It's Never Now Online Trivia | Astronomy

It's Never Now Trivia Quiz

Whenever we see stars in the night sky, what we see is not the present but the past. It's never now but always the past. The farther we see, the deeper in history we are looking. If you are interested in stars, please play this quiz.

A multiple-choice quiz by The_Rubiks. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What is the distance of our Sun from Earth in light seconds?

Answer: 500

Light takes around 500 seconds to reach us from the Sun's surface. So the Sun is around 500 light seconds away from us. This distance is equal to 150 million km.

2. Mirfak is a bright star. Which constellation is this star a part of?

Answer: Perseus

Mirfak is the brightest star in the constellation Perseus, so is also known as Alpha Persei. This star is around 505 light years away from us, with an apparent magnitude of 1.8. It is a blue to white coloured supergiant star. This star easily outshines the Algol star, which is best known for its varying brightness.

3. Which of the following is one of the stars in Orion's belt?

Answer: Mintaka

There are three stars in Orion's belt, namely Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. If you observe Orion's belt, it points towards Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Betelgeuse and Rigel are part of the shoulder and feet of Orion respectively.

4. Which of the following has an apparent magnitude less than 0.

Answer: Sun

The apparent magnitude of a star is the magnitude of the star viewed from the Earth. The lesser the magnitude of a star is, the brighter the star will be. Sun is the brightest thing in the Solar System, its apparent magnitude is the greatest. The apparent magnitude of Sun is -26.7.

Vega has an apparent magnitude of about 0.4 and is used to set the magnitude scale for other stars. With the naked eye we can see stars up to a magnitude of 6.

5. In which of the following constellations will you find the star Regor?

Answer: Vela

Regor is a bright star in the constellation Vela. This star is about 1100 light years away from Earth. This star has an apparent magnitude of about 1.5 and is one of the brightest star in the night sky.

6. How, from Earth, can one determine the hotness of a star?

Answer: By observing its color

The hottest stars are blue in colour while red stars are relatively cooler. The surface temperature of blue stars is usually five to ten times more than our Sun. Red stars have surface temperatures of about 2000K to 3000K.

7. In which constellation you will find the star Mira A?

Answer: Cetus

Mira A star is a part of the constellation Cetus. This star is in the red giant stage where it has converted most of its hydrogen into helium. It is about 300 light years away from Earth. It is a part of a binary star system with Mira B, which is a white dwarf star.

8. Which star is known as Alpha Cassiopeiae?

Answer: Schedar

Schedar is the brightest star in the constellation Cassiopeia so is known as Alpha Cassiopeiae. This star is around 228 light years away from the Earth. The apparent magnitude of this star is around 2.24. This star is a red giant star. Cassiopeia is also known as the Queen constellation and is very easy is identify as it resembles English letter M or W.

9. In which constellation you will find the star Deneb?

Answer: Cygnus

Deneb has an apparent magnitude of 1.25 and is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus. This star is around 2600 light years away from Earth. It is estimated that it has a luminosity approximately 200,000 times greater than that of our own Sun.

10. With an apparent magnitude of -0.72, this star ranks second on the list of brightest stars in the night sky. What is the name of this star?

Answer: Canopus

Canopus is the brightest star in the constellation Carina. It is also the second brightest star in the night sky after Sirius. This star is around 310 light years away from us and has an apparent magnitude of -0.72.

Source: Author The_Rubiks

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor rossian before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

It's Never Now Trivia Quiz

Whenever we see stars in the night sky, what we see is not the present but the past. It's never now but always the past. The farther we see, the deeper in history we are looking. If you are interested in stars, please play this quiz.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>