Stars, Constellations & Galaxies

40 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which constellation is the Southern Cross used to find the south celestial pole?
- A. Sagittarius
- B. Crux
- C. Corona Borealis
- D. Draco
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Crux
Did you know? Crux appears on several southern nations' flags.
2.Which deep-sky object is the wreckage of a supernova seen in 1054?
- A. Omega Centauri
- B. the Crab Nebula
- C. the Hyades
- D. the Pleiades
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the Crab Nebula
Did you know? Chinese astronomers logged the 1054 guest star.
3.Which galaxy is the brightest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way?
- A. Messier 87
- B. the Small Magellanic Cloud
- C. Centaurus A
- D. the Large Magellanic Cloud
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the Large Magellanic Cloud
Did you know? The Large Magellanic Cloud is visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
4.Which star is the red supergiant at Orion's shoulder?
- A. Vega
- B. Betelgeuse
- C. Pollux
- D. Procyon
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Betelgeuse
Did you know? Betelgeuse is so huge it would swallow the orbit of Mars.
5.Which star asterism links Vega, Deneb and Altair across summer evenings?
- A. opposition
- B. the solar wind
- C. InSight
- D. the Summer Triangle
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the Summer Triangle
Did you know? The Summer Triangle's three stars anchor three constellations.
6.Which star type is a region where gravity is so strong light cannot escape?
- A. a black hole
- B. a supermassive black hole
- C. a pulsar
- D. a white dwarf
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a black hole
Did you know? A black hole's boundary is called the event horizon.
7.Which constellation traces a big W on the northern sky?
- A. Sagittarius
- B. Cassiopeia
- C. Canis Major
- D. Boötes
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Cassiopeia
Did you know? Cassiopeia the queen circles the pole opposite the Big Dipper.
8.Which deep-sky object is the bright stellar nursery in Orion's sword?
- A. the Orion Nebula
- B. the Hyades
- C. the Coalsack
- D. the Ring Nebula
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the Orion Nebula
Did you know? The Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye.
9.What is the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center?
- A. the Antennae Galaxies
- B. the Cartwheel Galaxy
- C. Sagittarius A*
- D. gravitational lensing
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Sagittarius A*
Did you know? Stars whip around Sagittarius A* at huge speeds.
10.Which star is the closest star to the Sun?
- A. Antares
- B. Proxima Centauri
- C. Regulus
- D. Canopus
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Proxima Centauri
Did you know? Proxima Centauri lies about 4.2 light-years away.
11.Which star type is the swollen late-life stage of a Sun-like star?
- A. a red giant
- B. a supermassive black hole
- C. a magnetar
- D. a black hole
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a red giant
Did you know? In about five billion years the Sun will become a red giant.
12.Which constellation is the bull with the V-shaped Hyades face?
- A. Taurus
- B. Sagittarius
- C. Crux
- D. Gemini
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Taurus
Did you know? Taurus also holds the Pleiades on its shoulder.
13.Which deep-sky object is the sparkling "Seven Sisters" cluster in Taurus?
- A. the Orion Nebula
- B. the Pleiades
- C. Omega Centauri
- D. the Crab Nebula
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the Pleiades
Did you know? The Pleiades reflect blue light from young hot stars.
14.What is the blazing core of a distant galaxy powered by a black hole?
- A. the Whirlpool Galaxy
- B. a quasar
- C. the galactic year
- D. gravitational lensing
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a quasar
Did you know? Quasars outshine entire galaxies from billions of light-years away.
15.Which star is the nearest star system, a triple of bound stars?
- A. Mira
- B. Canopus
- C. Proxima Centauri
- D. Alpha Centauri
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Alpha Centauri
Did you know? Alpha Centauri A and B circle each other with Proxima nearby.
16.Which star type is a pair of stars orbiting a shared center?
- A. a binary star
- B. the main sequence
- C. a pulsar
- D. a red giant
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a binary star
Did you know? Many "single" stars are actually close binaries.
17.Which constellation forms the Northern Cross across the Milky Way?
- A. Gemini
- B. Cetus
- C. Cygnus
- D. Ursa Minor
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Cygnus
Did you know? Cygnus the Swan flies along the Milky Way's band.
18.Which deep-sky object holds the star-forming "Pillars of Creation"?
- A. the Eagle Nebula
- B. the Horsehead Nebula
- C. Omega Centauri
- D. the Crab Nebula
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the Eagle Nebula
Did you know? The Eagle Nebula's pillars were made famous by Hubble images.
19.Which galaxy group does the Milky Way belong to?
- A. the Hubble Deep Field
- B. the Small Magellanic Cloud
- C. the Local Group
- D. Messier 87
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the Local Group
Did you know? The Local Group holds over 50 member galaxies.
20.Which star type is a city-sized collapsed core of a dead massive star?
- A. a supermassive black hole
- B. a white dwarf
- C. a red dwarf
- D. a neutron star
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a neutron star
Did you know? A teaspoon of neutron star would outweigh a mountain.
