Solar System Quiz (Quiz: ABC Science)

Last updated: Thursday, 2 October 2008Quiz

Spanning a 1.39 million kilometre diameter and reaching 16 million degrees Kelvin, the Sun is the centre of our solar system. This 3D image shows an active area of its equatorial region.(Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Solar System Quiz—Questions

Confusing your Kelvins with your craters? Red spots with gas giants? Our solar system continues to reveal amazing facts and inspire some out-of-this-world fantasy. Take the quiz to find out how much you know.

Question 1 1. How many planets are there in our solar system?

a) Eight
b) Nine
c) Ten
d) Eleven

Question 2 2. Are the orbits of the planets on the same plane?

a) Yes, more or less
b) No, they’re all over the place

Question 3 3. In our solar system, the planets known as the giant planets are also known as the outer planets?

a) True
b) False

Question 4 4. Which statement describes the atmosphere of the planet correctly?

a) Venus is mostly carbon dioxide
b) Mercury is mostly nitrogen
c) Earth is mostly oxygen
d) Saturn is mostly helium

Question 5 5. To weigh roughly two-thirds less than what you do on Earth, which planet would you be on?

a) Uranus
b) Mars
c) Venus
d) Jupiter

Question 6 6. How long does it take for light from the Sun to reach Earth

a) 1 minute
b) 8 minutes
c) Instantaneous
d) 24 hours

Question 7 7. It takes the Sun 225-250 million years to do one revolution of the Milky Way Galaxy. How fast does the Sun travel?

a) 220km in a second
b) 220km in an minute
c) 220 km in a hour
d) 220km in a year

Question 8 8. How old is the solar system

a) 5000 years
b) 5 million years
c) 5 billion years
d) 500 billion years

Question 9 9. In 2007, Voyager 2 crossed the heliosheath boundary and into the vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars. What did this crossing confirm about the shape of our solar system?

a) It’s squashed
b) It’s round
c) It’s like a donut
d) It’s a horseshoe shape.

Question 10 10. True of False. The immediate galactic area around our solar system is a cloud known as the Local Fluff which is within an otherwise sparse region called the Local Bubble.

a) True
b) False

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