Telescopes, Observatories & Exoplanets

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

1.Which exoplanet is a gas giant hugging its star in days?
- A. Kepler-16b
- B. 51 Pegasi b
- C. a hot Jupiter
- D. PSR B1257+12
Show answer
a hot Jupiter
Did you know? Hot Jupiters were the first exoplanets found near Sun-like stars.
2.Which observatory is Chile's driest desert and a telescope haven?
- A. the Green Bank Observatory
- B. the Atacama Desert
- C. Mount Wilson
- D. the Palomar Observatory
Show answer
the Atacama Desert
Did you know? The Atacama's clear skies host ALMA and the VLT.
3.Which telescope sees through dust clouds that hide visible light?
- A. an X-ray telescope
- B. the refracting telescope
- C. an infrared telescope
- D. the reflecting telescope
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an infrared telescope
Did you know? Infrared light slips past dust that blocks visible light.
4.Which exoplanet is an exoplanet bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune?
- A. Proxima Centauri b
- B. a rogue planet
- C. Kepler-16b
- D. a super-Earth
Show answer
a super-Earth
Did you know? Super-Earths are among the most common exoplanet types.
5.Which observatory was the giant Puerto Rico radio dish that collapsed in 2020?
- A. SOFIA
- B. the Arecibo Observatory
- C. FAST
- D. the Atacama Desert
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the Arecibo Observatory
Did you know? Arecibo's 305-meter dish listened to the cosmos for 57 years.
6.Which telescope must orbit above the atmosphere to catch its rays?
- A. an X-ray telescope
- B. the reflecting telescope
- C. an infrared telescope
- D. the refracting telescope
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an X-ray telescope
Did you know? Earth's air blocks X-rays before they reach the ground.
7.Which exoplanet was the first planet found around a Sun-like star?
- A. Kepler-186f
- B. the habitable zone
- C. TRAPPIST-1
- D. 51 Pegasi b
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51 Pegasi b
Did you know? The 51 Pegasi b find earned a 2019 Nobel Prize.
8.Which observatory is the high desert array listening to cold millimeter waves?
- A. the Arecibo Observatory
- B. the Extremely Large Telescope
- C. the Atacama Desert
- D. ALMA
Show answer
ALMA
Did you know? ALMA stands on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile.
9.Which telescope gathers light with mirrors instead of lenses?
- A. IRAS
- B. an X-ray telescope
- C. the reflecting telescope
- D. the refracting telescope
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the reflecting telescope
Did you know? Mirrors avoid the color fringe problems of big lenses.
10.Which method spots planets as they dim their star in passing?
- A. a rogue planet
- B. the transit method
- C. HD 209458 b
- D. Kepler-186f
Show answer
the transit method
Did you know? Kepler used the transit method to find thousands of planets.
11.Which observatory is the 500-meter radio dish now world's largest single dish?
- A. SOFIA
- B. the Atacama Desert
- C. the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- D. FAST
Show answer
FAST
Did you know? FAST sits in a natural sinkhole in Guizhou, China.
12.Which telescope forms images with lenses?
- A. an infrared telescope
- B. the reflecting telescope
- C. the Spitzer Space Telescope
- D. the refracting telescope
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the refracting telescope
Did you know? Early refractors suffered color fringing from their lenses.
13.What is the orbit band where liquid water could persist?
- A. Kepler-16b
- B. PSR B1257+12
- C. Kepler-186f
- D. the habitable zone
Show answer
the habitable zone
Did you know? The habitable zone is nicknamed the Goldilocks zone.
14.Which observatory is the New Mexico complex of 27 movable radio dishes?
- A. the Very Large Array
- B. FAST
- C. the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- D. the Green Bank Observatory
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the Very Large Array
Did you know? The VLA's dishes roll on rail tracks to change their spread.
15.Which exoplanet is the red dwarf with seven Earth-size planets?
- A. TRAPPIST-1
- B. Proxima Centauri b
- C. Kepler-186f
- D. the habitable zone
Show answer
TRAPPIST-1
Did you know? All seven TRAPPIST-1 planets could fit inside Mercury's orbit.
16.Which observatory is the Hawaiian volcano crowned with major telescopes?
- A. the Atacama Desert
- B. ALMA
- C. Mauna Kea
- D. the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Show answer
Mauna Kea
Did you know? Mauna Kea's dry summit sits above much of the atmosphere.
17.Which exoplanet drifts through the galaxy without any star?
- A. HD 209458 b
- B. Kepler-186f
- C. 51 Pegasi b
- D. a rogue planet
Show answer
a rogue planet
Did you know? Rogue planets may vastly outnumber star-bound worlds.
18.Which observatory sits inside a US radio-quiet zone?
- A. the Green Bank Observatory
- B. the Lovell Telescope
- C. Mauna Kea
- D. the Arecibo Observatory
