Pluto is NOT a Planet Trivia Quiz

Answer: a liquid element with symbol Me

Mercury is chemical element number 80 on the periodic table, but its symbol is Hg, not Me. Its symbol represents its alternate name Hydragyrum which is Latin for "liquid silver". Mercury is the only stable metallic element that is liquid at room temperature. It is widely used in weather instruments such as barometers and thermometers.

Edsel Ford (Henry's son) and the Ford Motor Company launched the Mercury brand on November 4, 1938. The Mercury brand (known for the Cougar and the Grand Marquis models) was marketed as a mid-range vehicle brand that bridged a marketing gap between the lower-income focused Ford brand and the luxury-focused Lincoln brand. Ford discontinued the Mercury brand on January 4, 2011.

Freddie Mercury, former lead singer of the British rock band Queen, was born Farrokh Bulsara on the island of Zanzibar (a former British protectorate) on September 5, 1946. Freddie Mercury's family practiced Zoroastrianism and moved to the United Kingdom in 1964. Freddie changed his name around 1970 when he began his music career. Freddie Mercury tragically passed away from complications of AIDS on November 24, 1991.

The Phoenix Mercury were one of the eight original teams to debut in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1997. One of the Phoenix Mercury's best known players was/is Brittney Griner, who gained notoriety for being arrested in Russia for allegedly bringing medicinal marijuana into the country in 2022.

Answer: a beach in California

There is no Venus Beach in California, but there is a Venus Beach on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which is where the Roman goddess Venus (Aphrodite in Greek) was said to have been born.

Venus clams or Venerids are a large family of saltwater clams with over 500 documented species within the group. These include many species of popular edible clams such as the quahog, sunray venus and warty venus clams.

Gillette launched its Venus razor line in 2001. They are marketed as razors manufactured specifically for women. The Gillette company was first founded on September 28, 1901 by King Camp Gillette, who had invented a razor with disposable blades. The brand was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2005.

"I'm your Venus, I'm your fire, your desire!". The song "Venus" was originally recorded by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue in 1969. The song would later be released as a cover by British pop band Bananarama in 1986. The song has famously been used in commercials featuring the aforementioned Gillette Venus razor since the brand's inception.

Answer: named after a Roman god

Earth, unlike the other planets of the Solar System, was not named after a Roman or Greek god. Its name comes from Old English / Germanic words that referred to the ground or soil.

BBC Earth is an international television network that was first launched by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 2015 with its first programs airing in Poland. BBC Earth features mostly science and nature documentaries. Some of its most notable series include "Seven Worlds, One Planet" and "Wonders of the Universe".

Kwame was one of the five Planeteers from the cartoon series "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" which aired from 1993-1996. Kwame was a tall teenager from Africa who was given a special ring granting him the ability to manipulate Earth, such as by creating islands or generating earthquakes. He was voiced by LeVar Burton in the original animated series.

Google Earth originated as a program known as Keyhole Earth Viewer, which was launched in 2001 by a technology company named Keyhole, Inc. Keyhole, Inc. was acquired by Google in 2004 and the software would later be relaunched as Google Earth. Google Earth generates a 3D image of the Earth allowing users to virtually explore the planet.

Answer: the home planet of Roger from "American Dad"

"American Dad" is an adult oriented animated series that was launched in 2005 by Seth MacFarlane, who also created "Family Guy". Roger, one of the main characters in "American Dad" is a grey alien who lives with the Smith family. However, Roger's home planet is not Mars. His true home planet, while it has been described as being a highly capitalistic icy world, has not yet been named as of 2025 when this quiz was written.

The Mars chocolate bar is filled with nougat and caramel. It was first introduced in England in 1932 by Forrest Mars, Sr, son of American confectioner Frank Mars. Frank Mars had released a similar candy bar called Milky Way in the United States in 1924. Both candies and the 3 Musketeers bar (which does not have caramel) are all owned by Mars, Inc. and have had their names swapped depending on the region they are/were sold in.

"Heavy Rain" is an action-adventure video game that was first released for Sony PlayStation 3 in 2010. It was published by French gaming company Quantic Dream, who became famous for their highly story driven, quick time event games. One of the playable characters was Ethan Mars, whose eldest son Jason was killed in an accident. Shaun, Ethan's youngest son, was later abducted by a serial killer who challenged the fathers of his victims to try and save their sons before they died.

