Astronomy Study Guide

Astronomy / Space

139 answers | 1,003 clues

Must-Know (31)

Venus 73x 6.9% stumper $526 avg J:39 DJ:33 FJ:1

J $100 1998 The atmospheric pressure of this planet nearest to Earth is about 90 times that of the Earth

J $500 1998 Due to the greenhouse effect, this planet's surface reaches almost 900 degrees

J $1,000 2021 Always covered by clouds of sulfuric acid. No silver linings

Mars 66x 7.6% stumper $602 avg J:32 DJ:34

J $200 2014 Veronica ____, a TV sleuth

J $600 2017 It rotates on its axis every 24 hours, 37 minutes

J $1,000 DD 2024 Weak gravity there has led to the tallest-known volcanoes in the solar system

Neptune 51x 10.4% stumper $798 avg J:25 DJ:23 FJ:3

J $200 2021 Arranging burials at sea: the ____ Society

J $500 1996 This planet's moon Triton orbits in a direction opposite the planet's rotation

J $1,000 2020 ...may have used its gravity to capture an independent object that would become one of its moons--Triton

Freddie Mercury 51x 15.7% stumper $602 avg J:25 DJ:26

J $100 1990 Because it's closest to the sun, this planet is best seen near the horizon just before sunset or sunrise

J $600 2021 A Bay Area newspaper: The ____ News

J $1,000 2024 It has the most eccentric orbit of any planet, varying between 29 million & 43 million miles

Saturn 49x 8.3% stumper $573 avg J:27 DJ:21 FJ:1

J $200 2016 Everyone wants a turn gazing at this spectacular planet

J $500 1997 Titan is the largest moon of this planet; Calypso & Telesto are among the smallest

J $1,000 2023 It's surrounded by phenomena namedA, B, C, D, E, F & G

Pluto 46x 9.8% stumper $685 avg J:21 DJ:20 FJ:5

J $100 1993 It was located by 20th century scientists looking for Planet X

J $500 1997 Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered this tiny planet in 1930

DJ $1,000 DD 2004 Moving at 2.9 miles per second, this planet has the slowest orbital speed of any planet in our solar system

Jupiter 44x 16.3% stumper $640 avg J:23 DJ:20 FJ:1

J $100 1996 This largest planet spins the most rapidly; its day is just 10 hours long

J $500 1994 It has the strongest surface gravity of our sun's planets, 2.64 times that of Earth

J $1,000 2013 Before missile; after jumpin'

Uranus 36x 42.4% stumper $1,024 avg J:10 DJ:23 FJ:3

DJ $400 2019 William Herschel described it as "perhaps a comet", but it turned out to be the seventh planet

J $500 1995 William Herschel discovered this planet's 2 largest moons, Oberon & Titania, as well as the planet itself

J $1,000 2017 Relative to the plane of its orbit, it spins almost on its side

the Earth 26x 28.0% stumper $628 avg J:12 DJ:13 FJ:1

J $100 1987 During the geocentric period of astronomy, people believed the Sun revolved around this

DJ $600 1996 Seen from space, this planet appears as a blue ocean sphere marked with brown, green & white areas

DJ $1,600 2016 This 1931 novel was written by a missionaries' daughter who went on to win a Nobel Prize

Orion 21x 11.1% stumper $767 avg J:4 DJ:14 FJ:3

DJ $200 2001 This hunter's dogs Canis Major & Canis Minor are positioned at his heels

J $600 2009 This constellation is the site of 2 nebulae: the Great Nebula in its sword & the Horsehead Nebula in its belt

J $1,000 2021 Also known as the 3 Sisters, Alnitak, Alnilam & Mintaka make up this hunter's "Belt"

the Moon 16x $362 avg J:10 DJ:6

DJ $200 1999 Galileo's first discovery in 1609 was that the surface of this is not smooth, but pitted

J $500 1990 H.G. Wells & Yuri Gagarin have geographic features named for them here

DJ $1,000 1988 The 1st live pictures of a manned liftoff from here were transmitted in August 1971

Aquarius 14x 7.1% stumper $829 avg J:6 DJ:8

J $100 1995 This sign of the zodiac may be abbreviated Aqr.

