Quizmo

Quiz on Astronomy

20 questions · June 25, 2026

Below is the full Quizmo quiz devoted to the theme "Astronomy": each question, its four options, the correct answer highlighted and, where available, its source. A chance to brush up on your general knowledge and then test what you know.

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Question 1

Easy

Which planet is closest to the Sun?

Source: Despite being closest, Mercury isn't the hottest planet — Venus's thick atmosphere traps more heat.

Question 2

Easy

Which star sits at the center of our solar system?

Source: The Sun holds 99.8% of the solar system's total mass.

Question 3

Easy

What force keeps planets orbiting the Sun?

Source: Newton realized the same force pulling an apple down keeps the Moon circling Earth.

Question 4

Easy

Which planet is famous for its prominent ring system?

Source: All four giant planets have rings, but only Saturn's are bright enough to dazzle through a small telescope.

Question 5

Easy

Which planet is nicknamed the Red Planet?

Source: Mars looks red because its soil is full of rusted iron oxide — literally rust.

Question 6

Easy

What do we call a natural object that orbits a planet?

Source: Jupiter has over 90 known moons, while Mercury and Venus have none at all.

Question 7

Easy

What is the largest planet in our solar system?

Source: Jupiter is so massive that all the other planets could fit inside it twice over.

Question 8

Easy

What is the name of our home galaxy?

Source: On a dark night you can see the Milky Way's disc edge-on as a faint band across the sky.

Question 9

Easy

Which planet spins on its side, almost rolling around the Sun?

Source: Uranus is tilted 98 degrees, likely knocked over by a giant ancient impact.

Question 10

Easy

What galaxy is our nearest large neighbour?

Source: Andromeda is on a collision course with the Milky Way — but not for about 4 billion years.

Question 11

Medium

What unit measures the distance light travels in one year?

Source: A light-year is a distance, not a time — about 9.5 trillion kilometres.

Question 12

Medium

What is the name for a star's explosive death?

Source: A single supernova can briefly outshine an entire galaxy of billions of stars.

Question 13

Medium

What causes the Moon's monthly cycle of changing shapes?

Source: Phases come from which lit half we see — Earth's shadow only appears during a lunar eclipse.

Question 14

Medium

Which planet has a giant centuries-old storm called the Great Red Spot?

Source: Jupiter's storm has raged for at least 350 years and is wider than Earth.

Question 15

Medium

What is the closest star to Earth after the Sun?

Source: Proxima Centauri is just over 4 light-years away, yet far too faint to see with the naked eye.

Question 16

Medium

What region beyond Neptune is home to many icy bodies and dwarf planets?

Source: Pluto is the most famous resident of the Kuiper Belt, which is why it was reclassified.

Question 17

Medium

What do astronomers call the leftover glow from the Big Bang?

Source: It was discovered by accident in 1964 by engineers who first blamed pigeon droppings on their antenna.

Question 18

Hard

What name is given to a star so dense not even light escapes it?

Source: The first image of a black hole's shadow wasn't captured until 2019, in galaxy M87.

Question 19

Hard

Which Polish astronomer placed the Sun, not Earth, at the center?

Source: Copernicus delayed publishing his Sun-centered model until the year he died, fearing backlash.

Question 20

Hard

Which spacecraft is the most distant human-made object from Earth?

Source: Voyager 1 left the Sun's bubble in 2012 and still phones home from interstellar space.

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