Peter Gene Hernandez is a pop musician who was born on October 8, 1985, in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. He is better known by his stage name Bruno Mars. The first name Bruno was a nickname given to him by his parents, as he was said to resemble famous wrestler Bruno Sammartino. His last name "Mars" was chosen by the musician as he felt like his talent was otherworldly and did not want to be typecast with other Latin-named musicians.

Answer: the main antagonist in "Galaxy Quest"

The main antagonist in the movie "Galaxy Quest" (though their names may sound similar) is Sarris, not Ceres. He was a muscular reptilian alien with an eye patch and was voiced by English actor Robin Sachs (1951-2013). "Galaxy Quest", which starred Tim Allen, Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, was released in 1999 and was a parody of the "Star Trek" television and film franchise.

The dwarf planet known as Ceres was first discovered in 1801 by Sicilian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. When it was first discovered, Ceres was categorized as a regular planet, and even received its own planetary symbol (⚳). Ceres was demoted to an asteroid in 1851, after similar-sized objects were discovered in the same region, known today as the Asteroid Belt. Ceres was later promoted to dwarf planet following Pluto's reclassification since it fit the same criteria.

Ceres was the Roman goddess of agriculture whose Greek counterpart was Demeter, one of the siblings of Jupiter/Zeus. In mythology, Ceres' daughter, Proserpina/Persephone was abducted by Pluto/Hades. Ceres' grief for her missing daughter led to the autumn/winter seasons.

The CA-28 Ceres was a crop-dusting aircraft manufactured by the now defunct Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, an aviation company that was based in Australia. The CAC Ceres was first introduced in 1959 and ceased production in 1963 with only 21 aircraft constructed. The CAC Ceres was designed after the CAC Wirraway, an Australian trainer/light bomber used during World War II.

Answer: a berry used to make gin

The berry used in the production of gin is the juniper (not Jupiter) berry. The most common plant used for this is the Juniperus communis or common juniper, a small plant in the cypress family that can be found all across the northern temperate and polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The berry is said to have a bitter, piney flavor that is not often consumed on its own.

Jupiter is a city located in southeastern Florida, approximately 90 miles north of Miami. Many people believe that the city was named after the Roman god Jupiter, but the city was actually named after a local native American tribe called the Hobe or Jove. Jupiter is one of the cities used for spring training for several Major League Baseball teams.

The Jupiter A and C were rockets constructed by the Chrysler Corporation during the mid-1950s. Their designs were adapted from the Redstone ballistic missile which were direct descendants of the German V-2 rocket designed by Wernher von Braun. The Jupiter A was a single-stage rocket, while the Jupiter C was a triple-stage rocket. Both rockets were used for suborbital and low earth orbit rocket testing prior to and during the early Space Race between the U.S. and Soviet Union.

Symphony No. 41 was the last symphony composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in August, 1788 as he would pass away three years later. It is believed that the symphony was given the nickname "Jupiter Symphony" by fellow musician Johann Peter Salomon, who promoted many of Mozart's performances, but the name didn't catch on until well after Mozart had died.

Answer: a brand of vehicles owned by Chrysler

While there was a brand of vehicles known as Saturn, it was owned and manufactured by General Motors, not Chrysler. Saturn was first launched in 1985 in an attempt to compete with vehicles being imported from Japan. General Motors discontinued Saturn production in 2010.

The Sega Saturn console was part of the fifth generation of video game consoles. It was first released on November 22, 1994. Although it was one of the earliest consoles released for the fifth generation, it struggled to compete with the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 which were released later. It is believed the Saturn struggled due to a high initial price and the lack of franchise games such as "Sonic the Hedgehog".

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish Baroque style painter. One of his famous works was the painting of Saturn (aka Saturn Devouring His Son) which was completed in 1636. The painting depicted the Roman god Saturn (aka Greek Titan Cronus) consuming one of his infant children, whom he feared (per the myth) would eventually grow up to usurp his reign. The planet Saturn was placed in the painting depicted as three stars at the top of the image, based on the observations conducted by Galileo before the rings had been realized.

Zeuxidia amethystus (aka common Saturn) is a species of butterfly that is native to countries in southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. The Saturn butterfly has a unique wing pattern in that when it is at rest, the wings look bland like a dead brown leaf. However, when the wings are opened, the pattern changes into a dark purple, blue pattern with bright bands that make them look similar to the rings of planet Saturn.

