Q 01/05

About how many stars are visible to the naked eye?

A) 4,000

B) 6,000

C) 9,000

D) 15,000

Answer · why

A) 4,000

All of them are inside the Milky Way.

Q 02/05

Stars and their remnants create almost all elements heavier than which element?

A) Carbon

B) Lithium

C) Iron

D) Oxygen

Answer · why

B) Lithium

Hydrogen, helium and a little lithium came from the Big Bang; the rest was cooked in stars.

Q 03/05

The word "star" shares an ancient root meaning "to burn" with which English word?

A) Fire

B) Heat

C) Sun

D) Ash

Answer · why

D) Ash

Asterisk, asteroid and Esther are cousins too.

Q 04/05

The oldest accurately dated star chart, from 1534 BC, comes from which civilisation?

A) China

B) Babylon

C) Greece

D) Egypt

Answer · why

D) Egypt

The earliest known catalogues came from Babylonian astronomers a little later.

Q 05/05

Which astronomers were the first to record a supernova, in 185 AD?

A) Mayan

B) Chinese

C) Arab

D) Greek

Answer · why

B) Chinese

The brightest stellar event in history, SN 1006, came eight centuries later.