DJ $600 1986 Member of the zodiac who is always dumping on the Southern Fish

DJ $1,200 2015 His water jug is pouring a stream of about 30 faint stars toward the brighter star Fomalhaut

an asteroid 14x 15.4% stumper $708 avg J:7 DJ:6 FJ:1

J $200 1997 In 1996 one of these minor planets the size of Pikes Peak was named for newsman Walter Cronkite

DJ $800 1989 In 1801 Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres, the 1st of these, between Mars & Jupiter

J $1,000 2003 In 1801 Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the first known one of these heavenly objects & dubbed it Ceres

Gemini 11x $510 avg J:8 DJ:2 FJ:1

J $200 2012 Twins

J $500 DD 1999 The Voskhod program & this U.S. program were the first to use multiperson space flights

J $1,200 DD 1993 Castor & Pollux are the 2 brightest stars in this constellation

asteroids 11x 9.1% stumper $618 avg J:4 DJ:7

DJ $400 2006 These objects, aka minor planets, range in size from about 20 feet in diameter to around 485 miles in diameter

J $500 1995 Of these "minor planets", Vesta is the only one sometimes visible to the naked eye

DJ $1,000 1991 Scientists have plotted the orbits of over 2500 of these, including those of Hidalgo & Amor

Halley's Comet 11x $300 avg J:5 DJ:6

J $100 1996 The next time we'll be able to see this famous object from Earth is in 2134; reserve your seats now

J $600 2003 Around 240 B.C. Chinese astronomers observed this, later named for a British astronomer

J $100 1987 According to "The Book of Popular Science", the 1st comet definitely recorded was this one

the Milky Way 10x 20.0% stumper $440 avg J:5 DJ:5

J $100 1999 All the stars you can see with the naked eye are part of this galaxy

J $500 1994 The center of this galaxy lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius

DJ $1,200 2013 (Jimmy of the Clue Crew presents the clue from the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia.) In addition to giant modern scopes, Green Bank houses the first radio telescope used in 1938 to confirm that mysterious static on phone lines was caused by r...

Taurus 9x $478 avg J:3 DJ:6

J $100 1995 If you had asked President Monroe, "What's your sign?", he should have said this, & that's no bull

DJ $1,600 2009 No bull--the Pleiades are found in this constellation of the zodiac

DJ $200 1998 The Crab Nebula, first observed in 1054 A.D., can be found in this constellation, & that's no bull

Galileo 9x 11.1% stumper $1,144 avg J:2 DJ:7

J $100 1994 Around 1610 he discovered the Moon had craters & "seas"

DJ $600 1985 His book "Sidereus Nuncius" on telescope use was a best seller of 1610

DJ $1,700 DD 1997 In 1610 he published his discovery of 4 moons of Jupiter in "The Starry Messenger"

Andromeda 9x 11.1% stumper $1,289 avg J:1 DJ:8

DJ $600 2001 This constellation of a lady chained to a rock contains the nearby M31 galaxy

DJ $1,000 1988 Cassiopeia is the lady in the chair & she, the chained lady

DJ $800 2025 The most distant thing you can usually see with the unaided eye is this galaxy 2.5 million light-years away

Nicolaus Copernicus 9x $733 avg J:2 DJ:7

DJ $200 1990 Born Niklas Koppernigk, he was a canon of Frauenberg Cathedral from 1497 until his death in 1543

DJ $800 1999 Aristarchos proposed a heliocentric theory about 1,700 years before this famous Pole

DJ $3,000 DD 2008 This Pole's "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" was published with a disclaimer to avoid charges of heresy

Libra 8x 12.5% stumper $425 avg J:6 DJ:2

J $100 1990 People born under this sign tend to weigh decisions too long; they don't want to become unbalanced

