Twenty Questions About Asteroids

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. The first asteroid, 1 Ceres, was discovered on Jan 1, 1801, who discovered it? WIlliam Hershel Issac Newton Edwin Hubble Giuseppe Piazzi

2. Asteroids are sometimes called _____________. Small stars Are not called anything else Planets Planetoids

3. The main asteroid belt is situated between _______________. Earth and Mars Mars and Jupiter Jupiter and Saturn Sun and Mercury

4. What was the name of the second asteroid discovered? Eros Vesta Pallas Juno

5. With the exception of Comets (being named after the person that finds them)minor planets are the only astronomical objects that may be named after living people. True False

6. Asteroids that come within the orbit of the Earth at their perihelions (closest approach to the Sun) are known as ___________ asteroids. Aten Amors Trojan Apollo

7. Asteroids that are always closer to the Sun than the Earth are called __________ asteroids. Apollo Aten Trojan Amor

8. What asteroid is dog-bone shaped? 10 Hygiea 1566 Icarus 15 Eunomia 216 Kleopatra

9. If all of the asteroids were lumped together, they would make a planet bigger than Jupiter. True False

10. Which minor planet (asteroid) reaches the greatest brilliance (as seen for the Earth)? 3 Juno 4 Vesta 2 Pallas 1 Ceres

11. What asteroid did the NEAR Shoemaker mission recently land on? 433 Eros 951 Gaspra 3 Juno 243 Ida

12. Most meteorites probably originate from the asteroid belt. True False

13. The Galileo spacecraft had encounters with two asteroids while enroute to Jupiter, what are the names of the asteroids? 2062 Aten and 4 Vesta 52 Europa and 911 Agamemnon 2212 Hephaistos and 511 Davida 243 Ida and 951 Gaspra

14. Which asteroid was discovered to have its own satellite? 3 Juno 951 Gaspra 243 Ida 433 Eros

15. How many asteroids have diameters greater than 240 kilometers? 0 16 9 27

16. Between the main concentrations of asteroids in the main belt are relatively empty regions known as the _______________. Cassini's division Kuiper belt Van Allen belts Kirkwood gaps

17. What asteroid is believed to be associated with a meteor shower? None 3554 Amun 2060 Chiron 3200 Phaethon

18. The majority of asteroids fall into which three categories? C-type, H-type and L-type Type 1, 2 and 3 C-type; S-type and M-type R-type, S-type and C-type

19. What are NEO's? New Earth Objects Near Earth Orbits Never Eat Onions Near Earth Objects

20. How do scientists know that some meteorites are from Mars? None of the above They are rust colored, like Mars Atmosphere of Mars matches atmosphere in some meteorites They are labeled: Made on Mars