Our Own Backyard
This is the only planet in the solar system that rotates on its side, with an axial tilt of about 98 degrees.
What is Uranus?
This iconic starship, captained by James T. Kirk, was the flagship of the United Federation of Planets.
What is the USS Enterprise?
The proper name of the North Star.
Famed astronomer and host of the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, known for popularizing astronomy and astrophysics through television and written works. (Extra 100 points for naming the host of the reboot Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey)
Who is Carl Sagan? (And who is Neil DeGrasse Tyson?)
This manmade object has travelled further from Earth than any other, acting as a deep space probe and known for its characteristic Golden Record.
What is Voyager 1?
This asteroid, the largest in the asteroid belt, is so massive that it has been classified as a dwarf planet.
What is Ceres?
In this film, humanity sends a crew aboard the spaceship Endurance to explore wormholes and save Earth from a dying ecosystem.
What is Interstellar?
The black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
What is Sagittarius A*?
In the 16th Century, Nicolaus Copernicus created his Copernican model of heliocentrism, with the sun at the center of the universe. Prior to Copernicus, this celestial model dominated.
What is Geocentrism? (Earth at the center of the universe)
This Apollo mission, famously referred to as a "successful failure," was intended to land on the Moon but had to abort due to an oxygen tank explosion.
What is Apollo 13?
The ongoing, ever-turning Great Red Spot, Jupiter's centuries-old storm system, is an example of what effect?
What is the Coriolis effect?
This desert planet, featured in Frank Herbert's Dune, is the only known source of the spice melange, making it the most valuable planet in the universe.
Where is Arrakis?
This faint, spherical region of icy bodies surrounds the solar system and is thought to be the origin of many long-period comets.
What is the Oort Cloud?
Astronaut suits have historically costed this much (in total) for NASA to create and maintain.
What is A BILLION DOLLARS?
Named after NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy, this upcoming space telescope will study dark energy, exoplanets, and distant galaxies using a wide-field infrared survey.
What is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope?
The three characteristic of a planet. (RIP Pluto)
What are 1. It must orbit a star, 2. It must have a cleared orbit, and 3. It must be spherical
In Isaac Asimov's Foundation, this branch of science, created by Hari Seldon, predicts the future of large populations using mathematics and probability.
What is psychohistory?
The Chandrasekhar Limit (the maximum mass of a white dwarf star) in solar masses.
What is 1.4?
The term for "planet" came from a Greek word meaning this.
What is wanderer?
This spacecraft made history in 2015 by conducting the first flyby of Pluto, revealing its heart-shaped glacier and icy plains.
What is New Horizons?
List every moon you can remember in our Solar System. (This is a stealable question)
What are Moon, Phobos, Deimos, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Mimas, Enceladus, Dione, Rhea, Enceladus, Tethys, Titan, Iapetus, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Miranda, Triton, and Charon? (If you know more we believe you!)
List as many planets from Star Wars as you can remember. (This is a stealable question)
Where are Naboo, Coruscant, Tatooine, Kamino, Geonosis, Utapau, Kashyyyk, Mustafar, Alderaan, Jedha, Yavin IV, Scarif, Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, Endor, Jakku, Takodana, Illum, Malachor, Korriban, Correlia, Mon Calamar? (I'm sure there are more)
List as many galaxies as you can. If you list a galaxy that doesn't exist and I find out, you're grounded. (This is a stealable question)
What are Andromeda, Milky Way, Sombrero, Pinwheel, etc? (There are so so many galaxies)
Favorite astronomy history fact? Best fact wins. (This is a stealable question)
What is "nice fact nerd!"
List as many space programs as you can that were designed for human spaceflight. (This is a stealable question)
What are Vostok, Mercury, Gemini, Soyuz, Apollo, Space Shuttle, CMS, Commercial Crew Program (Dragon/Starliner/Blue Origin), Artemis? (And a handful of others)