J $500 1995 Some associate this sign with the Greek goddess Themis, who was the personification of justice

J $300 1987 Like M. Douglas & B. Bardot, persons born under this "balanced" sign bear the Venus dimple

Leo 8x 12.5% stumper $662 avg J:3 DJ:5

J $100 1993 People born under this sign love to be the center of attention; if you ignore them, they may "roar"

DJ $600 1994 This constellation represents the Nemean lion, killed by Hercules

J $1,000 DD 2012 The 2 shortest-named constellations each have 3 letters: Ara & this one in the zodiac

comets 8x $689 avg J:3 DJ:5

J $200 1997 Some scientists say thousands of these, known as "dirty snowballs", strike our atmosphere every day

DJ $600 1988 These have been described as "dirty snowballs" of dust & ice orbiting the sun

DJ $1,512 DD 1999 Among these objects, Encke's has an orbital period of 3.3 years; Tago-Sato-Kosaka, 420,000 years

a black hole 8x $738 avg J:4 DJ:4

J $100 1996 In 1796 Pierre Simon de Laplace suggested the existence of these objects from which light can't escape

J $500 2001 In 1996 astronomers found a massive one of these at the center of the Milky Way galaxy

J $1,000 2012 John Archibald Wheeler popularized this term for an object so dense that not even light can escape

Ursa Major 8x $1,125 avg J:1 DJ:7

J $400 2012 Big bear

DJ $600 1996 The Big Dipper is part of this larger constellation

DJ $5,200 DD 2004 To an astronomer UMa is an abbreviation for this constellation

Sirius 8x $675 avg J:3 DJ:5

DJ $400 2010 Also known as the dog star, it's the brightest star other than the sun as seen from earth

DJ $800 2022 The brightest star in the night sky is this binary star in Canis Major

J $1,300 DD 2021 The Winter Triangle spans stars in constellations from Betelgeuse to Procyon to this bright star in Canis Major

the sun 8x $412 avg J:5 DJ:3

J $200 1996 It's the only star on which astronomers have observed spots

DJ $600 1992 Perihelion refers to the point in the orbit of a planet that's nearest to this body

DJ $1,000 1988 Its visible surface is called the photosphere

rings 8x $462 avg J:2 DJ:6

DJ $200 1986 Saturn's stretch out to a distance of at least 170,000 miles

DJ $600 1991 Saturn's Cassini division is a division in these

J $200 2002 Observations by astronomer James Elliot in 1977 discovered 5 of these around Uranus

a supernova 8x $775 avg J:4 DJ:4

J $100 1995 One of these can be a hundred times more luminous than a regular nova

J $500 1989 The crab nebula is the remnant of one of these witnessed by Chinese astronomers in 1054

DJ $2,500 DD 2023 In 1054 one happened in Taurus:RAVEN SOUP

a solar eclipse 8x $500 avg J:2 DJ:6

J $200 1993 2017 is the next year the path of totality of one of these will be over the U.S.

J $800 2003 In 585 B.C. Thales of Miletus accurately predicted one of these astronomical events

DJ $1,000 1986 The last of these in this century will occur on August 11,1999

Should-Know (30)

stars 7x 14.3% stumper $357 avg J:2 DJ:5

DJ $200 1987 The word constellation is from Latin meaning these "together"

J $500 1993 Around 1700 John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, compiled a numbered catalog of these

DJ $200 1986 They can be classified as blue giants or white dwarfs

Pisces 7x 20.0% stumper $800 avg J:3 DJ:2 FJ:2

J $200 1995 People born under this sign of the fishes are known for their generosity

J $600 2016 Vernalis:Among these fishes

DJ $2,400 DD 2015 This constellation is where you'll find the Sun as spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere

galaxies 7x $714 avg DJ:7

DJ $200 1989 The Milky Way is part of a cluster of these called the local group

DJ $600 1986 Stars & these vast collections of stars are called the building blocks of the universe