21.Which constellation holds the Little Dipper with Polaris at its tip?
- A. Virgo
- B. Ursa Minor
- C. Leo
- D. Boötes
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Ursa Minor
Did you know? Ursa Minor is nicknamed the Little Bear.
22.Which star type is the Earth-sized ember left after a Sun-like star dies?
- A. a neutron star
- B. a brown dwarf
- C. a white dwarf
- D. a red dwarf
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a white dwarf
Did you know? A white dwarf packs a star's mass into a planet's volume.
23.Which constellation curves like a scorpion with a red heart star?
- A. Scorpius
- B. Cassiopeia
- C. Gemini
- D. Pegasus
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Scorpius
Did you know? Scorpius's hook shape is easy to spot from southern skies.
24.Which star type is the small, dim, most common kind of star?
- A. a red dwarf
- B. a nova
- C. a pulsar
- D. a neutron star
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a red dwarf
Did you know? Red dwarfs burn their fuel so slowly they last trillions of years.
25.Which constellation points its teapot shape toward the galaxy's center?
- A. Crux
- B. Draco
- C. Sagittarius
- D. Boötes
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Sagittarius
Did you know? Looking at Sagittarius means looking toward the Milky Way's heart.
26.Which star type is the giant black hole anchoring a large galaxy's center?
- A. a binary star
- B. a red giant
- C. a supermassive black hole
- D. a red dwarf
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a supermassive black hole
Did you know? Sagittarius A* is the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.
27.Which constellation contains the famous Big Dipper asterism?
- A. Lyra
- B. Taurus
- C. Canis Minor
- D. Ursa Major
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Ursa Major
Did you know? The Big Dipper's pointer stars aim toward Polaris.
28.Which constellation holds Sirius, the sky's brightest star?
- A. Canis Major
- B. Ursa Major
- C. Canis Minor
- D. Sagittarius
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Canis Major
Did you know? Canis Major the Great Dog follows Orion across the sky.
29.Which constellation shows twin figureheads Castor and Pollux?
- A. Gemini
- B. Draco
- C. Ursa Major
- D. Virgo
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Gemini
Did you know? Gemini lies beside Orion on the winter sky.
30.Which constellation is the lion marked by a backward question mark?
- A. Draco
- B. Leo
- C. Ursa Major
- D. Pegasus
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Leo
Did you know? Leo's sickle shape crowns the spring evening sky.
31.Which constellation is the small harp holding bright Vega?
- A. Taurus
- B. Lyra
- C. Pegasus
- D. Canis Minor
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Lyra
Did you know? Lyra also hosts the Ring Nebula.
32.Which deep-sky object is the nearest open star cluster to Earth?
- A. the Crab Nebula
- B. the Hyades
- C. the Orion Nebula
- D. the Ring Nebula
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the Hyades
Did you know? The Hyades form the V-shaped face of Taurus.
33.Which galaxy is a ring galaxy shaped by a head-on collision?
- A. the Triangulum Galaxy
- B. the Cartwheel Galaxy
- C. the Small Magellanic Cloud
- D. the Whirlpool Galaxy
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the Cartwheel Galaxy
Did you know? A smaller galaxy punched through the Cartwheel's heart.
34.Which star is the orange head of Gemini, the Twins?
- A. Procyon
- B. Capella
- C. Pollux
- D. Spica
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Pollux
Did you know? Pollux is the nearest giant star to the Sun.
35.Which star type is a sudden nuclear blast on a white dwarf's surface?
- A. a red giant
- B. a magnetar
- C. the main sequence
- D. a nova
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a nova
Did you know? A nova brightens a star but does not destroy it.
36.Which constellation is the two-star little dog beside Orion?
- A. Canis Major
- B. Cetus
- C. Sagittarius
- D. Canis Minor
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Canis Minor
Did you know? Canis Minor's head is marked by bright Procyon.
37.Which deep-sky object is the glowing shell puffed off by a dying sun-like star?
- A. the Orion Nebula
- B. the Hyades
- C. Omega Centauri
- D. the Ring Nebula
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the Ring Nebula
Did you know? The Ring Nebula is a textbook planetary nebula in Lyra.
38.What magnifies distant light as mass bends space?
- A. the Pinwheel Galaxy
- B. gravitational lensing
- C. the Local Group
- D. the Large Magellanic Cloud
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gravitational lensing
Did you know? Galaxy clusters act as natural telescopes through lensing.
39.Which star is the "Demon Star" that regularly dims?
- A. Algol
- B. Fomalhaut
- C. Mira
- D. Deneb
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Algol
Did you know? Algol is an eclipsing binary whose dimming repeats every few days.
40.Which star type is the white-dwarf blast used as a cosmic distance candle?
- A. a Type Ia supernova
- B. a red giant
- C. a binary star
- D. a brown dwarf
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a Type Ia supernova
Did you know? Type Ia supernovae revealed the accelerating expansion.

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