THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
Julian date: 2457758.16
"And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that
have never been."
-Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
*THE DAILY ASTRONOMER*
*Friday, January 6, 2017*
*Quiz XVI: 2016!*
One could say that 2016 was a particularly interesting year. Of course,
the definition of 'interesting' varies from person to person. To some,
2016 was an engrossing novel kind of interesting. To some others, it was
an ancient Chinese curse kind of interesting. Whatever your
perspective, the year 2016 certainly left a lasting impression. The first
quiz of 2017 pays homage to the year that was. Test your knowledge of
2016! Note: Because the star dome is only encased in ten-foot thick
layers of concrete and steel, we will avoid any questions pertaining to
American politics.
1. Let's get it over with. What is the Roman Numeral equivalent of 2016?
a. MMXVI
b. MMXIV
c. MMLXI
d. MMXXVI
2. On September 8, 2016, NASA launched OSIRIS-REx. What is its mission?
a. to deliver mummified pharaohs to Mars
b. to return samples from an asteroid
c. to explore Europa, an ice moon of Jupiter
d. to study the Sun from the L5 point
3. The year 2016 was a particularly dangerous year for celebrities. Which
ONE of the following celebrities did NOT die in 2016?
a. Carrie Fisher
b. Debbie Reynolds
c. David Bowie
d. John Glenn
e. William Christopher (of M*A*S*H fame)
f. Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the Star Trek movies)
g. Wayne Rogers (of M*A*S*H fame)
h. Gene Wilder
i Alan Rickman
4. Two paintings, "Seascape at Scheveningen" and Congregation Leaving the
Reformed Church" in Nuenen, stolen in 2002, were recovered in
September 2016. These recovered art works have an estimated value of
$100 million. Which artist produced these works?
a. Vincent van Gogh
b. Edvard Munch
c. Jan Vermeer
d. Claude Monet
5. In July 2016, the Japanese company Funai manufactured the last one of
what?
a. Walk man cassette recorders
b. Slide projectors
c. Video cassette recorders
d. Tube-based televisions
6. On June 23rd, the majority of voters in Britain voted to leave the
European Union. How many sovereign states comprise the EU, including the
UK?
a. 21
b. 24
c. 28
d. 33
7. In July 2016, the first ________________ circumnavigated Earth.
a. drone
b. solar powered aircraft
c. 777 jet liner
d. human in a wing suit
8. Which city hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics?
a. Rio de Janeiro
b. Mexico City
c. Buenos Aires
d. Caracas
9. It seems highly probable that "Rogue One," which opened in 2016, will be
the highest grossing movie of 2016. However, it currently holds the # 2
position. Which movie, right now, is still considered the highest
grossing movie (domestically) of 2016?
a. "Finding Dory"
b. "Captain America: Civil War"
c. "The Secret Life of Pets"
d. "Deadpool."
10. On January 1, 2016, __________ became the first state to raise the
legal smoking age to 21.
a. Maine
b. Hawaii
c. California
d. South Carolina
*BONUS QUESTION (I wish I could take credit for this question, but I
can't)*
Imagine someone is displaying '2016" on a digital scoreboard. You know,
those scoreboards that, when turned off, show a row of "8s" On such a
scoreboard, 2016 could be inverted to produce the number 9102. The
difference between 9102 and 2016 is 7,086.
The question is: Between the years 1 - 2000, which year, when inverted,
could produce the greatest difference between itself and its inverse?
As an example: 888 isn't the answer. When inverted, the resultant
number is 888, making a difference of 0. As a hint: 2016 isn't the
answer, even though the difference between 2016 and its inverse is
7,086. As a second hint: the year that is the correct answer is
historically significant. SORRY, NO CHOICES
(This question was presented on BBC Radio 4's program "More or Less.")
ANSWERS
1. a. MMXVI
2. b. to return samples from an asteroid
The name stands for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource
Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx)" This
spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with the asteroid 101955 Bennu in
August 2018. It will collect samples of this carbonaceous asteroid and
then will return to Earth in 2023.
3. g. Wayne Rogers (of M*A*S*H fame)
Wayne Rogers died on December 31, 2015
William Christopher (also from M*A*S*H) died on December 31, 2016
4. a. Vincent van Gogh
5. c. Video cassette recorders
6. c. 28
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark.
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
7. b. solar powered aircraft
Solar Impulse 2
8. a. Rio de Janeiro
9. a. "Finding Dory"
$486,295,561
Rogue One's current total: $455,301,354
Rogue One will likely surpass "Finding Dory" this weekend.
10. b. Hawaii
BONUS QUESTION:
1066
9901 - 1066 = 8,835