Early Explorers
Moon and Sun
Telescopes and Local
The Sun
Stars
Galaxies
100
Which astronomer was first to be known for using instruments and experiments to understand the night sky instead of purely observations and logic?
Galileo
100
Who was the first person to set foot on the Moon?
Neil Armstrong
100
What is the most important function of a telescope?
To gather as much light as possible
100
What part of the Sun do you see if you glance up at it on a bright day?
Photosphere
100
Among stars with magnitudes 10, 6, 1, and –1, this one shines the brightest in our night sky.
magnitude –1
100
Our universe is thought to be how old?
13.8 billion years
200
Which of these is the cause of seasons on Earth?
The tilt of the planet’s axis
200
About what time does the full moon rise?
At sunset
200
What telescope uses the largest mirror ever put into space for observing faint objects?
James Webb Space Telescope
200
Approximately how old is the Sun?
4.6 billion years
200
Which color of star is likely to be the hottest?
Blue
200
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Sprial Galaxy
300
When a planet temporarily moves westward in the sky over the course of several weeks or months (instead of eastward as it typically does), we call it:
retrograde motion
300
What phase of the Moon must it be to have a solar eclipse?
New moon
300
What are the planets in order from the Sun?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
300
When two small nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus, this is called
nuclear fusion
300
Ninety percent of all stars, if plotted on an H-R diagram, would fall into a region astronomers call the:
Main Sequence
300
Which slightly larger Galaxy is going to run into the Milky Way.
Andromeda
400
Which astronomer is known for a complicated model of circles upon circles to explain the motion of planets around the Earth?
Ptolemy
400
How long does it take for the Moon to progress through all of its phases?
29.5 days
400
Which of the following can astronomers learn from studying the spectrum of a star?
Surface temperature, motion, and size
400
When a large nucleus breaks apart (or is broken apart) into two smaller pieces, this is called:
nuclear fission
400
Astronomers have concluded that pulsars are:
rotating neutron star
400
Which type of galaxy is very difficult to see but, as astronomers have recently realized, may be very common?
Dwarf galaxies
500
The strip of the sky through which the Sun, the Moon, and the visible bright planets appear to move throughout the year is called the:
ecliptic
500
NASA is operating a major program that will further explore the Moon and establish platforms to launch manned missions to Mars. This program is named
Artemis
500
Which planet has a “Run Away” Green house effect that causes it to be hotter than the rest of the planets.
Venus
500
How long is a solar cycle?
11 Years
500
Astronomers call a ball of matter that is contracting to become a star a
Protostar
500
We can tell that a galaxy is heading toward us or away from us based on its
Red or Blue Shift