Astronomy Trivia Quiz

Which planet has the shortest year?

• A. Venus

• B. Mercury

• C. Mars

• D. Jupiter

Answer explanation

Mercury

Since Mercury is the fastest planet and has the shortest distance to travel around the Sun, it has the shortest year of all the planets in our solar system – 88 days.

What is the name of the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter?

• A. Kuiper belt

• B. Oort cloud

• C. Main Asteroid belt

• D. Scattered disc

Answer explanation

Main Asteroid Belt

The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, generally with not very elongated orbits.

What is the name of the galaxy that contains our Solar System?

• A. Andromeda Galaxy

• B. Milky Way Galaxy

• C. Triangulum Galaxy

• D. Sombrero Galaxy

Answer explanation

Milky Way Galaxy

We call our galaxy the Milky Way because it appeared to ancient observers to be a milky band of light – like a cosmic roadway – stretching across the dark sky.

Which of these is not a type of Galaxy?

• A. Spiral galaxy

• B. Elliptical galaxy

• C. Irregular galaxy

• D. Triangular galaxy

Answer explanation

Triangulum Galaxy

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. And the the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way.

What is the name of the closest star to our Solar System?

• A. Alpha Centauri

• B. Sirius

• C. Proxima Centauri

• D. Betelgeuse

Answer explanation

Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own, is still 40,208,000,000,000 km away. (Or about 268,770 AU.) When we talk about the distances to the stars, we no longer use the AU, or Astronomical Unit; commonly, the light year is used.