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the Green Bank Observatory
Did you know? Green Bank bans noisy electronics to protect radio astronomy.
19.Which telescope was the first space telescope to survey the infrared sky?
- A. an X-ray telescope
- B. the refracting telescope
- C. an infrared telescope
- D. IRAS
Show answer
IRAS
Did you know? IRAS's 1983 survey found dusty disks around nearby stars.
20.Which exoplanet is the nearest known exoplanet to Earth?
- A. a rogue planet
- B. the habitable zone
- C. a super-Earth
- D. Proxima Centauri b
Show answer
Proxima Centauri b
Did you know? Proxima b orbits in its star's habitable zone.
21.Which observatory is ESO's giant now rising in Chile?
- A. SALT
- B. the Keck telescopes
- C. the Very Large Array
- D. the Extremely Large Telescope
Show answer
the Extremely Large Telescope
Did you know? The ELT's main mirror will span about 39 meters.
22.Which telescope studied the universe in infrared light from orbit?
- A. the Spitzer Space Telescope
- B. the refracting telescope
- C. the reflecting telescope
- D. an infrared telescope
Show answer
the Spitzer Space Telescope
Did you know? Spitzer worked from 2003 until its 2020 retirement.
23.Which method detects planets by the wobble they give their star?
- A. a rogue planet
- B. Kepler-16b
- C. Proxima Centauri b
- D. the radial velocity method
Show answer
the radial velocity method
Did you know? Radial velocity shifts a star's light toward red and blue.
24.Which observatory are the twin Hawaii telescopes with segmented mirrors?
- A. FAST
- B. the Arecibo Observatory
- C. the Keck telescopes
- D. the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Show answer
the Keck telescopes
Did you know? Each Keck mirror stitches together 36 hexagonal segments.
25.Around which pulsar were the first planets ever found beyond the solar system?
- A. Kepler-186f
- B. 51 Pegasi b
- C. PSR B1257+12
- D. HD 209458 b
Show answer
PSR B1257+12
Did you know? The first exoplanets, found in 1992, circle a pulsar.
26.Which observatory is the iconic steerable radio dish at Jodrell Bank?
- A. the Lovell Telescope
- B. the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- C. SOFIA
- D. Mauna Kea
Show answer
the Lovell Telescope
Did you know? The Lovell Telescope tracked Sputnik's rocket in 1957.
27.Which exoplanet was the first Earth-size planet found in a habitable zone?
- A. HD 209458 b
- B. Proxima Centauri b
- C. TRAPPIST-1
- D. Kepler-186f
Show answer
Kepler-186f
Did you know? Kepler-186f was announced by the Kepler team in 2014.
28.Which observatory housed the 200-inch giant that ruled from 1948?
- A. the Palomar Observatory
- B. the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- C. the Extremely Large Telescope
- D. FAST
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the Palomar Observatory
Did you know? Palomar's Hale Telescope kept the size crown for decades.
29.Which exoplanet was the first planet seen crossing its star's face?
- A. a rogue planet
- B. HD 209458 b
- C. 51 Pegasi b
- D. a hot Jupiter
Show answer
HD 209458 b
Did you know? HD 209458 b's transits let astronomers probe its atmosphere.
30.Which observatory is the California peak where Hubble measured the galaxies?
- A. SALT
- B. the Gran Telescopio Canarias
- C. FAST
- D. Mount Wilson
Show answer
Mount Wilson
Did you know? Hubble used Mount Wilson's 100-inch telescope for his galaxy work.
31.Which observatory was the flying observatory aboard a modified 747?
- A. Mauna Kea
- B. FAST
- C. Mount Wilson
- D. SOFIA
Show answer
SOFIA
Did you know? SOFIA's telescope peered out of the aircraft's open side door.
32.Which observatory is ESO's four-telescope array in Chile's Atacama?
- A. Mauna Kea
- B. ALMA
- C. the Palomar Observatory
- D. the Very Large Telescope
Show answer
the Very Large Telescope
Did you know? The VLT's four units can combine their light.
33.Which exoplanet is a real planet that circles two suns?
- A. Kepler-16b
- B. HD 209458 b
- C. a rogue planet
- D. 51 Pegasi b
Show answer
Kepler-16b
Did you know? Kepler-16b is a circumbinary world with double sunsets.
34.Which observatory is the Southern African Large Telescope in Sutherland?
- A. Mount Wilson
- B. SALT
- C. the Extremely Large Telescope
- D. the Lovell Telescope
Show answer
SALT
Did you know? SALT is the largest single optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.
35.Which observatory detects particle messengers through Antarctic ice?
- A. the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- B. Mauna Kea
- C. the Very Large Array
- D. SOFIA
Show answer
the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Did you know? IceCube strings light sensors a mile deep in the ice.
36.Which observatory is the largest single-aperture optical telescope?
- A. the Gran Telescopio Canarias
- B. the Very Large Telescope
- C. the Very Large Array
- D. the Atacama Desert
Show answer
the Gran Telescopio Canarias
Did you know? The GTC's mirror spans 10.4 meters in the Canary Islands.

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