Myrradel Trivia
[Trivia #10 (Category: Space Exploration)]

The first person with the _correctly spelled_ answer is awarded the point(s).

Answers must be spelled correctly to be valid. Give yourself approximately 60 seconds per question. Questions asking for a two-part or longer answer will have their deadline extended.

When you've think you've completed a question, drag your cursor across the line which "Answer here:" is upon to reveal the correct answer to the question. Press CTRL-A while in the window to reveal all of the answers.

# 1: Q. What brilliant celestial body has been visible as the brightest starlike object in the southwest ever clear night so far this year?
Answer here: Venus

# 2: Q. On Jan. 4, the Earth was: a) at its closest point to the sun for the year, b) farthest point, c) neither.
Answer here: a) Closest point

# 3: Q. Name the asteroid that has been orbited by the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft for the past year.
Answer here: Eros

# 4: Q. Name the spacecraft that recently passed near Jupiter while on its way to Saturn.
Answer here: Cassini

# 5: Q. Name the two planets that have no moons.
Answer here: Mercury and Venus

# 6: Q. The first planet orbiting another star like the sun was discovered in a) 1934, b) 1965, c) 1995?
Answer here: c) 1995

# 7: Q. The number of such planets found so far is a) 4, b) 12, c) 53?
Answer here: c) 53

# 8: Q. Which Canadian astronaut flew to the space station this past fall to install a number of delicate pieces onto the station?
Answer here: Marc Garneau

# 9: Q. True or false: 2001 is expected to be a better than average year to see the aurora borealis (northern lights).
Answer here: True

# 10: Q. True or false: The winter is the time when auroras most commonly occur.
Answer here: False, no season is favoured

# 11: Q. True or false: Canada is the best place in the world to watch for aurora displays.
Answer here: True

# 12: Q. Although astronomers have known for more than half a century that the universe is expanding, only recently have they found that the expansion is a) accelerating, b) decelerating, c) an illusion.
Answer here: a) Accelerating

# 13: Q. True or false: Astronomers recently discovered evidence for a 10th planet in our solar system.
Answer here: False

# 14: Q. Where on the moon did the first astronauts land?
Answer here: Sea of Tranquility

# 15: Q. An international team recently discovered more than a dozen small moons orbiting other planets in our solar system. Name two of those planets (in the same answer).
Answer here: Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus

# 15: Q. An international team recently discovered more than a dozen small moons orbiting other planets in our solar system. Name two of those planets (in the same answer).
Answer here: Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus

# 16: Q. Name the two base names of the four spacecraft that are now well beyond the orbit of Pluto (in the same answer).
Answer here: Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11 (Voyager and Pioneer)

# 17: Q. Which is the only planet still not visited by a spacecraft from Earth?
Answer here: Pluto

# 18: Q. In what year do most people in the Eastern Time Zone experience their next total eclipse of the sun (between 2020 and 2030)?
Answer here: 2024

# 19: Q. Which spacecraft is scheduled to be crashed into a remote sector of the Pacific Ocean about a month from now?
Answer here: The Mir space station

# 20: Q. The summer, what planet will be closer to Earth than it has been in more than a decade?
Answer here: Mars