Q 01/05

Canis Major and Canis Minor are traditionally drawn as dogs trailing which constellation across the winter sky?

A) Hercules

B) Orion

C) Boötes

D) Perseus

Answer · why

B) Orion

Orion is the hunter both dogs trail, though the earliest Greek writers gave him only one dog. The smaller second dog had joined the picture by Roman t...

Q 02/05

Sirius, nicknamed the Dog Star, has a faint companion star that astronomers affectionately call by which name?

A) The Cub

B) The Shadow

C) The Spark

D) The Pup

Answer · why

D) The Pup

The Pup was first spotted in 1862 by American telescope-maker Alvan Graham Clark, who was testing a new lens when a faint dot appeared beside Sirius.

Q 03/05

The yearly dawn return of Sirius warned ancient farmers that which great river was about to flood?

A) The Nile

B) The Tigris

C) The Indus

D) The Ganges

Answer · why

A) The Nile

The Nile flood began soon after the star's dawn return each year, so the Egyptians worshipped Sirius as the goddess Sopdet, bringer of the flood.

Q 04/05

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, almost twice as bright as which runner-up star?

A) Vega

B) Polaris

C) Canopus

D) Arcturus

Answer · why

C) Canopus

Canopus is in truth far more luminous than Sirius. It only looks fainter because it lies much farther away, while Sirius is one of the Sun's nearest n...

Q 05/05

Which book series features Sirius Black, a wizard named after the Dog Star who can turn into a huge black dog?

A) Percy Jackson

B) Harry Potter

C) Artemis Fowl

D) Discworld

Answer · why

B) Harry Potter

Harry Potter's Black family names its children after stars and constellations, which is why Sirius has cousins called Bellatrix and Andromeda.