45 space and astronomy trivia questions and answers
This category starts with planets, the Moon, and familiar solar-system objects before moving into orbits, telescopes, spacecraft, stellar evolution, black holes, cosmology, and gravitational effects.
Updated
Questions 1–20
Which planet is closest to the Sun?
easy
Mercury
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)?oldid=1365197728#Orbit%2C_rotation%2C_and_longitude
What is the largest planet in our solar system?
easy
Jupiter
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter?oldid=1364889806
Which planet is famous for its prominent rings?
easy
Saturn
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn?oldid=1364889895#Observation
What star is at the center of our solar system?
easy
The Sun
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?oldid=1365815758#General_characteristics
How many planets orbit the Sun?
easy
Eight
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System?oldid=1365257682
What is Earth’s spin?
easy
The rotation of planet Earth around its own axis
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_rotation?oldid=1364782554
Which natural satellite orbits Earth?
easy
The Moon
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon?oldid=1365616761
What force does Newtonian mechanics explain with an inverse-square law?
easy
Gravity
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit?oldid=1358633821
What is the Sun?
easy
Star
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?oldid=1365815758
What nickname is Mars known by?
easy
Red Planet
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars?oldid=1365946194
What is the name of our galaxy?
easy
The Milky Way
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way?oldid=1366030769
Which planet has a surface hotter than Mercury’s?
medium
Venus
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus?oldid=1364888249#Atmosphere_and_climate
What do astronauts wear outside a spacecraft to survive?
easy
Space suit
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_suit?oldid=1358061362
What is a shooting star actually called?
easy
A meteor
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor?oldid=1345850245
How was Pluto immediately classified?
easy
The ninth planet
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto?oldid=1364946785
What was the first artificial satellite?
medium
Sputnik 1
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race?oldid=1364197645#Soviet_rocket_development
What phase occurs when the Moon is completely illuminated from Earth?
easy
The full moon
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon?oldid=1349686235
How long does sunlight take to reach Earth, approximately?
medium
About 8.3 minutes
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight?oldid=1364119502
What is the name for a rocky object orbiting the Sun, especially between Mars and Jupiter?
easy
Asteroid
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid?oldid=1365586432#Terminology
Why do astronauts appear weightless while orbiting Earth?
hard
The free-fall condition
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlessness?oldid=1362025557#Weightlessness_in_Newtonian_mechanics
Questions 21–40
How large is Uranus’s axial tilt?
hard
Axial tilt of 82.23°
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus?oldid=1364889948
What links Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto?
hard
The four largest moons of Jupiter
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons?oldid=1359245208
How many people have walked on the Moon?
hard
Twelve
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_astronauts?oldid=1365496880#Apollo_astronauts_who_walked_on_the_Moon
What is the boundary around a black hole beyond which light cannot escape?
medium
Event horizon
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon?oldid=1358061908
Why does a comet grow a tail near the Sun?
medium
Solar radiation
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail?oldid=1365322127
What type of galaxy is the Milky Way?
hard
A barred spiral galaxy
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way?oldid=1366030769#Structure
Which space telescope launched in 1990 and transformed astronomy from low Earth orbit?
easy
The Hubble Space Telescope
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope?oldid=1366001248
What is the closest star to the Sun?
medium
Proxima Centauri
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri?oldid=1364138807#Motion_and_location
What is the nearest point in an orbit around Earth called?
hard
Perigee
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis?oldid=1365739280
How can the Moon cause a solar eclipse as seen from Earth?
easy
The Moon passes between Earth and the Sun
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse?oldid=1362382170
Which planet has the Great Red Spot?
easy
Jupiter
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot?oldid=1363899609
What are stars like the Sun expected to become later in their evolution?
hard
White dwarf stars
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf?oldid=1366046603
What did the Voyager 1 probe photograph as the Pale Blue Dot?
medium
Earth
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot?oldid=1361316128
According to Kepler’s second law, what does a line joining a planet and the Sun sweep out in equal time intervals?
hard
Equal areas
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler's_laws_of_planetary_motion?oldid=1365729169#Second_law
What is a meteorite?
medium
The remains of a meteoroid
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid?oldid=1354793794
How does the Sun generate its energy?
easy
Energy is generated by nuclear fusion
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_core?oldid=1343609804
Which moon has an atmosphere made mainly of nitrogen and methane?
hard
Titan
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)?oldid=1364908527
What happens to a second body inside the Roche limit when tidal forces exceed its self-gravitation?
hard
Disintegrate
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_limit?oldid=1357619363
Why do pulsars appear to flash regularly?
hard
A beam of emission is pointing toward Earth
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar?oldid=1365560340
What is the cosmic microwave background?
hard
Microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background?oldid=1365825568
Questions 41–45
Which stellar explosion can briefly outshine an entire galaxy?
easy
A supernova
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova?oldid=1364550221
Which belt is home to Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, and Makemake?
medium
The Kuiper belt
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt?oldid=1359408916
What can observations of the redshift-distance relationship determine?
hard
The expansion history of the universe
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift?oldid=1363906266#Extragalactic_observations
At which Lagrange point is the James Webb Space Telescope located?
hard
L 2
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrange_point?oldid=1364225588
Why does a neutron star resist collapse under ordinary conditions?
hard
A combination of strong force repulsion and neutron degeneracy pressure
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star?oldid=1365590699#Formation
How to play
Pause after the object being asked about, especially when several planets or moons appear in one sentence. Read quantities with their units, and distinguish a meteor, meteorite, moon, planet, and star exactly as the question does.
Plan the round and team scores
8 turns × 60 seconds = 8 minutes of play, plus instructions and breaks.
60
These are adjustable house rules. Pause whenever the group needs more time.
Team 1: 0
Team 2: 0