THE USM SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Altitude: 10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
Julian date: 2458620.5
"At the edges of the undiscovered..."
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, May 17, 2019
Quiz XXVII: A Sweet Little Astronomical Sampler
Regular DA readers know that we wander away from astronomy quite often during the Friday quiz. However, that doesn't mean that we'll ignore the oldest science altogether. Today's quiz is, we hope, rather straightforward: a quiz about a variety of different astronomical topics: from solar system objects to galaxies. Consider this a sweet little astronomical sampler
1. Which is the largest of the four inner planets?
a. Mercury
b. Venus
c. Earth
d. Mars
2. What is the moon's mean distance from Earth?
a. 24,000 miles
b. 240,000 miles
c. 2.4 million miles
d. 93 million miles
3. Who developed the three basic laws of planetary motion?
a. Galileo Galilei
b. Galahad Threepwood
c. Johannes Kepler
d. Tycho Brahe
4. Both Mercury and Venus can transit (move directly in front of) the Sun from our perspective. Which of the following statements about these transits is/are true?
a. Mercurian transits are more frequent than Venusian transits
b. Venus won't transit the Sun again until the 22nd century
c. The next Mercurian transit occurs this year
d. Transits of Mercury can only occur in May or November; Transits of Venus can only occur in June or December
5. Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Juno are
a. stars in Orion the Hunter
b. asteroids
c. moons of Jupiter
d. craters on Venus
6. The Sun appears directly overhead at the __________ on the winter (December) solstice.
a. Tropic of Capricorn
b. Tropic of Cancer
c. Equator
d. Antarctic Circle
7. Star A is 4 light years away. Star B is one parsec away. Which star is closer?
a. Star A
b. Star B
c. They are at the same distance
d. There is not enough information to draw a conclusion about their relative distances.
8. The Milky Way is what type of galaxy?
a. spiral
b. barred spiral
c. elliptical
d. irregular
9. As of today, approximately how many exo planets (planets in orbit around other stars) have been detected?
a. 2,350
b. 3,128
c. 4,069
d. 11,349
10. About how many years does Saturn require to complete one orbit?
a. 5.6
b. 11
c. 18
d. 30
ANSWERS
1. c. Earth
We might be minuscule compared to Jupiter, but Earth is the big boy of the inner solar system. Venus is almost as large as our home planet. Mars and Mercury are considerably smaller.
2. b. 240,000 miles
The moon's distance from Earth varies slightly. However, one can think of the moon as being about a quarter of a million miles away: a hair's breadth by cosmic standards.
3. c. Johannes Kepler
Galileo was Kepler's contemporary; Tycho Brahe was Kepler's mentor; Galahad Threepwood is a delightful character in PG Wodehouse novels.
4. They are all true statements
a. Mercurian transits are more frequent than Venusian transits
Transits of Mercury occur about 13 - 14 times per century; Transits of Venus occur in 8 year pairs separated by more than a century.
b. Venus won't transit the Sun again until the 22nd century
The next transit of Venus will happen in 2117
c. The next Mercurian transit occurs this year
November 11, 2019 (13 years will pass before the following Mercurian transit)
d. Transits of Mercury can only occur in May or November; Transits of Venus can only occur in June or December
Yes! Although, this will slowly change over time.
5. b. asteroids
They are some of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
6. a. Tropic of Capricorn
The Sun appears over the equator on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. It appears over the Tropic of Cancer on the first day of summer (June solstice).
7. b. Star B
One parsec equals 3.26 light years
8. b. barred spiral
9. c. 4,069
This number will change very soon, of course.
10. d. 30