Astronomy Terms

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

1.Which astronomy term plots stars by brightness against color or temperature?
- A. totality
- B. the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
- C. the umbra
- D. the ecliptic
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the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
Did you know? The H-R diagram's main band is the main sequence.
2.Which cosmology term estimates how many communicating civilizations might exist?
- A. the Big Crunch
- B. the Hubble constant
- C. the Drake equation
- D. antimatter
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the Drake equation
Did you know? The Drake equation multiplies factors from star rates to signal lifetimes.
3.Which observation term is the sky coordinate like latitude?
- A. the Messier catalog
- B. the Nebra sky disk
- C. declination
- D. opposition
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declination
Did you know? Declination runs from +90° to −90° across the sky.
4.Which spaceflight term describes debris collisions spawning ever more debris?
- A. the Kármán line
- B. the Kessler syndrome
- C. microgravity
- D. perigee
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the Kessler syndrome
Did you know? A runaway Kessler cascade could wall off orbit paths.
5.Which astronomy term is the distance unit equal to about 3.26 light-years?
- A. the Kuiper Belt
- B. the ecliptic
- C. the parsec
- D. the Roche limit
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the parsec
Did you know? The parsec comes from the word "parallax of one arcsecond."
6.Which cosmology term spans about 93 billion light-years across?
- A. the observable universe
- B. redshift
- C. the cosmic microwave background
- D. the Fermi paradox
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the observable universe
Did you know? The observable universe's edge is a horizon of light time.
7.Which observation term combines light, particles and gravitational waves from one event?
- A. the synodic month
- B. the Wow! signal
- C. multi-messenger astronomy
- D. light pollution
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multi-messenger astronomy
Did you know? Multi-messenger work pairs telescopes with detectors like LIGO.
8.Which spaceflight term is the time span when a mission can lift off on target?
- A. apogee
- B. the Hohmann transfer
- C. a launch window
- D. splashdown
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a launch window
Did you know? Missions to Mars open launch windows about every 26 months.
9.Which astronomy term caps the mass of a stable white dwarf?
- A. the umbra
- B. a protostar
- C. the Chandrasekhar limit
- D. the astronomical unit
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the Chandrasekhar limit
Did you know? Beyond about 1.4 solar masses, a white dwarf collapses.
10.Which cosmology term strings galaxies along filaments around vast voids?
- A. redshift
- B. dark matter
- C. the cosmic web
- D. cosmic inflation
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the cosmic web
Did you know? The cosmic web is the universe's largest pattern.
11.Which observation term combines several telescopes into one virtual giant?
- A. the astrolabe
- B. interferometry
- C. the Pioneer plaques
- D. the synodic month
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interferometry
Did you know? Interferometry's resolving power grows with the spacing between dishes.
12.Which spaceflight term is the fuel-cheapest two-burn path between orbits?
- A. escape velocity
- B. a launch window
- C. the Hohmann transfer
- D. the Kessler syndrome
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the Hohmann transfer
Did you know? Mission planners love Hohmann transfers for saving propellant.
13.Which astronomy term is a spot where a small body can orbit in step with two large ones?
- A. a protostar
- B. a Lagrange point
- C. a protoplanetary disk
- D. the saros
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a Lagrange point
Did you know? JWST observes from the Sun-Earth second Lagrange point.
14.Which cosmology term is the name of our galaxy's home supercluster?
- A. the observable universe
- B. dark matter
- C. the accelerating expansion
- D. Laniakea
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Laniakea
Did you know? Laniakea means "immense heaven" in Hawaiian.
15.Which observation term puts a planet opposite the Sun in our sky?
- A. opposition
- B. a planetarium
- C. the meridian
- D. the synodic month
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opposition
Did you know? Planets at opposition rise at sunset and stay up all night.
16.Which astronomy term is a pulsating star used to measure cosmic distances?
- A. a Cepheid variable
- B. tidal locking
- C. a protostar
- D. a Lagrange point
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a Cepheid variable
Did you know? Henrietta Leavitt found Cepheids' rhythm-to-brightness link.
17.Which cosmology term is a millisecond radio flash from far across the cosmos?
- A. a fast radio burst
- B. Laniakea
- C. redshift
- D. hydrogen and helium
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a fast radio burst
Did you know? Fast radio bursts were first logged in 2007.
18.Which observation term is a Bronze Age gold-decorated depiction of the heavens?
- A. the Nebra sky disk
- B. the celestial equator
- C. the CCD
- D. the zodiac
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the Nebra sky disk
Did you know? The Nebra sky disk was found in Germany in 1999.
19.Which observation term was the 1974 radio transmission aimed at a globular cluster?
- A. a star chart
- B. interferometry
- C. the armillary sphere
- D. the Arecibo message
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the Arecibo message
Did you know? The Arecibo message sketched DNA, humans and the telescope itself.
20.Which observation term is the sky coordinate like longitude?
- A. the astrolabe
- B. right ascension
- C. light pollution
- D. opposition
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right ascension
Did you know? Right ascension is measured in hours around the sky.
21.Which observation term reshapes mirrors in real time to cancel air blur?
- A. a star chart
- B. the Nebra sky disk
- C. adaptive optics
- D. the zodiac
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adaptive optics
Did you know? Adaptive optics gives ground telescopes space-like sharpness.
22.Which observation term are the metal diagrams of humans aboard Pioneers 10 and 11?
- A. the Pioneer plaques
- B. the meridian
- C. the celestial pole
- D. the Dunhuang Star Chart
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the Pioneer plaques
Did you know? The plaques map Earth's position to pulsar timings.
23.Which observation term happens when one body hides another from view?
- A. an occultation
- B. the Pioneer plaques
- C. precession
- D. the Nebra sky disk
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an occultation
Did you know? Stellar occultations revealed Uranus's rings from the ground.
24.Which observation term is the faint pyramid of glow from dust along the ecliptic?
- A. adaptive optics
- B. zodiacal light
- C. the Wow! signal
- D. the Messier catalog
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zodiacal light
Did you know? Zodiacal light is sunlight bouncing off interplanetary dust.
25.Which observation term is Earth's spin measured against the stars?
- A. the Dunhuang Star Chart
- B. the sidereal day
- C. the Arecibo message
- D. light pollution
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the sidereal day
Did you know? A sidereal day runs about four minutes shorter than 24 hours.

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