Star Life Cycle
What do we call a cloud of dust and gas where stars are born?
A nebula
What color are O-type stars?
Blue
What is the closest planet to the Sun?
Mercury
Which planet has the shortest day in the solar system?
Jupiter
What force keeps objects in orbit around the Sun?
Gravity
What is the giant explosion at the end of a large star's life?
A supernova
What is the spectral class of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant?
M
Which planet has the fastest winds in the Solar System?
Neptune
What property of a planet causes it to have seasons?
Axial tilt
What is the name of the small collection of galaxies that the Milky Way belongs to, along with Andromeda and Triangulum?
The Local Group
What do we call the flat, hot, spinning disk of material right before a star ignites?
A protostar
What is the spectral class of The Sun, a yellow dwarf?
G
Phobos and Deimos are the only moons of which planet?
Mars
How many space missions have visited Pluto?
1
What is the name of the band or stars that The Sun currently lives in?
The Orion Arm
What is the gentle explosion at the end of a smaller star's life?
A nova
What word describes how bright a star looks?
Magnitude (or luminosity)
What is the name of the asteroid-filled region beyond Neptune's orbit?
The Kuiper Belt
What is the name of the largest object in the Asteroid Belt?
Ceres
What is the name of the nearest star to The Sun?
Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri if no one else gets it)
What is the name for a dense, fast-spinning star remnant?
A neutron star
What is the name of the diagonal line on the HR Diagram where stars spend most of their lives?
The Main Sequence
Why is Pluto not a planet?
Orbital path is not clear of other major objects (Charon is too big)
Where do comets come from?
The Oort Cloud
What is a blue dwarf, and why have we never seen one?
End stage of a red dwarf's lifespan. The universe is not old enough for any to have formed yet!