Q 01/05

Where does Neptune rank in distance from the Sun?

A) Ninth

B) Eighth

C) Seventh

D) Sixth

Answer · why

B) Eighth

Eighth: it is so remote that the only probe to reach it needed a rare line-up of the outer planets, and still took 12 years to get there.

Q 02/05

Scientists think it may rain what deep inside Neptune?

A) Diamonds

B) Iron

C) Glass

D) Sulfuric acid

Answer · why

A) Diamonds

Diamonds: far below the clouds, crushing pressure may squeeze carbon into crystals that sink like hailstones.

Q 03/05

Neptune's clouds nearly vanished in 2019; astronomers later tied their comings and goings to what?

A) The solar cycle

B) Its rings' shadows

C) Comet impacts

D) Its magnetic field

Answer · why

A) The solar cycle

The solar cycle: a surprise, since Neptune is the most distant major planet and gets only a faint trickle of the Sun's light.

Q 04/05

After finding Neptune on paper, Urbain Le Verrier predicted a planet inside Mercury's orbit; what did he call it?

A) Nemesis

B) Vulcan

C) Nibiru

D) Phaeton

Answer · why

B) Vulcan

Vulcan: no such planet was ever confirmed, and in 1915 Einstein's general relativity explained Mercury's odd orbit without it.

Q 05/05

Which composer's orchestral suite The Planets ends with a movement called 'Neptune, the Mystic'?

A) Edward Elgar

B) Gustav Holst

C) Benjamin Britten

D) Ralph Vaughan Williams

Answer · why

B) Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst: the movement closes with a hidden choir of women's voices, singing offstage and fading slowly into silence.