Answer: a movement of "The Planets" by Richard Wagner

There is a classical music masterpiece named "The Planets", but it was written by English composer Gustav Holst between 1914-1917, not Richard Wagner. "The Planets" contains seven movements in total, with each movement named for a different planet. Uranus (aka the Magician) depicted the sixth movement of the suite.

The Uranus is a name used for several vehicles within the "Grand Theft Auto" video game series. It made its first appearance in "GTA: San Andreas" (2004), where it resembled a Mitsubishi Eclipse from the early 1990s. The Uranus name would return in "GTA IV" (2009), but this time the vehicle was designed to look like a Ford Mustang from the 1980s. It would eventually be released to "GTA Online" in 2025 as the Uranus LozSpeed, where it was slightly redesigned to resemble a Ford Sierra RS rather than a Mustang.

Operation Uranus was a strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II that was utilized by the Soviet Union in November, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad. Despite the failure of Germany during Operation Barbarossa (June 22 - December 5, 1941), Adolf Hitler was determined to push further into the Soviet Union reaching as far inland as Stalingrad (aka Volgograd) in the south and Leningrad (aka St. Petersburg) in the north. The success of Operation Uranus (and others) helped turn the tide of the war in the Soviet Union's favor. The Germans were forced to retreat from the Soviet Union, twelve miles short of reaching Moscow.

The planet we now call Uranus was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel on March 13, 1781. At first, Herschel wanted to name the planet Georgium Sidus (aka George's Star or The Georgian Planet), after the British monarch at the time, which was King George III (1738-1820). The name of the planet would eventually be officially changed to Uranus in 1850 in order to conform with the tradition of naming planets after Roman and/or Greek deities.

Answer: a file sharing music program

Though it would have been a good name for one, there has never been a file sharing music program called Neptune.

Neptune is one of the Stardroids, a group of eight special robot masters designed specifically for the video game "Mega Man V" for the Nintendo Game Boy (1994). Each Stardroid was named after one of eight planets of the Solar System, including Pluto, which was still a planet when the game was released. "Mega Man V" is written specifically with a Roman numeral and is a completely separate game from "Mega Man 5", which was released for the NES two years earlier.

Neptune was an unreleased version of Microsoft Windows that was in development between 1999 and 2000. The name Neptune would be scrapped and the programming for Neptune would eventually be worked into what would later be called Windows XP in 2001.

NEPTUNE is an undersea observatory that is operated by Ocean Networks Canada, a research facility owned by the University of Victoria in the Canadian province of British Colombia. NEPTUNE is an acronym that stands for North-East Pacific Time-series Underwater Networked Experiments. A large fiber-optic cable approximately 500 mi (800 km) long was laid out from the town of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island out into the ocean allowing scientists to place cameras and other scientific equipment at several strategic locations along the cable in the Pacific Ocean.

Answer: a celestial body that has cleared its orbit

The discovery of Eris and other similar sized objects in the Kuiper Belt forced scientists to reconsider what it means to truly be a planet. After debating the topic for years, a consensus was made in 2006. In order for an object to be declared a planet it needed to orbit the Sun, it needed to be large enough to become a sphere and it needed to gravitationally clear out other items near/within its orbit. It was determined that Pluto did not do the last part, which is why it was demoted to a dwarf planet.

Mount Pluto is an extinct volcano that is located in the Granite Chief Range in northeastern California. It sits just at the northwestern shore of Lake Tahoe near the California/Nevada border. Mount Pluto is 8,617 ft (2,626 m) high and scientists have estimated that its last eruption occurred more than two million years ago. Mount Pluto is currently home to the Northstar California ski resort.

Eddie Murphy's "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" is often considered to be one of the worst movies ever made. In the film, Pluto Nash was a futuristic businessman and ex-convict who purchased a night club on the Moon and must tangle with futuristic mobsters. The movie which had a budget of approximately 100 million dollars made back just over seven million dollars in the box office globally.

Pluto TV is an online video streaming service that was first launched in Los Angeles in 2014. Pluto TV operates like a free cable network, providing content via various "channels". There is a "Transformers" channel, a "Star Trek" channel and several news channels amongst many others. Funding for Pluto TV is primarily generated by ad revenue.