Have you always wanted to follow a professional career in astronomy? If so, you can test out how qualified you are to go into the field by taking the challenging quiz below that only true professionals can pass with ease. Believe in yourself and tackle it. All the best and enjoy!
Planets are smaller than stars.
All planets are made of rock and all stars are made of gas.
Planets orbit stars, while stars orbit the center of the galaxy.
Planets are dimmer than stars.
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The Sun and several nearby stars, as well as the planets and other objects that orbit these stars
A few hundred billion stars, bound together by gravity
The Sun and the nine planets, and nothing else
The Sun and all the objects that orbit it
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System consisting of one or a few stars orbited by planets, moons, and smaller objects
Collection of a few hundred million to a trillion or more stars, bound together by gravity
Relatively small, icy object orbiting a star
Nearby object orbiting a planet
Large, glowing ball of gas powered by nuclear energy
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The universe is another name for our Milky Way Galaxy.
All the galaxies in all the superclusters
A vast collection of stars that number as many as the grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth
The sum total of all matter and energy
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The event that marked the beginning of the expansion of the universe
The explosion of a massive star at the end of its life
The event that marked the birth of our solar system
A gigantic explosion that blew all the galaxies in the universe to smithereens
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Everything in the universe is gradually growing in size.
The statement is not meant to be literal; rather, it means that our knowledge of the universe is growing.
Average distances are increasing between star systems within galaxies.
Average distances between galaxies are increasing.
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14,000 years
14 trillion years
14 billion years
14 million years
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It uses "light-years" to talk about time, but a light-year is a unit of distance
Light-years can only be used to talk about light
A light-year is an astronomically large unit, so a product could not possibly be so advanced
It doesn't specify the number of light-years
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That portion of the universe that we have so far photographed through telescopes
That portion of the universe that we can see in principle, given the finite age of the universe
The portion of the universe that is not hidden from view by, for example, being below the horizon
The portion of the universe that can be seen by the naked eye
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About 30 meters
Small enough to fit within your hand
About 1 meter
About 5 meters
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About the distance across the United States
About the distance across 50 football fields
About the distance across the state of Delaware
100 meters
A few hundred billion
A few hundred
A few hundred million
A few hundred thousand
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The average distance between any two planets
The average distance between the Sun and Pluto
The average distance between the Sun and Earth
Any very large unit, such as a light-year
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The plane of the Milky Way Galaxy
The plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun
The plane of the Sun's equator
The plane of the Earth's equator
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One month
One week
The time varies significantly depending on the orbit.
One day
One year
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You, Earth, Local Group, Local Supercluster, solar system, Milky Way Galaxy, universe
You, Earth, solar system, Local Group, Local Supercluster, Milky Way Galaxy, universe
You, Earth, solar system, Local Group, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Supercluster, universe
You, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, solar system, Local Group, Local Supercluster, universe
You, Earth, solar system, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Local Supercluster, universe
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Movie stars and other people are all made of the same stuff, so we all have the potential to be famous.
Our overall chemical composition is about the same as that of stars.
Nearly every atom from which we are made was once inside of a star.
We could not survive without light from our star, the Sun.
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Galaxies recycle material from one generation of stars to the next, and without this recycling we could not exist.
Without galaxies, the universe could not be expanding.
Deep in their centers, galaxies created the elements from which we are made.
Without galaxies, there could not have been a Big Bang.
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As it was 1,000 years ago
Looking just the same as our ancestors would have seen it 1,000 years ago
As it is right now, but it appears 1,000 times dimmer
As it was 1,000 light-years ago
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Galaxy 2 must be twice as old as Galaxy 1
Galaxy 1 must be twice as big as Galaxy 2
We are seeing Galaxy 1 as it looked at an earlier time in the history of the universe than Galaxy 2
We are seeing Galaxy 1 as it looked at a later time in the history of the universe than Galaxy 2
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They are all much smaller than the Sun and are spread out evenly over a distance about the length of a large classroom.
They are all much smaller than the Sun. Six planets are located within a few centimeters of the Sun, and three planets are located at distances ranging up to about a meter.
They are all much smaller than the Sun. Four planets are within about 20 meters of the Sun, while the remaining planets are spread much farther apart, with Pluto more than a half a kilometer from the Sun.
The planets range in size from about the size of a marble to the size of a baseball. They are spread out over a region about the size of a football field.
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Several years
Several thousand years
Several days
Several weeks
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The same as the number of grains of sand in a large sandbox
The same as the number of atoms that make up the Earth
100 billion
The same as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth
Roughly halfway between the center and the edge of the visible disk of the galaxy
In the halo of the galaxy
At the far edge of the galaxy's visible disk
Very near the center of the galaxy
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About an hour ago
About 6 months ago
Yesterday
About 3 weeks ago
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It is between about one-quarter and one-half the age of the universe
It is about 1% as old as the universe.
It is about the same age as the universe because it formed shortly after the Big Bang.
It is between about 5% and 10% as old as the universe.
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The Earth's rotation is carrying most people around the axis faster than a commercial jet travels, and the Earth's orbit is carrying us around the Sun faster than the Space Shuttle orbits the Earth.
The Earth's rotation is carrying most people around the axis faster than a commercial jet travels, and the Earth's orbit is carrying us around the Sun faster than the Space Shuttle orbits the Earth.
