Q 01/05

Which rock guitarist earned a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007, some 37 years after starting it?

A) David Gilmour

B) Mark Knopfler

C) Brian May

D) Jimmy Page

Answer · why

C) Brian May

Brian May shelved his thesis on interplanetary dust in 1974, when Queen found international success. He later worked with the science team on NASA's N...

Q 02/05

Which element was first spotted in the Sun's light during an 1868 eclipse, years before anyone isolated it on Earth?

A) Helium

B) Neon

C) Argon

D) Krypton

Answer · why

A) Helium

Helium takes its name from helios, the Greek word for the Sun. It was 1895 before the chemist William Ramsay isolated it on Earth, from a uranium mine...

Q 03/05

What name do astrophysicists give the extreme vertical stretching of an astronaut falling feet first into a black hole?

A) Frame dragging

B) Tidal locking

C) Gravitational slingshot

D) Spaghettification

Answer · why

D) Spaghettification

Spaghettification happens because gravity pulls far harder on the feet than on the head. Near a small black hole the difference is strong enough to pu...

Q 04/05

Light leaving the Sun's surface crosses about 150 million kilometres of space to reach Earth in roughly how long?

A) 8 seconds

B) 8 minutes

C) 8 hours

D) 8 days

Answer · why

B) 8 minutes

About 8 minutes is all sunlight needs, which means we always see the Sun as it was that long ago. Astronomers describe the distance as roughly 8 light...

Q 05/05

Astronomers watching the 2017 neutron-star collision GW170817 saw the creation of several Earth masses of which element?

A) Copper

B) Gold

C) Nickel

D) Titanium

Answer · why

B) Gold

Gold and platinum amounting to about ten Earth masses formed in the collision, by one estimate. Such mergers are now seen as a main cosmic source of b...