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

a) Eight
b) Nine
c) Ten
d) Eleven2. Are the orbits of the planets on the same plane?

a) Yes, more or less

b) No, they’re all over the place3. In our solar system, the planets known as the giant planets are
also known as the outer planets?

a) True
b) False4. 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 helium5. 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) Jupiter6. How long does it take for light from the Sun to reach Earth

a) 1 minute
b) 8 minutes
c) Instantaneous
d) 24 hours7. 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 year8. How old is the solar system
 a) 5000 years
b) 5 million years
c) 5 billion years
d) 500 billion years9. 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.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

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

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

Answer: A Eight. There are officially eight planets in our solar system – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is no longer classified as a planet. There are also moons, asteroids and
comets as well as the Kuiper Belt which includes Pluto.
2. Are the orbits of the planets on the same plane?

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

Answer: A Yes, the planets orbit in or close to a plane around the Sun called the ecliptic. The ecliptic is inclined
7 degrees from the plane of the Sun’s equator.
3. In our solar system, the planets known as the giant planets are also known as the outer planets?

a) True b) False
Answer: A True. The giant planets, also known as gas giants are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and have
diameters greater than 48,000 km. They are also the outer planets. The small planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, are also the inner planets.
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
Answer: A Venus is 96% Carbon dioxide and 4% nitrogen. For the other planets – Mercury doesn’t really have
an atmosphere; Earth is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen; and Saturn is 19% helium and the rest hydrogen.
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

Answer: B Mars’s surface gravity is only 38 percent of the gravity of Earth.
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?

Answer: B 8 minutes . The Earth is 149.6 million km from the Sun, and since light travels at 299,792,458 m / s it
takes just over 8 minutes to reach the Earth.
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

Answer: A 220km in a second.
8. How old is the solar system

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

Answer: C 5 billion years. The solar system is presumed to have formed at the same time as the Sun, about 5
billion years ago.
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.
Answer: A It’s squashed. Because Voyager 2 crossed the heliosheath boundary 16 billion kilometres from where
Voyager 1 crossed in 2004, scientists were able to confirm that the solar system is squashed or dented and that
the bubble carved into space by the solar wind is not perfectly round.
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
Answer: A True. Bizarre though it sounds, the Sun is inside a located inside a cloud, known as the Local Fluff,
which is located in the middle of a hot bubble called the Local Bubble.