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Quiz about A Pictorial Tour of the Solar System
Quiz about A Pictorial Tour of the Solar System

A Pictorial Tour of the Solar System Quiz


This quiz covers some of the wonders of the Solar System, with illustrations which may help. It was written on behalf of Team Rockettes for the Fun Trivia Amazing Race 2.

A photo quiz by rossian. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
rossian
Time
3 mins
Type
Photo Quiz
Quiz #
362,827
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
3667
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: joyful4jesus (0/10), Sayyed20 (6/10), Guest 149 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The seventh planet from the sun, Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in which century? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Olympus Mons, one of the highest mountains in the Solar System, is located on which planet? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Now downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto is situated in a region of the Solar System named after which astronomer? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The planet Neptune had a region to its left, as seen in the photo, which was known by which of these names? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The Hale-Bopp comet was named after its two, independent, discoverers in 1995. What nationality were both these men? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. The Leonid meteor shower was named for which of these? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The Caloris Basin is an impact crater on which planet? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Discovered in 2005, the dwarf planet Eris was named for the Greek goddess who represented which of these? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare. Which name was given to the largest moon, discovered in 1787? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The main asteroid belt of the Solar System is located between which two planets? Hint



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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The seventh planet from the sun, Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in which century?

Answer: Eighteenth

Herschel was not the first astronomer to observe Uranus - it had been recorded by John Flamsteed (Britain's first Astronomer Royal) in 1690, but was believed to be a star. Even Herschel, who reported his findings to the Royal Society in the early part of 1781, thought he'd found a comet. Uranus was identified as a planet by 1783, with Herschel being rewarded by King George III for his discovery.
2. Olympus Mons, one of the highest mountains in the Solar System, is located on which planet?

Answer: Mars

Due to its height, Olympus Mons was originally seen by astronomers in the nineteenth century, but was not fully identified until the spacecraft Mariner 9 reached Mars in 1971. The mountain was then seen to be a shield volcano, formed by flows of lava. Its height is between thirteen and fourteen miles, making it almost three times the height of Mount Everest.
3. Now downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto is situated in a region of the Solar System named after which astronomer?

Answer: Gerard Kuiper

The Kuiper belt is the region beyond Neptune, the outermost planet in the Solar System. It was identified in 1992 and named for Kuiper who had predicted that the region might contain dwarf planets. It is sometimes referred to as the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, as the Irish astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth had also proposed the existence of the region.

The photo shows Pluto with its largest satellite, Charon.
4. The planet Neptune had a region to its left, as seen in the photo, which was known by which of these names?

Answer: Great Dark Spot

The Great Dark Spot was identified by the space probe Voyager 2 in 1989. It likely consisted of stormy weather, with the fastest winds in the Solar System - nearly 1500 miles per hour - and covered an area around the same size as Earth. By 1994, when the Hubble Space Telescope was in range to take a further image, the Great Dark Spot had disappeared from sight, although a different storm was discovered to the north of the planet and given the name of the Northern Great Dark Spot.

The Dark Blue Spot I made up, the Mare Frigoris is situated on Earth's moon and Planum Boreum is the northern pole of Mars.
5. The Hale-Bopp comet was named after its two, independent, discoverers in 1995. What nationality were both these men?

Answer: American

The comet was spotted by Alan Hale in New Mexico and by Thomas Bopp in Arizona, who both reported their findings to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, the official body for verifying new discoveries. By 1996, the comet had become bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, reaching its maximum brightness in 1997. It is sometimes referred to as the Great Comet of 1997.
6. The Leonid meteor shower was named for which of these?

Answer: The constellation Leo

The Leonids appear to originate from the constellation of Leo, and were named accordingly. The shower of 1833, pictured, was one of the most spectacular ever seen, particularly over North America. The Leonids are associated with the comet named Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865 by Ernst Tempel and by Horace Tuttle in 1866.

As the two men made their observations less than a month apart, the comet was named for them both.
7. The Caloris Basin is an impact crater on which planet?

Answer: Mercury

The Caloris Basin, or Caloris Planitia, was first seen in 1974 by the Mariner 10 probe, but its location meant that only half of the crater could be seen at the time. A full picture was taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft, which was put into orbit around Mercury in 2008. The crater measures around 950 miles in diameter and is surrounded by mountains which are over one mile in height.
8. Discovered in 2005, the dwarf planet Eris was named for the Greek goddess who represented which of these?

Answer: Strife

Eris was identified in January 2005 by a team of astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California. It was originally designated as the tenth planet, as it is bigger than Pluto, and its discovery led to the setting up of a commission to decide on the precise criteria needed to decide whether of not an object should be classed as a planet.

This resulted in Pluto being downgraded to a dwarf planet, with Eris being placed in the same category. It was given the name of Eris in September 2006, having previously being referred to as Xena.

The Greek goddesses of dawn, poverty and starvation are Eos, Penia and Limos respectively.
9. The moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare. Which name was given to the largest moon, discovered in 1787?

Answer: Titania

Titania was the queen of the fairies, in "A Midsummer's Night's Dream", and the name of the king of the fairies in the same play, Oberon, was used for the second largest moon, discovered at the same time. All the options listed are real moons of Uranus, from Shakespearean plays. Titania consists of rock and ice, in roughly equal proportions, although only one close viewing of the moon was made during the twentieth century, in 1986 by the spacecraft Voyager 2.
10. The main asteroid belt of the Solar System is located between which two planets?

Answer: Mars and Jupiter

The asteroid belt is where many of the largest asteroids, including Ceres, Hygeia, Pallas and Vesta are located. The space between Mars and Jupiter had been noted in the late eighteenth century, with astronomers of the time believing that there should be an additional planet between them.

A concerted effort to study the area was made in early years of the nineteenth century, which led to the identification of the largest of the asteroids.
Source: Author rossian

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