Selected Questions Astronomy 1. What is the colour of the hottest star? 9. Who first observed the Saturn through (a) Red (b) White a telescope? (c) Violet (d) Blue (a) Galileo (b) Newton 2. Who was the founder of Scientific As- (c) Charles T. Kowed tronomy? (d) None of these (a) Hippalus (b) Hippocrates 10. Which is the predominent gas present (c) Hoffmann (d) None of these in the atmosphere of Uranus? 3. Who discovered the planet Uranus? (a) Hydrogen (b) Ozone (a) Ptolemy (c) Methane (d) Ethane (b) William Herschel 11. Who discovered Neptune? (c) Copernicus (d) Newton (a) Clyde Tombaugh 4. Which planet is known as the Will-o- (b) Ubrain V.J. Levierrier, John C. the Wisp in the sky? Adams and Johanne Galle (a) Mercury (b) Pluto (c) Carolyn Shoemaker (c) Neptune (d) Mars (d) Christiaan Huygens 5. Which is the coldest Planet? 12. What is the shape of the Earth? (a) Pluto (b) Mercury (a) Oval (b) Oblate (c) Jupiter (d) Neptune (c) Circular (d) Conical 6. Which is the hottest Planet? 13. Which of the following is the most fa- (a) Pluto (b) Mercury mous of all comets? (c) Venus (d) Neptune (a) Hale-Bopp (b) Halley’s Comet 7. Which planet has the most circular or- (c) Shoemaker-Levy 9 bit? (d) Smith-Tuttle (a) Venus (b) Mercury 14. Who discovered the Radio telescope? (c) Mars (d) Neptune (a) Galileo (b) Newton 8. Which planet is known as the Red (c) Einstein (d) Karl Jansky planet? 15. Which one of the following conditions (a) Mars (b) Venus is most relevant for the presence of life (c) Jupiter (d) None of these on Mars? (a) Occurrence of ice caps and frozen (a) Jupiter (b) Moon (d) Approximately at the centre of the 43. Which of the following planets takes water (c) Mars (d) None of these system very nearly the same time for a rota- (b) Occurrence of ozone 26. Supernovae is 34. The Sun is tion on its own axis as does the Earth? (c) Thermal conditions (a) a black hole (b) a comet (a) made of rock and metal (a) Jupiter (b) Mars (d) Atmospheric composition (c) a dying star (d) an asteroid (b) a solid body (c) Neptune (d) Uranus 16. Which was the International Geophysi- 27. When will be the Earth very near to (c) a mass of hot gases 44. The visible part of the Sun is called cal Year? Sun? (d) party rock and metal and partly a (a) Ionosphere (b) Hydrosphere (a) July 1957 to December 1958 (a) 1st March (b) 3rd January mass of hot gases (c) Photosphere (d) Troposphere (b) September 1951 to November 1952 (c) 2nd January (d) 6th December 35. How much of the surface of the Moon 45. The Sun shines vertically on the Equa- (c) No such period at all 28. When will be the Earth very far away is visible from the Earth? tor (d) None of these from the Sun? (a) More than 75% (a) Throughout the year 17. The time taken by Pluto to revolve (a) 12th December (b) Only about 40% (b) Four times a year round the Sun is... (b) 6th August (c) 7th March (c) About 59% (d) None of these (c) Twice a year (a) 4 years (b) 200 years (d) 10th November 36. The Earth rotates on its axis from (d) Once a year (c) 248 years (d) 350 years 29. Why does the Moon always keep (a) west to east (b) east to west 46. The distance between the Earth and the 18. What is one light second? roughly the same face turned towards (c) south to north (d) north to south Sun is greatest during (a) 1,86,000 km. (b) 2,99,300 km. us? 37. The planet with the shortest day is (a) Aphelion (b) Perihelion (c) 1,86,282 km. (d) None of these (a) Because it has no atmosphere of its (a) Pluto (b) Saturn (c) Winter Solstice 19. Who propounded the signs of the Zo- own (c) Venus (d) Mercury (d) Summer Solstice diac? (b) Because it rotates on its axis in about 38. Which of the following gases is most 47. The time taken by the Uranus to re- (a) Indians (b) Egyptians the same time as it takes to go round predominant in the Sun? volve round the Sun is approximately (c) Babylonians (d) None of these the Earth (a) Hydrogen (b) Nitrogen (a) 76 years (b) 80 years 20. Who is the Father of Space Science? (c) Because it does not rotate on its (c) Ozone (d) Helium (c) 84 years (d) 90 years (a) Andrin Nikaleyev axis 39. The biggest star in our galaxy is 48. How much time is required for the sun- (b) Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (d) Because its surface is covered with (a) Epsilon Aurigae light to reach the Earth? (c) Valentina Tereshkova enormous plains which look identical (b) Proxima Centauri (a) 8 min. (d) None of these 30. Which of the following motions of the (c) Sirius (d) Sun (b) 8 min. 15 seconds 21. Who was the oldest man to go to space Earth is the slowest? 