(d) Has 12 moons

27- Venus is different from Earth because Venus has,

(a) No carbon cycle
(b) A thin atmosphere
(c) No water cycle
(d) No impact craters

28- What is the most abundant gas in Jupiter's atmosphere?

(a) Hydrogen
(b) Helium
(c) Ammonia
(d) All the previous answers

29- Mars is called the red planet. What causes this red colour on Mars?
(a) Iron oxide on its surface
(b) A high surface temperature
(c) Thick atmospheric clouds
(d) All the previous answers

30- During a solar eclipse, an observer on the moon, looking at the earth would see,
(a) Earth partially covered by moon's shadow
(b) The sun completely covered by the earth
(c) Earth completely covered by moon's shadow
(d) The sun partially covered by the earth

(1) Which planet has the hottest surface?

(a) Mercury (b) Venus (c) Mars (d) earth
(2) In the following diagram shown that
(a) A solar eclipse
(b) A lunar eclipse
(c)Astronomy
(d) Universe

(3) The asteroid belt lies between, …………..

(a) Earth and Mars (b) Mars and Jupiter
(c) Jupiter and Saturn (d) Mercury and Venus

(4)………….usually lasts a few hours

and may be viewed from
anywhere on the night side of earth.
a- A lunar eclipse.
 b- The sun .
c- A solar eclipse.
d-The universe .
(5) .The largest asteroid discovered in the asteroid belt is,
(a)Vesta (b) Cere (c) Titan (d) All the previous answers
(6) The average distance between the earth and the sun is equal to ………..
(e) One light year (b) One astronomical unit
(c) One parsec (d) Two parsec
(7) Which of the planets does NOT revolve in a counter-clockwise direction
around the sun?
(a) Venus (b) Earth (c) Uranus
(d) all planets revolve in a counter-clockwise direction
around the sun
(8) Which planet does NOT revolve around the sun in the plane of the
ecliptic?
(a) Pluto (b) Jupiter (c) Saturn (d) Mars
(9) Which planet rotates counter-clockwise about a rotational axis that
always points towards the sun, resulting in one half of the planet being
constantly in day and the other half being perpetually in night?
(a) Earth (b) Jupiter (c) Uranus (d) Neptune
(10) Which of the following planets is NOT considered to be one of the
Jovian planets?:
(a) Neptune (b) Saturn (c) Jupiter (d) Pluto
(11) The largest meteorite impact crater, the largest volcano, and the
largest rift valley in the solar system can all be found on the planet:
(a) Mercury (b) Venus (c) Earth (d) Mars
(12) The planet that is similar in size to Earth, but which has a surface
temperature of 475ºC and an atmosphere that is about 95% CO2 is:
(a) Mercury (b) Venus (c) Earth (d) Mars
(13) About 93% of all meteorites fall into the category:
(a) stony-iron (b) stony (c) iron (d) chondrites
(14) Which of the following planets does not have a core, mantle, and crust?
(a) Earth (b) Mercury (c) Neptune (d) Mars
(15) The largest meteorite impact crater, the largest volcano, and the
largest rift valley in the solar system can all be found on the planet:
(a) Mercury (b) Mars (c) Venus (d) Earth
(16) Which planet contains Olympus Mons, the largest volcano of the solar
system?
(e)Mercury (b) Earth (c) Mars (d) Venus
(17) When ………... reach earth's surface, they are called
meteorites.
(a) Meteors (b) Meteoroids. (c) Asteroids. (d) Comets.
(18) What was the first asteroid discovered in 1801 and named after the
Roman goddess of harvest?
(e) Juno (b) Hygiea (c) Ceres (d) Oort
(19) When a new asteroid is discovered, it is named after,
(e) The year of discovery
(f) A goddess in Greek mythology
(g) The name chosen by the discoverer
(h) The name related to the nearest planet
(20)…………….. is about half the size of Venus.
(a) Earth (b) Mars. (c) Mercury (d) Neptune.
(21)…………. The largest planet is more 1300 times the volume of earth.
(a) Saturn (b) Jupitur (c) Neptune (d) Uranus.
(22) Uranus is still over 60 times the volume of……………...
(a) Venus (b) Mars (c) Mercury (d) Neptune
(23) The most volcanically active body in the solar system is:
(a) Earth (b) Triton (c) the Moon (d) Jupiter's moon Io
(24) The asteroids that cross the earth's orbit are known as, …..
(e)Apollo objects (b) Amor objects
(c) Trojan asteroids (d) Newton asteroids
(25) The true statement regarding asteroids, ……….
(e) Total mass of the asteroid belt is less than 20% of earth's moon.
(f) They are never larger than 100 km in diameter.
(g) No asteroid has a satellite of its own.
(h) All the previous answers
(26) Venus is different from Earth because Venus has, …..
(e) No carbon cycle
(f) A thin atmosphere
(g) No water cycle
(h) No impact craters
(27) What is the most abundant gas in Jupiter's atmosphere?
(a) Hydrogen (b) Helium
 (c) Ammonia (d) All the previous answers
(28) Mars is called the red planet. What causes this red colour on Mars?
(e) Iron oxide on its surface (b) A high surface temperature
(c) Thick atmospheric clouds (d) All the previous answers
(29) A person weighing 60kg on the Earth would weight, ……
(e) 15 kg on the Moon
(f) 10 kg on the Moon
(g) 60 kg on the Moon
(h) 35 kg on the Moon
(30) A lunar month (a complete cycle of phases from new moon to the
subsequent new moon) is longer than the orbital period because,
………………….
(e) The moon travels in an elliptical orbit
(f) The Moon slow rotation on its axis
(g) The earth moves along its orbit.
(h) The moon high rotation on its axis
Answers key :
1 (b) 2 (a) 3 (b) 4 (a) 5 (b) 6 (b) 7 (d) 8 (a) 9 (c) 10 (d)
11 (d) 12 (b) 13 (b) 14 (c) 15 (b) 16 (c) 17 (a) 18 (c) 19 (c) 20 (b)
21 (b) 22 (a) 23 (d) 24 (a) 25 (a) 26 (a) 27 (a) 28 (a) 29 (b) 30 (c)