An Astronomical Mix Trivia Quiz

Answer: Canopus

Stars are located on the celestial sphere by right ascension ('longitude') and declination ('latitude'). The latter is measured above and below the celestial equator. Canopus is a yellow-white supergiant in the constellation of Carina, with a declination of -53 degrees and a magnitude (brightness) of -.7. That makes it the second brightest star in the night sky; only Sirius is brighter.

The other three stars all have a positive declination, which puts them in the celestial Northern hemisphere.

Answer: Ariel

The larger moons of Saturn are named after the children of Gaia (Earth) in Greek mythology. Rhea was the wife of Cronus, the leader of the Titans, and mother of Zeus and the Olympians. Hyperion was the father of Helios (Sun) and Selene (Moon), and Mimas one of the Giants.

A picture taken of Mimas taken by the Voyager probes in 1980 revealed a striking resemblance to the Death Star in "Star Wars". Ariel is a moon of Uranus.

Answer: Spica

Spica is a blue giant variable star and ranks fifteenth in brightness in the night sky.

Answer: Scorpius

Antares is a very large red supergiant which, if placed in our Solar System, would extend past the orbit of Mars. Being the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, it is sometimes called the "heart of the Scorpion". For most viewers in North America it appears low in the southern sky during the summer.

Answer: Io

The major moons of Jupiter were named after the lovers of Zeus/Jupiter in Greek and Roman myth. Almost all are female, but one (Ganymede) was a handsome young prince of Troy who was taken up to Olympus to be the cup-bearer of the gods and Zeus' lover. Io was a beautiful young woman of Argos who attracted Zeus' attention and was transformed by Zeus' jealous wife (Hera) into a cow and then driven over the world, pursued and stung by a giant gadfly.

Answer: Ophiuchus

The traditional twelve signs of the Zodiac are those constellations through which the Ecliptic passes -- the Earth is tilted on an angle of 23.5 degrees and the Ecliptic is the imaginary line of that tilt expanded to the sky. The Sun, Moon, and the planets all move along that path. The actual line also passes through the constellation of Ophiuchus (Serpent-Bearer), hence its nickname.

Answer: Proxima Centauri

Proxima ("nearest") Centauri is a red dwarf about 4.2 light years from our Solar System, and is part of a triple-star system that includes Alpha Centauri, a star very much like our own Sun. Wolf 359 and Barnard's Star are both red dwarf stars, about 6 and 8 light-years away. Wolf 359 is the site of a famous battle between the Federation and the Borg in "Star Trek: the Next Generation".

Answer: Eridanus

Eridanus is one the ancient constellations known to the Greeks and Romans, and was named after the Latin name for the River Po in northern Italy. Achernar is a bright blue star -- tenth brightest in the night sky -- at the very southern end of the constellation (its name means "river's end"), and lies about 140 light-years from Earth.

Answer: Iapetus

Iapetus was one of the Titans, children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky) in Greek myth, and his name was given to one of the major moons of Saturn which were named after the children of Earth. Triton was a major sea-god and a moon of Neptune. Deimos (Terror) is the son of Ares (Mars) and thus a moon of Mars. Oberon is the King of the Fairies in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and is the name of a moon of Uranus.

Answer: Andromeda

M 31, or the Andromeda galaxy, is part of what is called the "local group" of galaxies, which includes the other possible answers. It is about 2.5 million light-years from Earth and resembles closely our Milky Way galaxy in size and structure. The Pegasus galaxy was the setting for the TV series "Stargate: Atlantis".