1. One light year is
A. the distance between the Earth and Sun
B. the time taken for Earth to orbit the Sun once
C. a time interval, using the speed of light as a reference
D. the distance that light travels in one year

2. You write your home address in the order of street, town, state and so on.  Suppose you were writing your cosmic address in a similar manner.  Which of the following is the correct order?
A. Earth, Milky Way, Solar System
B. Earth, Solar System, Milky Way
C. Milky Way, Earth, Solar System
D. Solar System, Milky Way, Earth

3. What do the pointer stars of the Big Dipper point to?
A. Polaris
B. Andromeda
C. Milky Way
D. The Ecliptic

4. What part of the Sun is only visible during a solar eclipse?
A. photosphere
B. corona
C. prominence
D. sunspots

5. Large, cooler areas on the sun are
A. islands
B. flares
C. prominences
D. sunspots

6. By what process does the Sun and all stars shine?
A. fission
B. combustion
C. thermonuclear fusion
D. mitosis

7. Which of the following is the ‘fuel’ of stars?
A. hydrogen
B. helium
C. carbon
D. iron
8. The closest star to the Earth is
A. Alpha Centauri
B. The Sun
C. Polaris
D. Sirius

9. How far is Proxima Centauri from Earth?
A. 2 AU
B. 4.2 light years
C. 100 million miles
D. 14 parsecs

10. How bright a star appears from earth is
A. luminosity
B. albedo
C. earthshine
D. apparent magnitude

11. The actual brightness of a star is known as
A. luminosity
B. albedo
C. earthshine
D. apparent magnitude

12. Which of the following is related to a stars color?
A. size
B. shape
C. temperature
D. composition

13. A star that is very cool yet very bright is a
A. white dwarf
B. red giant
C. Main sequence star
D. Galaxy

14. A star that collapses and then expands in a violent explosion is called a
A. supernova
B. red giant
C. black hole
D. pulsar
 
 
 
 

15. A star that collapses and becomes so dense that nothing can escape its pull of gravity is a
A. supernova
B. supergiant
C. black hole
D. pulsar

16. Galaxies are classified on the basis of their
A. size
B. shape
C. color
D. distance from Earth

17. What is the name of the galaxy that we are located in?
A. Milky Way
B. Andromeda
C. Solar system
D. Crab Nebula

18. What is the closest galaxy to ours?
A. Milky Way
B. Andromeda
C. Crab Nebula
D. Orion

19. What is the shape of the galaxy in which we are located?
A. elliptical
B. irregular
C. square
D. spiral

20. An imaginary pattern formed by bright stars is known as a
A. cluster
B. constellation
C. galaxy
D. nebula

21. Which of the following is NOT a purpose of a constellation?
A. tell direction
B. tell time (seasons)
C. preserve myths & folklore
D. to calculate distances
 
 
 

22. Constellations which can be seen all year long are called
A. equatorial constellations
B. circumpolar constellations
C. ecliptic constellations
D. zodiac constellations

23. Some constellations are visible only during certain seasons because
A. the Earth rotates
B. eclipses
C. daylight savings time
D. the Earth revolves

24. The event that is believed to have created the universe is
A. the Big Bang
B. the Big Chill
C. the Big Crunch
D. Evolution

25. The evidence that the universe is expanding is
A. the red shift
B. the Earths rotation
C. the Earths revolution
D. sunspots

26. In what constellation is Polaris located?
A. Ursa Major
B. Orion
C. Ursa Minor
D. Cassiopieia

27. In what constellation is the North Star located?
A. Ursa Major
B. Orion
C. Ursa Minor
D. Cepheus

28. Sunspots follow a cycle of how many years?
A. 5
B. 11
C. 23 ½
D. 100
 
 
 
 

TRUE FALSE

29. The HR diagram shows the relationship between a stars temperature and its brightness
30. Our sun is a red star
31. The North Star is not visible in the southern hemisphere
32. The Sun is located on a spiral arm in our galaxy.
33. Most of the night sky appears black because we are not looking towards the center of our galaxy.
34. The universe contains several hundred galaxies
35. Cassiopeia is the Queen
36. Ursa Major is the little bear

For questions 37-40, the constellation  on the next page

A) Orion
B) Ursa Major
C) Gemini
D) Cassiopeia
E) Cepheus

37. Which constellation is this?
38. Which constellation is this?
39. Which constellation is this?
40. Which constellation is this?
!