Q 01/05

Where does Saturn rank in distance from the Sun?

A) Fourth

B) Fifth

C) Sixth

D) Seventh

Answer · why

C) Sixth

Sixth. Saturn is also the farthest planet that people found without a telescope, so for most of history it marked the edge of the known Solar System.

Q 02/05

Saturn is the only planet in the Solar System with which property?

A) Less dense than water

B) Tilted on its side

C) Spinning backwards

D) A day longer than its year

Answer · why

A) Less dense than water

Less dense than water. Saturn's average density is about 70% of water's, so in a big enough bathtub the giant planet would float.

Q 03/05

Saturn's rings are made mainly of what?

A) Rock

B) Water ice

C) Dust

D) Frozen methane

Answer · why

B) Water ice

Water ice. The pieces range from dust-sized grains to chunks as big as a house, and may be the wreckage of comets, asteroids or moons torn apart by Sa...

Q 04/05

Roughly how thick are Saturn's main rings on average?

A) About 20 metres

B) About 2,000 kilometres

C) About 20 kilometres

D) About 2 metres

Answer · why

A) About 20 metres

They stretch out over 120,000 km from the planet yet are thinner than many buildings are tall.

Q 05/05

Who first realised the bulges beside Saturn were a ring?

A) Johannes Kepler

B) Isaac Newton

C) Giovanni Cassini

D) Christiaan Huygens

Answer · why

D) Christiaan Huygens

Christiaan Huygens. The Dutchman, who also invented the pendulum clock, found a better way to grind lenses, and his improved telescope also showed him...