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45 space and astronomy trivia questions and answers

The planets and the Moon first, then orbits, telescopes, space missions, stars and black holes.

45 questions · Space and astronomy trivia questions and answers · answers included

Updated

Space and astronomy trivia questions and answers

Choose a score button to add a point. Scores last for this page visit.

Space shows the answer, then the next card. Arrow keys move. With scores on, keys 1 to 6 add a team point. F fills the screen. Escape closes play.

Questions 1–20

  1. 1

    Which planet is closest to the Sun?

    easy

    Answer

    Mercury

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)?oldid=1365197728#Orbit%2C_rotation%2C_and_longitude

  2. 2

    What is the largest planet in our solar system?

    easy

    Answer

    Jupiter

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter?oldid=1364889806

  3. 3

    Which planet is famous for its prominent rings?

    easy

    Answer

    Saturn

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn?oldid=1364889895#Observation

  4. 4

    What star is at the center of our solar system?

    easy

    Answer

    The Sun

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?oldid=1365815758#General_characteristics

  5. 5

    How many planets orbit the Sun?

    easy

    Answer

    Eight

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System?oldid=1365257682

  6. 6

    What do we call Earth turning on its own axis?

    easy

    Answer

    Earth's rotation

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_rotation?oldid=1364782554

  7. 7

    Which natural satellite orbits Earth?

    easy

    Answer

    The Moon

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon?oldid=1365616761

  8. 8

    What force does Newtonian mechanics explain with an inverse-square law?

    easy

    Answer

    Gravity

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit?oldid=1358633821

  9. 9

    Is the Sun a planet, a star or a moon?

    easy

    Answer

    A star

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?oldid=1365815758

  10. 10

    What nickname is Mars known by?

    easy

    Answer

    Red Planet

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars?oldid=1365946194

  11. 11

    What is the name of our galaxy?

    easy

    Answer

    The Milky Way

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way?oldid=1366030769

  12. 12

    Which planet has a surface hotter than Mercury’s?

    medium

    Answer

    Venus

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus?oldid=1364888249#Atmosphere_and_climate

  13. 13

    What do astronauts wear outside a spacecraft to survive?

    easy

    Answer

    Space suit

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_suit?oldid=1358061362

  14. 14

    What is a shooting star actually called?

    easy

    Answer

    A meteor

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor?oldid=1345850245

  15. 15

    When Pluto was discovered in 1930, what was it hailed as?

    easy

    Answer

    The ninth planet

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto?oldid=1364946785

  16. 16

    What was the first artificial satellite?

    medium

    Answer

    Sputnik 1

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race?oldid=1364197645#Soviet_rocket_development

  17. 17

    What phase occurs when the Moon is completely illuminated from Earth?

    easy

    Answer

    The full moon

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon?oldid=1349686235

  18. 18

    How long does sunlight take to reach Earth, approximately?

    medium

    Answer

    About 8.3 minutes

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight?oldid=1364119502

  19. 19

    What is the name for a rocky object orbiting the Sun, especially between Mars and Jupiter?

    easy

    Answer

    Asteroid

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid?oldid=1365586432#Terminology

  20. 20

    Astronauts in orbit still feel Earth's gravity. Why do they float?

    hard

    Answer

    They are in free fall, falling around Earth together with their craft

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlessness?oldid=1362025557#Weightlessness_in_Newtonian_mechanics

Questions 21–40

  1. 21

    Which planet spins on its side, tilted about 82 degrees?

    hard

    Answer

    Uranus

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus?oldid=1364889948

  2. 22

    What links Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto?

    hard

    Answer

    The four largest moons of Jupiter

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons?oldid=1359245208

  3. 23

    How many people have walked on the Moon?

    hard

    Answer

    Twelve

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_astronauts?oldid=1365496880#Apollo_astronauts_who_walked_on_the_Moon

  4. 24

    What is the boundary around a black hole beyond which light cannot escape?

