Q 01/05

In which constellation are the Pleiades found?

A) Orion

B) Taurus

C) Gemini

D) Perseus

Answer · why

B) Taurus

Taurus. The cluster rides on the Bull's shoulder, and the Bull's reddish eye, Aldebaran, is Arabic for 'the follower', probably because it trails the ...

Q 02/05

Charles Messier listed the Pleiades among objects easily mistaken for what?

A) Comets

B) Asteroids

C) Planets

D) Meteors

Answer · why

A) Comets

Comets. An avid comet hunter, Messier listed fuzzy lookalikes so nobody wasted time on them, which makes the bright, unmistakable Pleiades a curious e...

Q 03/05

Which agency ran a supercomputer named Pleiades, ranked third fastest in the world in 2008?

A) CERN

B) JAXA

C) NASA

D) ESA

Answer · why

C) NASA

NASA. The machine at its Ames centre in California sifted a space telescope's data for distant worlds, and it ran for 17 years before being switched o...

Q 04/05

Roughly how far away are the Pleiades, one of the nearest star clusters to Earth?

A) About 44 light-years

B) About 444 light-years

C) About 4,400 light-years

D) About 44,000 light-years

Answer · why

B) About 444 light-years

About 444 light-years. The light you see tonight set out in the 1580s, when Elizabeth I was on England's throne.

Q 05/05

Roughly how many stars belong to the Pleiades cluster in total?

A) About 10

B) About 1,000

C) About 100,000

D) About 10 million

Answer · why

B) About 1,000

About 1,000. Telescopes have confirmed more than a thousand members, yet the naked eye catches only a handful of the brightest.