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4 Vesta Trivia Quiz

This is a quiz on the celestial body known as Vesta. What is it? Asteroid? Dwarf planet? Let's find out!

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

Author
jonthomas

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
365,129

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
231

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Vesta is an object fiercely debated as to what it should be called. Some qualities suggest it is a mere asteroid, while other traits suggest it to be a dwarf planet. What is one distinguishing planetary characteristic held by Vesta?
(Note that some of these may be planetary features not held by Vesta, and some may not be planetary features at all) Hint

It has high orbital inclination

It has trough marks all over its surface

It has a fairly thick atmosphere

It's at least 3000 kilometers in diameter

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Question 2 of 10

2. Going back to Vesta's discovery in 1807, Vesta was only the fourth object in the asteroid belt to be seen. Who is its credited discoverer? Hint

Annibale de Gasparis

Giuseppe Piazzi

Heinrich Olbers

Karl Harding

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Question 3 of 10

3. With a potential magnitude of 5.1, Vesta is the second brightest object in the asteroid belt as observed from Earth.

True

False

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Question 4 of 10

4. Within the last billion years, Vesta was hit by another object and, as a result, lost around 1% of its mass. However, the impact created which very tall mountain? Hint

Veneneia Mons

Rheasilvia Mons

Claudia Mons

Minucia Mons

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Question 5 of 10

5. Like many astronomical bodies, Vesta has an official symbol. What is it? Hint

A VE monogram

A trident

Fire in a hearth

A stylized hand

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Question 6 of 10

6. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt, having about 9% of the mass of the entire belt. But it is decidedly not the second largest. Other than Ceres, which asteroid belt object is larger than Vesta? Hint

Pallas

Eunomia

Juno

Metis

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Question 7 of 10

7. Though lesser known than the Rheasilvia crater, Veneneia is even older, at an approximated two billion years old. Within Veneneia are several troughs, parallel to what other geological feature? Hint

Saturnalia Fossa

A group of chasms that were unnamed when Dawn orbited

Divalia Fossa

Hestia Fossa

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Question 8 of 10

8. What relationship to Vesta does the asteroid Kollaa have? Hint

Pieces of Vesta are embedded within it

It was actually an entire fragment of Vesta before being ejected

It is a satellite of Vesta

It crashed into Vesta about 30,000 years ago

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Question 9 of 10

9. Vesta was the first body in the asteroid belt to have its mass directly determined when which asteroid passed within 0.04 AU of it? Hint

Thetis

Arete

Eros

Gaspra

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Question 10 of 10

10. Another distinguishing planetary feature of Vesta is that it has a differentiated interior.

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Vesta is an object fiercely debated as to what it should be called. Some qualities suggest it is a mere asteroid, while other traits suggest it to be a dwarf planet. What is one distinguishing planetary characteristic held by Vesta? (Note that some of these may be planetary features not held by Vesta, and some may not be planetary features at all)

Answer: It has trough marks all over its surface

Such troughs, occasionally referred to colloquially as "stretch marks" may indicate that Vesta is in the process of gravitationally compressing itself. This is perhaps the most important feature of a planet or dwarf planet.

2. Going back to Vesta's discovery in 1807, Vesta was only the fourth object in the asteroid belt to be seen. Who is its credited discoverer?

Answer: Heinrich Olbers

Though all of these astronomers are credited with discoveries of bodies that have been called asteroids, Olbers was the one to first report sighting of Vesta on March 29, 1807.

3. With a potential magnitude of 5.1, Vesta is the second brightest object in the asteroid belt as observed from Earth.

Answer: False

It actually is the brightest asteroid belt object and, in good conditions, is visible to the naked eye, along with its sister object Ceres.

4. Within the last billion years, Vesta was hit by another object and, as a result, lost around 1% of its mass. However, the impact created which very tall mountain?

Answer: Rheasilvia Mons

The impact was so great that now nearly 90% of Vesta's surface is the crater, and the peak of the crater is more than 22 kilometers high. Its discovery in 2011 via the Dawn space probe dethroned Mars's Olympus Mons as the tallest known mountain at the time. In addition, the aforementioned impact may explain the reason Vesta is currently in the process of shaping itself gravitationally.

5. Like many astronomical bodies, Vesta has an official symbol. What is it?

Answer: Fire in a hearth

In Roman mythology, Vesta was goddess of home and hearth, thus the symbol is fitting for the name. Alternatively, an acceptable symbol is the number 4 within a circle, which was the system that came into use after it was discovered that the asteroid belt contained many thousands of bodies.

Answer: Pallas

Vesta has a surface area of around 800,000 square kilometers, comparable to the country Pakistan. Pallas barely passes this, though it is about 25% less massive than Vesta, being less dense and compact.

Answer: Saturnalia Fossa

Don't be tricked by the name; this feature has no relation to Saturn as it is in fact named for a Roman festival. The trough is roughly 365 kilometers long, making it one of the longest known in the Solar System.

8. What relationship to Vesta does the asteroid Kollaa have?

Answer: Pieces of Vesta are embedded within it

Fragments of soil from Vesta's crust have been detected in Kollaa. It's thought this could be from a single collision or series of collisions with Vesta from several bodies, possibly Kollaa itself. It is unknown if the massive impactor is related.

9. Vesta was the first body in the asteroid belt to have its mass directly determined when which asteroid passed within 0.04 AU of it?

Answer: Arete

This was first measured in 1966. Arete passes this closely to Vesta every 18 years, due to their similar distance from the Sun.

10. Another distinguishing planetary feature of Vesta is that it has a differentiated interior.

Answer: True

The majority of Vesta's crust is composed of various rocks, however there is an olivine mantle and the core is made of iron and nickel. This trait has led to the theory that Vesta formed in the same proto-planetary disc as Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Ceres.

Source: Author jonthomas

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor rossian before going online.
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