What is the correct term for this grouping of stars, gas, and dust?

• planet

• galaxy

• universe

• solar system

On a field trip to a science museum, Lee saw photographs of asteroids and comets that astronomers took using telescopes. What could Lee look for in the photographs to tell a comet from an asteroid?

• a long tail

• a small size

• a rocky surface

• an irregular shape

Jacob is doing a report on the galaxy in which Earth is found. Which of the following is the galaxy that Jacob should research for his report?

• Andromeda

• Milky Way

• Maffei 1

• Ursa Minor

All visible stars in the night sky are many times larger than Earth. Why do they look like tiny points of light?

• They are moving very fast.

• The atmosphere blocks most of their light.

• The stars visible at night are located very far from Earth.

• Most of the light from stars is absorbed by galaxies, so it does not reach Earth.

Earth and Saturn are both planets orbiting the sun. Which of these other features do the two planets have in common?

• They have a thin atmosphere.

• They rotate about an axis.

• Their orbits are the same length.

• They have about the same mass.

Kashvi likes to look out the window at the moon. She observes that it seems to change every week. Which sentence best explains why this happens?

• The moon moves between Earth and the sun

• The moon rotates only once in about a month

• The same side of the moon always faces Earth

• The amount of the lighted part of the moon that faces Earth changes

The moon looks different as it orbits Earth in different phases. One phase is called a full moon. During a full moon, the entire surface of the moon as seen from Earth is in sunlight. How are Earth, the moon, and sun arranged during a full moon?

• The sun is between Earth and the moon.

• The moon is between Earth and the sun.

• Earth is on the side of the moon in darkness.

• Earth is located between the sun and the moon.

Which moon phase comes after the waning crescent?

• New moon

• First quarter

• Last quarter

• Full moon

Some constellations are visible from different places on Earth only during a part of the year. Why are certain constellations not visible everywhere on Earth all year long?

• the Sun’s rotation

• Earth’s rotation

• the Sun’s revolution

• Earth’s revolution

Earth orbits the sun. Yet the sun appears to move through the sky. For example, the sun always appears to rise in the east and set in the west. What is responsible for this apparent motion of the sun?

• Earth's size

• Earth's orbit

• Earth's rotation

• Earth's revolution