Answers to Quiz - 139

1)    What branch of astronomy concerns itself with the description and mapping of stars?

Uranography

2)    Name the 16^th Century German lawyer turned astronomer, after whom the system of designating stars is called.

Bayer Designation after Johann Bayer (1572 – 1625)

3)    Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux and Procyon form the 5 vertices of The Winter Hexagon. Name the 6^th and brightest star in this pattern.

Sirius

4)    How many stars have been classified as visible to the naked eye?

9096

5)    What acronym describes the astronomical database cataloguing over 5 million objects beyond the solar system?

SIMBAD (Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data)

6)    Name the constellation with most stars, 281

Centaurus

7)     Name the ancient astronomer who compiled the first comprehensive star catalogue in 2^nd Century BC.

Hipparchus

8)    Which is the most distant star visible to the naked eye?

Deneb

9)    Other than the Sun, which is the nearest star to Earth?

Proxima Centauri

10)  What pattern is created by the stars: Scheat, Alpheratz, Markab and Algenib?
Great Square of Pegasus

Quiz - 139

Winter is a great time for stargazing. Here are 10 questions to test your knowledge of stars.

1)      What branch of astronomy concerns itself with the description and mapping of stars?

2)      Name the 16^th Century German lawyer turned astronomer, after whom the system of designating stars is called.

3)      Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux and Procyon form the 5 vertices of The Winter Hexagon. Name the 6^th and brightest star in this pattern.

4)      How many stars have been classified as visible to the naked eye?

5)      What acronym describes the astronomical database cataloguing over 5 million objects beyond the solar system?

6)      Name the constellation with most stars, 281

7)      Name the ancient astronomer who compiled the first comprehensive star catalogue in 2^nd Century BC.

8)      Which is the most distant star visible to the naked eye?

9)      Other than the Sun, which is the nearest star to Earth?

 

10)  What pattern is created by the stars: Scheat, Alpheratz, Markab and Algenib?

QUIZ - 77

Ten questions for The International Year of Astronomy 2009

1. What objects constitute a Hickson Compact Group?

2. What is 51 Pegasi b?

3. Where is the Headquarters of the International Astronomical Union?

4. Who discovered the planet Pluto?

5. What new category of astronomical objects did the International Astronomical Union create in 2008 following the redefinition of the word planet in 2006?

6. What is the name given to celestial objects between Jupiter and Neptune that act like both asteroids and comets?

7. What astronomical term describes the centre of mass of two bodies that orbit around each other, for example the earth and the moon?

8. What are the 3 satellites of Pluto?

9. On 21st October 2003, an object bigger than Pluto was discovered and it eventually led to Pluto being stripped of its planetary status. Initially named 2003 UB313, by what name do we know it today?

10. Name the 19th Century astronomer who posed one of the most interesting problems of astrophysics – ‘why is the sky dark at night?’