MCQ on Solar System

Question 1. Which one of the following moon features is named Copernicus? Is it a _____________.

(A) Rill

(B) Mountain range

(C) Crater

(D) Sea

Question 2. The planet Jupiter has a mass that is _____________.

(A) Greater than the combined masses of all of the planets

(B) Equal to the combined masses of Saturn, Neptune and Uranus

(C) Equal to the combined masses of Saturn and Pluto

(D) Equal to the combined masses of the earth and Mars

Question 3. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system?

(A) Mars

(B) Pluto

(C) Jupiter

(D) Venus

Question 4. Rounded to the nearest day, the Mercurian year is equal to _____________.

(A) 25 days

(B) 50 days

(C) 88 days

(D) 111 days

Question 5. A year on Jupiter is 4,333 days long. A year on Mercury is 88 days long. Why do planets have different length years?

(A) Planets exert a gravitational force on other planets

(B) Some planets are larger than other planets

(C) Each planet has its own orbital period

(D) A year is longer on larger planets

Question 6. How is the atmospheric pressure of Mars as compared to the atmospheric pressure of the earth? Is it _____________.

(A) half as much as that of the earth’s

(B) about 1/200th that of the earth’s

(C) about 100 times as great as the earth’s

(D) about the same as the earth’s

Question 7. The andromeda Galaxy is which of the following types of galaxies?

(A) irregular

(B) barred-spiral

(C) spiral

(D) elliptical

Question 8. What is the most likely “next step” in a star that is in the red giant phase?

(A) a nebula

(B) a black hole

(C) a white dwarf

(D) a yellow dwarf

Question 9. What regular motion causes the pattern of day and night on Earth? 

(A) The moon orbits around the earth

(B) The moon rotates on its axis

(C) Earth orbits around the sun

(D) Earth rotates on its axis

Question 10. What keeps the Earth in its orbit?

(A) The Earth’s location between other planets

(B) The Earth’s spin direction

(C) The Sun’s gravitational pull

(D) The Sun’s speed rotating

Question 11. The sunspot cycle is _____________.

(A) 49 years

(B) 26 years

(C) 11 years

(D) 3 years

Question 12. The time interval between two successive occurrences of a specific type of alignment of a planet (or the moon) with the sun and the earth is referred to as _____________.

(A) a synodic period

(B) a sidereal period

(C) an opposition

(D) a conjunction

Question 13. Carol saw a streak of light cross the night sky. She called it a “shooting star.” What did Carol actually see in the night sky?

(A) the sun

(B) meteor

(C) meteorite

(D) comet

Question 14. What makes a star different from other objects in the solar system, such as planets, moons and asteroids?

(A) Planets go through a life cycle and stars do not

(B) Stars produce their own light

(C) Stars orbit and planets do not

(D) The Moons and planets produce light

Question 15. The majority of asteroids are found in a belt located between what two planets?

(A) Jupiter and Saturn

(B) Mars and Jupiter

(C) Mars and Venus

(D) Earth and Mars

Question 16. Triton, Neptune’s moon, has an ocean made of a liquid. What is this liquid?

(A) Nitrogen

(B) Hydrogen

(C) oxygen

(D) carbon dioxide

Question 17. One Jupiter day is equal to which of the following?

(A) 52 hrs 10 min

(B) 3 hrs 20 min

(C) 9 hrs 50 min

(D) 30 hrs 40 min

Question 18. The sun is a star of average size and brightness. From Earth, the sun appears as a round, yellow object in the daytime sky. At night, we see other stars. They appear as tiny points of light. Why does the sun appear larger than the stars that we see at night?

(A) Earth’s atmosphere filters out light from other stars, making them appear smaller

(B) The sun is closer to Earth than other stars, making the sun appear larger.

(C) Starlight bends as it passes planets, making stars appear smaller.

(D) Daylight brightens the sun, making it appear larger.

Question 19. When standing on the Earth, the Moon and Sun appear to rise in the east and set in the west.What is responsible for this apparent movement of the sun and moon?

(A) The Sun and Moon move from east to west in Space

(B) The Moon and Sun rotate on their axis.

(C) The Earth rotates on its axis

(D) The Earth revolves around the Sun.

Question 20. Earth takes 365 ¼ days to orbit the Sun. Which of the following is a result of this fact?

(A) Some holidays are on different dates each year

(B) An extra day is added every four years

(C) February has 28 days instead of 30

(D) All calendars have 365 days

Question 21. Heliocentric (pron: he-lee-o-sen-trik) means around _____________.

(A) Neptune

(B) The Sun

(C) The Moon

(D) Jupiter

Question 22. One of the largest volcanos in our solar system-if, not the largest-is named Olympus Mons. This volcano is located on _____________.

(A) Mars

(B) Saturn’s moon Titan

(C) Venus

(D) Jupiter’s moon Callisto

Question 23. Solar panels are placed on homes to gather the suns light energy. This solar energy is then used to power a house. For example, solar power may be used to run appliances or to heat water. In which geographic location would solar panels work the best? 

(A) In Antarctica

(B) In Florida

(C) In Ohio

(D) In Alaska

Question 24. What causes the phases of the Moon?

(A) The pull of gravity between the Moon and the Earth

(B) The positions of the Moon as viewed from Earth

(C) The Earth’s shadow on the Moon

(D) The Moon is tilted on its axis

Question 25. Why does the Earth experience season?

(A) The distance between the Sun and the Earth changes

(B) The Earth gets less sun in the Fall and Winter

(C) The Sun is hotter in the Spring and Summer

(D) The Earth is tilted on its axis