DJ $2,000 2010 Pumping out energy, quasars are one type of object described as the active nuclei of these vast structures

Cancer 7x 14.3% stumper $686 avg J:3 DJ:4

J $100 1986 The "crabby" sign of the zodiac

DJ $600 1985 The sign America was born under

DJ $1,600 2018 (Sarah of the Clue Crew presents a constellation on the monitor.) The star Acubens, whose name is derived from the Arabic for "claws", is on the left, or southern, claw of this, the dimmest constellation of the zodiac

Aries 7x 14.3% stumper $943 avg J:4 DJ:3

J $100 1995 Some astrologers call people born under this sign Arians

J $600 2012 Ram

DJ $4,000 DD 2018 This Zodiac constellation has only one bright star, Hamal--Arabic for "sheep"

a comet 7x $600 avg J:2 DJ:5

J $100 1994 Most of the meteors in a meteor shower are debris left behind by one of these tailed bodies

J $500 1985 From Greek "long-haired", they have tails up to a hundred million miles

DJ $1,600 2009 A coma is found around the head of one of these, which also takes its name from the Greek for "hair"

Skylab 7x 33.3% stumper $767 avg J:2 DJ:4 FJ:1

DJ $400 1988 Craft aboard which U.S. astronauts spent the longest time in space, about 2000 hours

J $500 1997 In 1973 Alan Bean spent nearly 2 months aboard this U.S. space station

DJ $1,000 1985 U.S. equivalent to the Russian Salyut space station

the Southern Cross 7x 16.7% stumper $1,400 avg DJ:6 FJ:1

DJ $400 1990 The line joining the Gamma & Alpha stars in this constellation points toward the South Pole

DJ $800 1993 Also called Crux australis, this constellation is the smallest in the sky

DJ $1,000 1984 This well-known So. Hemisphere constellation appears on flags of Australia & New Zealand

Scorpio 6x 33.3% stumper $567 avg J:3 DJ:3

J $300 1989 This sign is represented by an arachnid that may have been the 1st land animal

J $500 1993 This sign is symbolized by an arachnid that's fluorescent when exposed to ultraviolet light

DJ $1,200 2009 (Kelly of the Clue Crew shows a constellation on the monitor.) Marking its head, Antares is the brightest star in this constellation; the two starshererepresent the sting in its tail

Sagittarius 6x $467 avg J:2 DJ:4

J $300 1995 This sign of the archer is ruled by Jupiter, which astrologers believe is a friendly planet

J $500 1991 This sign is known for directness—as direct as an arrow speeding to its mark, you might say

DJ $400 2017 The "arrow" about to be launched by this constellation points to the center of the Milky Way

Johannes Kepler 6x 16.7% stumper $1,117 avg J:1 DJ:5

J $500 1999 According to one of this German's laws of motion, planets travel faster when they are closer to the sun

DJ $1,200 2013 The first 2 of this German astronomer's laws of planetary motion appeared in his 1609 work "Astronomia Nova"

DJ $1,600 2021 So far about 2/3 of all exoplanets discovered have been found by the space telescope named for this German astronomer

Virgo 5x 20.0% stumper $720 avg J:3 DJ:2

J $200 1993 If this is your sign, astrologer Linda Goodman would call you a "Virginian"

J $1,000 DD 2002 Alphabetically, it's the last constellation of the Zodiac

DJ $400 1996 Astronomers say they've found 2 new planets, one in the Big Dipper & one in this "chaste" constellation

Cygnus 5x $1,920 avg DJ:5

DJ $1,000 1997 Deneb, a star of the first magnitude, marks the tail of the swan in this constellation

DJ $1,600 2006 The name of the star Deneb in this constellation is Arabic for "tail"; it forms the end of the tail of the swan

DJ $2,000 2022 Light & everything else takes a swan dive into this constellation's X-1, the first known black hole

craters 5x 20.0% stumper $260 avg J:1 DJ:4

J $100 1994 The largest of these on the moon appear to be of meteoric origin, the smallest ones of volcanic origin