    medium

    Answer

    Event horizon

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon?oldid=1358061908

  5. 25

    Why does a comet grow a tail near the Sun?

    medium

    Answer

    Solar radiation

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail?oldid=1365322127

  6. 26

    What type of galaxy is the Milky Way?

    hard

    Answer

    A barred spiral galaxy

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way?oldid=1366030769#Structure

  7. 27

    Which space telescope launched in 1990 and transformed astronomy from low Earth orbit?

    easy

    Answer

    The Hubble Space Telescope

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope?oldid=1366001248

  8. 28

    What is the closest star to the Sun?

    medium

    Answer

    Proxima Centauri

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri?oldid=1364138807#Motion_and_location

  9. 29

    What is the nearest point in an orbit around Earth called?

    hard

    Answer

    Perigee

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis?oldid=1365739280

  10. 30

    During a solar eclipse, which body passes between Earth and the Sun?

    easy

    Answer

    The Moon

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse?oldid=1362382170

  11. 31

    Which planet has the Great Red Spot?

    easy

    Answer

    Jupiter

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot?oldid=1363899609

  12. 32

    What are stars like the Sun expected to become later in their evolution?

    hard

    Answer

    White dwarf stars

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf?oldid=1366046603

  13. 33

    What did the Voyager 1 probe photograph as the Pale Blue Dot?

    medium

    Answer

    Earth

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot?oldid=1361316128

  14. 34

    Kepler's second law says a line from a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal what in equal times?

    hard

    Answer

    Equal areas

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler's_laws_of_planetary_motion?oldid=1365729169#Second_law

  15. 35

    What do we call a piece of a meteoroid that survives the fall through the atmosphere and lands on the ground?

    medium

    Answer

    A meteorite

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid?oldid=1354793794

  16. 36

    Which process in the Sun's core produces its energy?

    easy

    Answer

    Nuclear fusion

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_core?oldid=1343609804

  17. 37

    Which moon has an atmosphere made mainly of nitrogen and methane?

    hard

    Answer

    Titan

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)?oldid=1364908527

  18. 38

    What happens to a moon held together only by its own gravity if it strays inside its planet's Roche limit?

    hard

    Answer

    It will disintegrate, torn apart by the planet's tidal forces

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_limit?oldid=1357619363

  19. 39

    Why does a pulsar seem to flash on and off?

    hard

    Answer

    A beam of emission is pointing toward Earth, then away, like a lighthouse

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar?oldid=1365560340

  20. 40

    What is the faint microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe called?

    hard

    Answer

    The cosmic microwave background

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background?oldid=1365825568

Questions 41–45

  1. 41

    Which stellar explosion can briefly outshine an entire galaxy?

    easy

    Answer

    A supernova

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova?oldid=1364550221

  2. 42

    Which belt is home to Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, and Makemake?

    medium

    Answer

    The Kuiper belt

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt?oldid=1359408916

  3. 43

    Measuring how much the light of distant galaxies is redshifted tells astronomers about the history of what?

    hard

    Answer

    The expansion history of the universe

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift?oldid=1363906266#Extragalactic_observations

  4. 44

    At which Lagrange point, beyond the Moon on the far side from the Sun, does the James Webb Space Telescope sit?

    hard

    Answer

    L 2 (the second Lagrange point)

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrange_point?oldid=1364225588

  5. 45

    What stops a neutron star from collapsing any further?

    hard

    Answer

    Strong force repulsion and neutron degeneracy pressure

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star?oldid=1365590699#Formation

How to play

When a question names several planets or moons, slow down so players catch which one you mean. Read numbers with their units, and keep meteor and meteorite apart: accept only the one asked for.

Timer and team scores

8 turns × 60 seconds = 8 minutes of play, plus instructions and breaks.

60

Pause whenever the group needs more time.

Team Lime's turn

Team Lime: 0

Team Violet: 0