Q 01/05

What are bits of space debris called before they enter the atmosphere and burn up as meteors?

A) Planetoids

B) Meteorites

C) Asteroids

D) Meteoroids

Answer · why

D) Meteoroids

Meteoroids in a shower are mostly between a grain of sand and a pea in size, which is why almost all burn up; a space rock that does reach the ground ...

Q 02/05

The Perseids, Leonids and Geminids all take their names from what?

A) Constellations

B) Their parent comets

C) Their discoverers

D) Roman gods

Answer · why

A) Constellations

Constellations: each shower is named for the star pattern its meteors seem to stream from, with the Latin name given an '-id' ending, so Perseus gives...

Q 03/05

The point in the sky from which a shower's meteors appear to fan out is called what?

A) The apex

B) The nadir

C) The radiant

D) The zenith

Answer · why

C) The radiant

The radiant is a trick of perspective: the meteors travel on parallel paths and only seem to fan out, the way railway tracks appear to meet at the hor...

Q 04/05

What is the best equipment for watching a meteor shower?

A) A telescope

B) Binoculars

C) The naked eye

D) A spotting scope

Answer · why

C) The naked eye

The naked eye wins because a meteor can streak across any part of the sky, and a telescope or binoculars show only a sliver of it; a dark site and pat...

Q 05/05

Which future president, woken by a deacon, watched the great Leonid storm of 1833?

A) Ulysses S. Grant

B) Abraham Lincoln

C) Andrew Johnson

D) James Buchanan

Answer · why

B) Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was roused with the cry that the day of judgment had come; in the Civil War he retold it, saying the fixed stars had kept their places...