Can you tell the difference between Mars and Mercury? Which planet has the greatest number of moons? What is a dwarf planet? It is finally time to muster the courage and try to reach beyond the Earth’s sky.
Our planet is but a tiny rock in the Solar System, an enormous assemblage full of knowledge and surprises. Do you have what it takes to face the cosmic challenge and answer all questions correctly? If that’s the case, get ready for Planet Quiz!
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Our Planet Quiz is beginner-friendly and consists of questions which test basic knowledge of the Solar System. The quiz doesn’t go beyond high school level so it can be a great way to reinforce your basic understanding of the celestial bodies in the Solar System, or be used as a good entry point to astronomy, if you are just getting started.
As a warm-up, we welcome you to take a look at our article below, where you will learn basic terms such as planet, system, or celestial body, and many interesting facts about the Solar System.
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Even though most people are familiar with the term, not many can provide an adequate explanation of what the Solar System is. The system the Earth is part of, is one of many in the observable universe. Their common denominator is the host star and planets orbiting around it. The name of our system, ‘Solar’ comes from the ‘solis’, Latin word for the Sun.
The Solar System is part of the Milky Way Galaxy, its outer spiral arm. It consists of the host star Sun, and planets bound to it by the forces of gravity. There are 9 significant celestial bodies orbiting the Sun: Mercury, Mars, Earth, Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Pluto. All of the above are planets with the exception of Pluto, a dwarf planet which lost the status of planet in 2006.
Apart from planets, there are moons orbiting the planets, millions of asteroids, meteoroids and comets.
Structures which are part of any given system are described as celestial bodies. They are also called heavenly bodies, stellar objects, celestial objects, and astronomical objects. Asteroids, planets, stars, meteoroids – all are physical entities included in the systems, considered celestial bodies.
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The Sun is an astronomical body included in the Solar System and its host star. Its mass is enormous, constituting about 99.86% mass of the entire system. It radiates energy such as light, and ultraviolet.
The Sun is a 4.5 billion years old ball of hydrogen and helium, known as a yellow dwarf star. It is located at the center of the Solar System, providing energy that makes life on Earth possible.
The 8 planets orbiting the Sun are also celestial bodies. If we take into consideration their distance from the Solar System’s star, their order is as follows: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
According to NASA, a celestial body is a planet if it meets the free following requirements:
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Ways to assess if a given physical entity is a planet or not are constantly evolving. Because of that, our understanding of what a planet is improves over time, which can result in definition changes. New discoveries lead to scientific debates about how to describe different celestial bodies. Pluto and Ceres were once planets until the scientific language needed corrections allowing us to describe the physical world in a better detail.
Other structures which can be observed in the Solar System are asteroids and comets. Asteroids are large, irregularly-shaped objects orbiting the system’s star. They are considered minor planets without an atmosphere. Shapes and sizes can vary greatly between asteroids. There are 1-meter rocky formations but also 1000 km long dwarf planets. Asteroids can form asteroid belts, regions where most asteroids are found.
Comets can be understood as snowballs made of frozen gasses, dust and rock that orbit the Sun. In its frozen state, they can be as big as a small city. Whenever a comet gets closer to the star, it heats up and releases dust and gasses which makes it look like a glowing head. Their appearances on the Earth’s sky have been observed and recorded since ancient times. Because it can be seen without the use of any devices, many cultures and religions throughout the ages mentioned these gorgeous celestial bodies.
The cosmic challenge awaits you. Answer 20 questions and learn exciting facts about the Solar System. Good luck!
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