The Earth's rotation is carrying most people around the axis at about the speed at which the Space Shuttle orbits the Earth, and the Earth's orbit is carrying us around the Sun at nearly the speed of light.
The Earth's rotation is carrying most people around the axis at about the speed of a commercial jet, and the Earth's orbit is carrying us around the Sun at about the speed of a military jet.
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Although these stars move quite fast by human standards, they are so far away that it would take thousands of years for their motion to be noticeable to the eye.
Because these stars are not moving.
Because although these stars move quite fast as they orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy, they all move together so they don't change their relative positions.
Because although these stars are moving, they move so slowly --- typically about the speed of a snail --- that their motion is not noticeable.
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Be moving away from us, with more distant ones moving faster
Be growing in size
Be made of dark matter
Rotate rapidly
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Except for a few nearby galaxies, all other galaxies are moving away from us.
Some stars are moving closer to us and others are moving farther away from us.
The mysterious dark matter is the fastest-moving material in the universe.
Your speed of rotation around Earth's axis is faster if you live near the equator than if you live near the North Pole.
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A couple thousand
A few dozen
A few hundred billion
Several million
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A constellation is a group of stars that are all located in about the same place in space.
A constellation is a group of stars related through an ancient story.
A constellation is a region in the sky as seen from Earth.
A constellation is any random grouping of stars in the sky.
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The path the Sun appears to trace around the celestial sphere each year
The path on the Earth traced by the Moon's shadow during a solar eclipse
The Sun's daily path from east to west in our sky
A half-circle extending from your horizon due north, through your zenith, to your horizon due south
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The celestial sphere is a model that shows the true locations of the Sun and a few thousand of the nearest stars.
It is a model of how the stars are arranged in the sky relative to our Sun, which is in the middle of the sphere.
It represents a belief in an Earth-centered universe, and hence is no longer considered to have any use.
The celestial sphere is a representation of how the sky looks as seen from Earth.
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We mean the bright stars of the constellations that lie along the ecliptic in our sky.
We mean the patchy band of light that represents what we see when we look into the plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
We mean the whitish patch of light we see when we look toward the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
We mean the spiral-shaped galaxy that we can see when we look in the right direction in our sky.
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The angular distance between those two bright stars in the sky is about 2 meters.
The angular size of the Sun is about the same as that of the Moon.
You can use your outstretched hand against the sky to estimate angular sizes and angular distances.
The angular distance between those two houses in the distance is 30 degrees.
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A half-circle extending from your horizon due east, through the north celestial pole, to your horizon due west
A half-circle extending from your horizon due north, through your zenith, to your horizon due south
The point directly over your head
A half-circle extending from your horizon due east, through your zenith, to your horizon due west
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The North Star
The zenith
The meridian
The celestial pole
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Seasonal
Circumpolar
Bright
Celestial
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Altitude and direction (or azimuth)
Latitude and longitude
Latitude and direction
Meridian and longitude
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If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude of the north celestial pole equals your latitude.
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the longitude of the north celestial pole is circumpolar, and therefore crosses your zenith at the meridian.
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude of the celestial equator equals your latitude.
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude of the north celestial pole equals your longitude.
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The varying speed of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun gives us summer when we are moving fastest and winter when we are moving slowest.
The varying speed of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun gives us summer when we are moving fastest and winter when we are moving slowest.
The tilt of the Earth's axis causes different portions of the Earth to receive more or less direct sunlight at different times of year.
The varying speed of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun gives us summer when we are moving fastest and winter when we are moving slowest.
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The Earth's rotation defines a day. The cycle of the Moon's phases takes about a month. The Earth's orbit defines a year. The Earth's cycle of axis precession takes 26,000 years.
The Earth's rotation defines a day. The saros cycle of eclipses defines a month. The Earth's orbit defines a year. The Earth's cycle of axis precession takes 26,000 years.
The Earth's rotation defines a day. The Sun's rotation defines a week. The Moon's rotation defines a month. The Earth's orbit defines a year.
The Earth's rotation defines a day. The cycle of the Moon's phases takes about a week. The Earth's orbit defines a year. The Earth's cycle of axis precession defines a month.
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In about a month
In about 1 week
In about 2 weeks
In about 6 months
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It is above the horizon during the daytime
No sunlight is illuminating the Moon
A new moon is quite near the Sun in the sky
It is obscured by the Earth's shadow
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Full moon
First quarter moon
Third quarter moon
New moon
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The annual cycle of the seasons
The roughly one-month cycle of lunar phases in the sky
The 26,000-year cycle of the Earth's precession
The roughly 18-year cycle over which the pattern of eclipses repeats
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It moves backwards (clockwise as viewed from far above the Earth's north pole) in its orbit of the Sun
The planet is getting closer to the Sun in its orbit
The planet moves westward relative to the stars, rather than the usual eastward relative to the stars
The planet is getting closer to the Sun in its orbit
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The "celestial sphere" is just another name for our universe.
When we look in the sky, the stars all appear to be located on the celestial sphere.
The celestial sphere does not exist physically.
The Earth is placed at the center of the celestial sphere.
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Less than the thickness of a hair held at arm's length
About the width of your fist held at arm's length
About the width of a finger held at arm's length
Slightly more than the width of a basketball held at arm's length
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