The Quiet Rules of Space

Science and Technology · 10 questions

Past the names of the planets: how space actually behaves.

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1. Roughly how long does sunlight take to reach the Earth?

   1. About 8 seconds
   2. About 8 hours
   3. About 8 minutes
   4. About 1 second
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   C) About 8 minutes

2. On which planet is a single day longer than its entire year?

   1. Mercury
   2. Venus
   3. Mars
   4. Neptune
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   B) Venus

3. A teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh roughly how much on Earth?

   1. A few kilograms
   2. About a tonne
   3. About a thousand tonnes
   4. Billions of tonnes
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   D) Billions of tonnes

4. What makes a black hole impossible to see directly?

   1. Not even light can escape its pull
   2. It is simply too far away
   3. It is far too cold to glow
   4. It is completely hollow
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   A) Not even light can escape its pull

5. Why is empty space slightly warmer than absolute zero?

   1. Leftover radiation from the Big Bang
   2. Direct heat from nearby stars
   3. Friction between planets
   4. The solar wind
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   A) Leftover radiation from the Big Bang

6. Why can footprints on the Moon last for a very long time?

   1. The dust hardens over time
   2. Gravity there is too weak
   3. The cold freezes them solid
   4. There is no wind or water to erode them
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   D) There is no wind or water to erode them

7. What is Jupiter's Great Red Spot?

   1. An enormous impact crater
   2. A solid continent of rock
   3. A storm that has lasted centuries
   4. The shadow of a large moon
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   C) A storm that has lasted centuries

8. An astronaut who removed their helmet in space would instantly explode.

   1. True
   2. False
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   B) False

9. Saturn's average density is lower than that of water.

   1. True
   2. False
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   A) True

10. Weightlessness on a space station happens because the station is in continuous free fall.

    1. True
    2. False
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    A) True