40. The nearest star to Earth (excepting (c) 1 hour (d) 24 hours (a) Andrin Nikaleyev (a) Its rotation on its axis the Sun) in our galaxy is 49. Which planet was first found in space? (b) John Glen (c) Allen Bien (b) Its revolution around the Sun (a) Epsilon Indi (a) Sun (b) Pluto (d) Jack Lusmen (c) Precession (or motion) on its axis (b) Proxima Centauri (c) Neptune (d) Jupiter 22. Who was the first American to enter (d) None of these (c) Sirius A (d) GQ Andromedae 50. Which of the following is responsible space? 31. Counting outwards from the sun, ..... is 41. Who was the first to observe Sun spots? for life on the Earth? (a) Alan Bartlett Sheperd the eighth planet of the Solar System (a) Galileo (b) Halley (a) Sun (b) Moon (b) Owen Garriat (a) Neptune (b) Pluto (c) Newton (d) None of these (c) Jupiter (d) None of these (c) No American entered space so far (c) Saturn (d) Uranus 42. What are Sunspots? 51. When does Solar Eclipse take place? (d) None of these 32. Which of the following planets turns (a) These are great flames of gases (a) When the Moon is between the Ju- 23. From where was Aryabhatta launched? on its axis in 24 hours and 37 minutes? which shoot out of the Sun piter and the Earth (a) Russia (b) India (a) Earth (b) Jupiter (b) These are areas of the Sun where (b) When the Moon comes between the (c) China (d) None of these (c) Mars (d) Saturn nuclear fission takes place Sun and the Earth 24. Halley’s Comet revolves round the Sun 33. In which part of the Solar System is the (c) These are areas of the Sun where (c) When the temperature of the Sun once in Sun located? the heat is most intense which shows reaches to a superlative degree (a) 10 years (b) 60 years (a) At the top of the system up as dark spots (d) None of these (c) 76 years (d) 100 years (b) At the bottom of the system (d) These are cooler areas which move 52. Who discovered the earth’s revolution? 25. ‘Sea of Tranquility’ and ‘Ocean of (c) At the left hand corner of the sys- about the Sun’s surface and show up (a) Copernicus (b) Einstein Storms’ are in tem as dark spots (c) Galileo (d) Bhaskara 53. Space Application Centre is in (b) Venus and Mars 71. The speed per minute at which Earth (a) Conduction (b) Convection (a) Bangalore (b) Ahmedabad (c) Mercury and Venus revolves around the sun is (c) Radiation (d) Reflection (c) Thumba (d) Jupiter and Saturn (a) 800 km (b) 900 km 82. How many days does the moon take to (d) Thiruvananthapuram 64. Name the planet which appear as ‘morn- (c) 1,500 km return to the same position among the 54. The rotation of the Earth causes ing star’ in the eastern sky and ‘evening (d) more than 1,600 km constellations ? (a) Tides (b) Days and Nights star’ in the western sky. 72. If earth had no satellite of its own (a) 28 days (b) 29 days (c) Solar eclipse (d) Lunar eclipse (a) Venus (b) Jupiter (i.e.the moon), which of the following (c) 26 days (d) None of these 55. The theory of Expanding universe was (c) Saturn (d) Mercury phenomena would not occur ? 83. Which of the following planets takes first propounded by 65. Which planet was for the first time ob- (a) Climate (b) Ocean currents the least time to complete one revolu- (a) Einstein (b) Galileo served in 1930? (c) Spring tide tion around the sun ? (c) Newton (d) Hubble (a) Uranus (b) Pluto (d) All will not occur (a) Earth (b) Mercury 56. Which one of the following planets has (c) `Neptune (d) Jupiter 73. Which one of the following categories (c) Mars (d) Venus no Moon? 66. All the planets, except one, in the So- of stars has relatively small volume 84. Which of the following planets takes (a) Earth (b) Mercury lar System rotate on their axes from but very high density ? the longest time to complete one revo- (c) Neptune (d) Venus west to east. Which is the exception? (a) Dwarf stars lution around the sun ? 57. During Equinoxes, all places have equal (a) Earth (b) Mars (b) Lightweight stars (a) Pluto (b) Saturn (a) Days and nights (c) Saturn (d) Venus (c) Middleweight stars (c) Uranus (d) Venus (b) Temperature (c) Sunshine 67.