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Identifying Things In The Night Sky

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 1hrs 15mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

How many constellations are there?

a)

2

b)

12

c)

13

d)

56

e)

88

2.

Which of the following lies on the celestial sphere directly over Earth's equator?

a)

ecliptic

b)

celestial equator

c)

horizon

d)

precession

3.

What is an asterism (constellation)?

a)

A group of stars in a recognizable pattern

b)

A large object that orbits a planet

c)

A ball of ice in space

d)

Our nearest star

4.

What is a moon?


(unfunny fact: Earth's Moon is the only one that's capitalized!)

a)

a large group of stars

b)

an asteroid that enters the atmosphere

c)

where a star explodes but is still there after the explosion

d)

a large object that orbits a planet

5.

What is a comet?


(A comet has four components: a nucleus, a coma, a dust tail and an ion tail)

a)

a gas cloud in space

b)

a rock in space

c)

a ball of ice in space

d)

a large ball of gas that gives off light by nuclear fusion

6.

What is the Sun?


(It takes eight minutes for light reach Earth from the Sun.)

a)

A large object that orbits a star

b)

Our nearest star

c)

A rock in space

d)

Where a star explodes and is completely destroyed

7.

What is a supernova?


(Many of the elements we're made of come from supernovae.


Everything from the oxygen you're breathing to the calcium in your bones, the iron in your blood and the silicon in your computer was brewed up in the heart of a star. As a supernova explodes, it unleashes a hurricane of nuclear reactions.)

a)

where a star explodes and is destroyed

b)

where a star explodes but is still there after the explosion

c)

our nearest star

d)

a large object that orbits a planet

8.

What is a meteor?

a)

a ball of ice in space

b)

a group of stars in a recognizable pattern

c)

a rock in space

d)

an asteroid that enters our atmosphere (which burns it up...hopefully?)

9.

What is a nova? (no...not a Chevy nova)


(has to do with white dwarfs eating nearby stars - star cannibalism!)

a)

where a star explodes but is still there after the explosion

b)

a large object that orbits a planet

c)

where a star explodes and is completely destroyed

d)

our nearest star

10.

What is a planet?


check out this exoplanet website:

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/

a)

a large group of stars

b)

a large object that orbits a planet

c)

a large object that orbits a star

d)

our nearest star

11.

What is a star?


(The most massive stars are the shortest lived)

a)

a ball of ice in space

b)

our nearest star

c)

a large group of stars

d)

a large ball of gas that gives off light by nuclear fusion

12.

What's a galaxy?


(The Andromeda galaxy is 2.537 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. Its 'closeness' to our planet makes it the most distant object visible to the naked eye on Earth.)

a)

a large group of stars

b)

a group of stars in a recognizable pattern

c)

a large object that orbits a star

d)

a large object that orbits a planet

13.

What's a nebula?


(Named after the Latin word for “cloud”, nebulae are not only massive clouds of dust, hydrogen and helium gas, and plasma; they are also often “stellar nurseries” – i.e. the place where stars are born. And for centuries, distant galaxies were often mistaken for these massive clouds.)

a)

a ball of ice in space

b)

a rock in space

c)

a gas cloud in space

d)

our nearest star

14.

What's an asteroid?


(Asteroids are leftovers of the early Solar System.)

a)

a ball of ice in space

b)

a rock in space

c)

a gas cloud in space

d)

our nearest star

15.

Select the correct statements that related to

the length of time that it takes Earth to orbit the Sun:


(choose them all - remember them all)

a)

365.2425 days (why we have a leap year every 4 years)

b)

1 (Earth) year = 365.2425 days

c)

Julius Caesar created the Julian calendar (with leap years) and recommended January as the start of a new year

d)

A complete orbit around the Sun is called a period.