DJ $200 1988 From Latin for "mixing bowl", these are found on Mercury & Mars as well as on the Moon

DJ $200 1988 On the moon, these include the Jules Verne, the Plato, & the Giordano Bruno

12 5x 20.0% stumper $220 avg J:3 DJ:2

J $100 1989 The 6 U.S. lunar landings put a total of this many men on the Moon

J $200 2002 There are this many houses in the astrological subdivision

J $200 1990 A horoscope is divided into this number of houses which represent health, friends, death, etc.

a spiral galaxy 5x $880 avg DJ:5

DJ $600 1999 Edwin Hubble was the first to say the Andromeda nebula was one of these, separate from ours

DJ $1,200 2026 You're the pride of your pride if you know that Leo is home to NGC 2903, one of these galaxies with pinwheeling arms

DJ $600 1987 Markarian 348, 13 times the size of the Milky Way, may be the largest of these in the universe

the North Star 5x $420 avg J:3 DJ:2

J $100 1997 2 stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper, called The Pointers, point to this star

J $500 1987 About 14,000 years ago & again in A.D. 14000, the star Vega, not Polaris, will be this

DJ $1,000 DD 1984 Star followed in this songof escape from slavery:"Follow the drinkin' gourd / Follow the drinkin' gourd / For the old man is a-waiting..."

Tycho Brahe 4x $1,100 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1997 In 1572 this Danish astronomer discovered a supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia

DJ $1,000 1994 This Dane's observations of the "New Star" of 1572 were published in his "De Nova Stella"

DJ $1,000 1991 In 1565 this Danish astronomer had part of his nose sliced off in a duel

the Kuiper Belt 4x 50.0% stumper $1,500 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $1,000 2009 This belt of debris beyond Neptune was visually verified in 1992

J $1,000 2007 In July 2005 scientists announced the discovery of Eris, a dwarf planet larger than Pluto, in this belt

DJ $2,000 2018 Undetected until the 1990s, this belt is a zone of space past 30 A.U. & home to objects like dwarf planets & icy centaurs

pulsars 4x $2,467 avg DJ:3 FJ:1

DJ $400 1990 Like quasars, these stars also send out radio waves but in short, rapid bursts

DJ $2,000 2021 The first exoplanets were discovered in 1992 circling PSR B1257+12, one of these stars emitting regular bursts of radio waves

FJ 2020 Discovered in 1967, the 1st of these stars was dubbed LGM-1--the perceived signal was jokingly thought to be from little green men

Phobos 4x 33.3% stumper $833 avg J:2 DJ:1 FJ:1

J $500 1998 It's nothing to fear, but this inner & larger of Mars' 2 moons orbits the planet every 7.65 hours

J $1,000 2018 (Sarah of the Clue Crew shows a model of Mars on the monitor.) Mars may have an accessory in 40 million years, as its gravity could break apart this inner & larger moon, whose debris would swirl around the planet & form a ring

FJ 2016 Its name means "fear", & this moon orbits closest to a planet's surface of any moon in the solar system

Mercury & Venus 4x $550 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $200 2000 They are the 2 planets closest to our sun

DJ $600 DD 1986 The 2 planets in our solar system with no moons

J $1,000 DD 2008 As seen from Earth, these 2 planets show lunar-type phases

Kohoutek 4x $975 avg J:1 DJ:3

J $400 1988 Discovered in 1973, this comet was extensively investigated from Skylab

DJ $1,000 1991 In 1973 this new comet became the 1st to be studied from space when photographed by Skylab

DJ $1,000 1987 Unlike Halley's, it'll take another 75,000 years for this comet, 1st seen in 1973, to return

Capricorn 4x 33.3% stumper $500 avg J:2 DJ:1 FJ:1

J $200 1991 Appropriately, this sign is characterized by a "goat"like ability to climb over life's obstacles

J $500 DD 1987 According to thefollowing Kris Kristofferson song, it's Jesus' sun sign:"He ate organic food / He believed in love and peace / And never wore no shoes / Long hair, beard and sandals / And a funky bunch of friends..."

