Section 1 - Terms and Definitions

1. The most distant sunrise occurs at

a. Aphelion
b. Perihelion
c. Opposition

2. When is the best time to view mercury

a. At opposition
b. At superior conjunction
c. At maximum elongation

3. When is winter solstice in the southern hemisphere

a. March 21st
b. June 21st
c. December 21st

4. When Mercury passes in front of the sun, it is known as

a. A transit
b. An occultation
c. Either A or B

5. What is the zero point for right ascension?

a. The vernal equinox

b. The first point of Aries
c. Both A and B

Section 2 - The sun, Earth and Moon

1. How far is the sun from the earth?

a. 1 astronomical unit
b. 8 light minutes
c. Both A and B

2. Solar flares

a. Affect all layers of the solar atmosphere

b. Are always accompanied by Coronal Mass Ejections
c. Both A and B

3. Total Solar eclipses occur:

a. Only at new moon

b. Up to five times a year
c. Both A and B

4. What is the brightest crater on the moon

a. Tycho
b. Copernicus
c. Aristarchus

5. The rocking of the moon is called?

a. Precession
b. Lunation
c. Libration

Section 3- The solar system

1. Where is the “little red spot”

a. Mars
b. Saturn
c. Jupiter

2. What planet has the largest mountain?

a. Mars
b. Earth
c. Venus

3. Which moon has the most water?

a. Europa
b. Enceladus
c. Ganymede

4. What are the underground oceans of Enceladus warmed by?

a. Radioactivity
b. Tidal Flexing
c. Volcanic Activity

5. Just beyond the orbit of Neptune lies

a. The Asteroid belt

b. The Kuiper belt
c. The Oort Cloud

Section 4 - Deep sky

1. What colour are star forming regions?

a. Red
b. Yellow
c. Blue

2. Which supercluster does our milky way belong to?

a. The Leo supercluster

b. The Hercules supercluster
c. The Virgo supercluster

3.The bigger a star is,

a. The longer it lives
b. The shorter it lives
c. Lifespan doesn’t depend on size

Section 5 - Comets, asteroids, meteors and exoplanets

1. Which comet causes the Perseids meteor shower?

2.
a. Hale -Boop
b. Shoemaker-Levy 9
c. Swift-Tuttle

2. The centre of a comets head is called:

a. The Nucleus
b. The Coma
c. The Corona

3. What Space Telescope was designed to look for exoplanets?

a. The Hubble
b. The Kepler
c. The Spitzer

4. An astroid that shares an orbit around the sun with Jupiter is a

a. Centaur
b. Trojan
c. Both A and B

5. Why is Pluto no longer a planet?

a. Other similar objects were found in the Kuiper belt

b. The definition of a planet changed
c. Both A and B

Section 6 - Optics

1. Magnification is given by Diameter of Objective/Diameter of Eyepiece

a. True
b. False

2. High powered eyepieces have a narrow field of view

a. true
b. false

3. When the mirrors in a reflecting telescope are not lines up, they need to be:

a. Collimated
b. Reconfigured
c. Refocused

4. Radio Telescopes are very large:

a. Because radio signals are very weak

b. To improve image resolution
c. Both A and B

5. Which size of binoculars would require a tripod?

a. 10x35
b. 20x80
c. 30x50

Section 7

1. Where are alnitak,alnilam and mintaka?

a. In Leo
b. In Orion
c. In Virgo

2. Aldebaran is known as:

a. The eye of the tiger

b. The eye of the bull
c. The blinking eye of medusa

3. What asterism can ve found in the constellation hercules

a. The Keystone
b. The Great Square
c. The Teapot

4. Which star is the best known variable

a. Algol
b. Mirphak
c. Capella

5. Which twin star does not belong to the winter hexagon?

a. Castor
b. Pollux
c. Neither A nor B

Answers
a
c
b
a
c
a
a
a
c
c

b
a
c
b
b

a
c
b

c
a
b
b
c

b
a
a
c
b

b
b
a
a
a