Astronomy Trivia

Test Your Space Knowledge

© Kelly Whitt

Sep 1, 2008

Here's some trivia about space, the moon, the solar system, planets, stars and more.

Space Trivia Questions

1. How many men have walked on the moon?
2. How many stars are there in the entire solar system?
3. Which planet has the most moons?
4. What star is nicknamed The Dog Star?
5. True or False. Spring begins on March 20.
6. What is the name for clouds that shine at dark high in the mesosphere?
7. What does the constellation of Puppis represent?
8. How many constellations are there?
9. What scientists came up with the theory of black holes?
10. What is the name for the extremely bright and energetic objects seen in the distant universe?
11. What is the name of the Mars lander that found ice on the surface in 2008?
12. Who cataloged clusters, nebulae, and galaxies to sort them from comets?
13. Who believed he saw canals on the surface of Mars?
14. What is Ceres classified as?
15. Name all the known Plutoids as of 2008.
16. What are the four main types of galaxies?
17. What was the first asteroid discovered?
18. Name the four Galilean satellites.
19. What is the name of Saturn's largest moon?
20. What is the name of the largest gap in Saturn's rings?
21. What are the light-colored stripes in Jupiter's atmosphere called?
22. Which planet is tipped on its side, possibly due to a large collision in the past?
23. What planet spins the fastest on its axis?
24. What is the distance in miles in 1 AU?
25. What is the name of the speedy little white cloud seen on Neptune?
26. Which planet has the largest temperature extremes?
27. Which planet has the hottest temperature at 860 degrees F?
28. What is the name of the sun's outer atmosphere?
29. How many constellation are in the plane of the ecliptic?
30. True or False. Astrology is based on scientific fact.
31. What is the name for when the moon blocks the light from the sun as seen from Earth?
32. How many days does it take the moon to orbit Earth?
33. What moon phase comes after a full moon?
34. What star marks the North Celestial Pole?
35. In what constellation will you find the North Celestial Pole?
36. From what hypothetical region are comets believed to come?
37. What occurs when a large amount of charged solar particles crash into Earth's atmosphere?
38. What is the name for the faint brightening of the sky at the antisolar point?
39. What is the term used to describe the brightness of an astronomical object?
40. What is the brightest star in Taurus?

Answers to Space and Astronomy Trivia Quiz

1. 12
2. 1 (the sun)
3. Jupiter (63 and counting)
4. Sirius
5. False. It often begins on March 20, but not every year and not for the Southern Hemsiphere, where spring begins in September.
6. Noctilucent clouds
7. A poop deck of a ship
8. 88
9. Stephen Hawking
10. Quasar
11. Phoenix
12. Charles Messier
13. Percival Lowell
14. A dwarf planet
15. Pluto, Eris, Makemake
16. Spiral, elliptical, lenticular, irregular
17. Ceres
18. Ganymede, Io, Callisto, Europa
19. Titan
20. The Cassini Division
21. Zones
22. Uranus
23. Jupiter
24. 93 million miles, the distance between Earth and the sun
25. Scooter
26. Mercury
27. Venus
28. Corona
29. 13 (Ophiuchus is the "13th" Zodiac constellation)
30. False
31. A solar eclipse
32. 27 (27.3 to be precise)
33. A waning gibbous
34. Polaris
35. Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper
36. The Oort Cloud
37. The aurora appears
38. Gegenschein
39. Magnitude
40. Aldebaran

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