FJ 2022 The brightest star of this constellation is Deneb Algedi, or "Kid's Tail"

the solar wind 4x $2,900 avg DJ:4

DJ $1,000 1998 By the time this flow of gasses from the sun reaches Earth, its speed may be 1-2 million mph; what a blowhard!

DJ $1,600 2023 Out at the edge of the solar system, the heliopause is where this stream of plasma from the sun meets interstellar space

DJ $3,000 DD 1991 The steady flow of charged particles from the sun's corona into space is called this

the Big Dipper 4x $400 avg DJ:4

DJ $200 1994 This configuration in Ursa Major is also known as the Plow

DJ $1,000 DD 2010 (Sarah of the Clue Crew shows a painting on the monitor.) Though not actually seen in that part of the sky, in Van Gogh's "Starry Night over the Rhone", you can clearly see this famous grouping, including Merak

DJ $200 1991 The seven brightest stars of Ursa Major or the Great Bear form this famous pattern

Edmond Halley 4x 25.0% stumper $375 avg J:2 DJ:2

DJ $400 1999 He predicted a comet he observed in 1682 would return in 1758 (he was right)

DJ $400 1997 In 1705 he announced that the comets of 1531, 1607, & 1682 were the same comet

J $400 1995 He was the second Astronomer Royal & perhaps the only one you could name

an arrow 4x $450 avg J:4

J $300 1995 Sagitta translates to this weapon, something Sagittarius may use

J $500 1986 It follows that if the constellation Sagittarius is "the archer", the constellation Sagitta is this

J $400 2018 Sagittais this projectile

the Pleiades 4x $1,450 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1997 This cluster known as the "Seven Sisters" actually has over 300 stars within a 30 light year diameter

DJ $2,000 2018 This cluster of stars also known as the Seven Sisters lies within the constellation Taurus

DJ $2,000 2016 Aldebaran, from the Arabic for "follower", is so named because it follows this cluster of 7 sisters in the sky

Neptune and Pluto 4x $1,025 avg DJ:4

DJ $800 1989 Though the orbit of these 2 planets cross, they'll never hit each other

DJ $2,000 DD 1988 The 3 planets discovered in the 18th, 19th, & 20th centuries, in order of discovery

DJ $500 DD 1987 The 6 "Superior" planets

Worth Knowing (78)

Ursa Minor 3 Titan 3 the corona 3 Pulsar 3 Pegasus 3 nebula 3 meteors 3 Mensa 3 Japan 3 Hydra 3 Draco 3 Cassiopeia 3 carbon dioxide 3 a galaxy 3 a clock 3 zodiac 3 the Hubble 3 the Great Red Spot 3 planets 3 perihelion 3 hydrogen & helium 3 a radio telescope 3 a new moon 3 a horoscope 3 the Space Shuttle 3 William Herschel 2 waxing 2 water 2 Venus Williams 2 unicorn 2 Triton 2 the Star of Bethlehem 2 the Oort Cloud 2 the Northern Cross 2 the European Space Agency 2 the core 2 the Big Bang 2 the Argo 2 sunspots 2 sunset 2 solar flares 2 reflecting 2 quasars 2 Phobos & Deimos 2 Perseus 2 parallax 2 one second 2 nova 2 new 2 Mt. Palomar 2 Krypton 2 John Glenn 2 Icarus 2 helium 2 gravity 2 Gerard Kuiper 2 gas 2 ellipse 2 constellations 2 Black holes 2 binary 2 beta 2 Baily's beads 2 Asclepius 2 Apollo 13 2 Alpha Centauri 2 7 2 "Sunrise, Sunset" 2 "Drops Of Jupiter" 2 the solstice 2 the sails 2 the rings of Saturn 2 the lyre 2 the Little Dipper 2 Taurus, the bull 2 lunar seas 2 Polaris 2 Lonely Planet 2

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