Test Your Knowledge Of Astronomy
1. Who was first to view the sky through a telescope?
a. Copernicus. b. Kepler
c. Galileo d. Newton
2. How many Planets are there in our Solar system?
a. 9 b. 8
c. 23 d. 7
3. Our local star, the Sun, is fueled by:
a. Nuclear fission b. Saudi oil
c. Radiant heat from d. Nuclear fusion
its iron core.
4. When our sun “dies” it will become a:
a. Neutron star b. A white dwarf
c. Super nova d. A black hole
5. N. Copernicus was the first to postulate the Sun as the center of
the Solar System. a. True. b. False
6. What is the nearest large galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy?
a. Orion galaxy b. Andromeda galaxy
c. Whirlpool galaxy d. Pinwheel galaxy
7. The Hubble Telescope is what kind of Telescope?
a. Refractor b. Reflector
c. Catadioptric c. Galilean
8. The calendar that the U.S. and that most countries have accepted is:
a. Universal b. Julian
c. Gregorian d. GPS
9. A telescope purchased to view faint objects, such as nebula and galaxies, has a large ________ as an important consideration:
a. Aperture b. Magnification
c. Focal Length c. Eyepiece
10. The brightest visually observed star in the northern hemisphere is:
a. Betelgeux b. Sirius
c. The Sun d. Vega
Answers To The Astronomy Quiz
1. (c.) Galileo in 1610.
2. (a) or (b) are both acceptable since many astronomers believe Pluto is a captured asteroid.
3. (d) Nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium.
4. (b) Our Sun will shrink to a white dwarf after it swells to a red giant and most of the hydrogen fuel runs out.
5. (b) False. The ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus (310-230 BC) postulated a Sun centered solar system.
6. (b) The Andromeda Galaxy is about 2.9 million light years from our galaxy, the Milky Way.
7. (c) A Catadioptric or Cassegrain. The Answer (b) is also acceptable since a Catadioptric is a type of reflector telescope.
8. (c) The Gregorian Calendar accounts better for the fact that the true period of rotation of the Earth about the Sun is 365.2424 days versus 365.25 days assumed by the Julian Calendar.
9. (a) The aperture, or how big in diameter the telescope measures, is the most important consideration for seeing faint objects.
10. (c) The Sun. Trick question since the sun is a star. The next brightest star visually is Sirius, “the dog star”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-8 Correct - Join the Tallahassee Astronomical Society to learn more.
8-10 Correct - Join the Tallahassee Astronomical Society to share your knowledge with others.