Quiz on The Sun

What is the Sun mostly made of?

• Hydrogen ✓ (Correct answer)
• Helium
• Oxygen
• Carbon

Source: About three-quarters of the Sun's mass is hydrogen, slowly fusing into helium.

The Sun is best described as a what?

• Planet
• Star ✓ (Correct answer)
• Comet
• Moon

Source: The Sun is our nearest star, a giant glowing ball of gas, not a planet.

Which kind of rays from the Sun cause sunburn?

• Infrared
• Microwave
• Ultraviolet ✓ (Correct answer)
• X-ray

Source: It's invisible ultraviolet light, not the Sun's heat, that burns your skin.

When the Moon blocks the Sun from view, it's called a what?

• Lunar eclipse
• Equinox
• Solstice
• Solar eclipse ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: A solar eclipse happens when the Moon slips directly between Earth and the Sun.

In which direction does the Sun appear to rise each morning?

• East ✓ (Correct answer)
• West
• North
• South

Source: Earth's west-to-east spin makes the Sun always rise in the east.

What do young sunflowers famously do during the day?

• Close up at noon
• Glow at night
• Turn toward the Sun ✓ (Correct answer)
• Change color

Source: Young sunflowers track the Sun across the sky, a habit called heliotropism.

Which vitamin does your skin produce from sunlight?

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D ✓ (Correct answer)
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B12

Source: Sunlight on skin kick-starts vitamin D production, which is why it's nicknamed the sunshine vitamin.

Plants turn the Sun's energy into food through which process?

• Respiration
• Digestion
• Evaporation
• Photosynthesis ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Photosynthesis lets plants convert sunlight, water and air into sugar.

What actually causes Earth's seasons?

• Distance from the Sun
• The Moon's pull
• Earth's tilted axis ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Sun's brightness

Source: Seasons come from Earth's 23.5° tilt, not from being nearer or farther from the Sun.

About how long does sunlight take to reach Earth?

• 8 minutes ✓ (Correct answer)
• 8 seconds
• 8 hours
• 8 days

Source: Light races 150 million km from the Sun to Earth in roughly 8 minutes.

The Sun's faint outer atmosphere, seen during a total eclipse, is called the?

• Halo
• Corona ✓ (Correct answer)
• Aurora
• Mantle

Source: The corona is the pearly-white crown that flares out around a totally eclipsed Sun.

What are the dark, cooler patches that appear on the Sun's surface?

• Solar flares
• Craters
• Sunbursts
• Sunspots ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Sunspots look dark only because they're cooler than the blazing surface around them.

Which process actually powers the Sun?

• Nuclear fusion ✓ (Correct answer)
• Nuclear fission
• Combustion
• Friction

Source: The Sun fuses hydrogen into helium; it doesn't burn like a campfire.

Which ancient Egyptian god was the deity of the Sun?

• Anubis
• Osiris
• Ra ✓ (Correct answer)
• Horus

Source: Ra sailed his solar boat across the sky each day, ruling as the Sun god.

Roughly how old is the Sun?

• 2.5 billion years
• 4.6 billion years ✓ (Correct answer)
• 9.1 billion years
• 13.8 billion years

Source: The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, roughly a third the age of the universe.

Near the end of its life, the Sun will swell into a what?

• A black hole
• A supernova
• A neutron star
• A red giant ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: The Sun is far too small to explode; it will bloat into a red giant, then fade to a white dwarf.

What is the bright visible surface layer of the Sun called?

• Photosphere ✓ (Correct answer)
• Heliosphere
• Chromosphere
• Stratosphere

Source: The photosphere is the glowing surface we actually see, below the wispy outer layers.

In which part of the Sun is its energy actually produced?

• Convective zone
• Radiative zone
• Core ✓ (Correct answer)
• Surface

Source: Fusion only happens in the core, where temperatures soar past 15 million °C.

How long can energy take to travel from the Sun's core to its surface?

• Tens of thousands of years ✓ (Correct answer)
• A few minutes
• About one year
• A few seconds

Source: Packets of energy ricochet around for tens of thousands of years before escaping the surface.

What is the Sun's approximate surface temperature?

• About 1,000°C
• About 100,000°C
• About 1 million°C
• About 5,500°C ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: The surface is a 'mere' 5,500°C, downright cool next to the 15-million-degree core.