Q 01/05

The word 'zodiac' comes from a Greek word meaning what?

A) Twelve houses

B) Path of the moon

C) Circle of the sun

D) Of little animals

Answer · why

D) Of little animals

Zōidion is the diminutive of zōion, animal, reflecting how many signs are beasts or hybrids.

Q 02/05

Into how many equal signs is the zodiac divided along the ecliptic?

A) 10

B) 12

C) 13

D) 24

Answer · why

B) 12

Each occupies 30° of celestial longitude; the Babylonians set it up by analogy to twelve 30-day months.

Q 03/05

The zodiac and its 360-degree measurement originated with which ancient civilisation?

A) Greek

B) Chinese

C) Egyptian

D) Babylonian

Answer · why

D) Babylonian

It reached Greek astronomy by the 2nd century BC via Eudoxus and later shaped the Hindu zodiac.

Q 04/05

What is the ecliptic?

A) The projection of Earth's equator

B) The line through the Milky Way's core

C) The orbit of the Moon around Earth

D) The Sun's apparent yearly path across the sky

Answer · why

D) The Sun's apparent yearly path across the sky

The zodiac is the band about 8° either side of it, where the planets also travel.

Q 05/05

Because of precession, the March equinox point has moved from Aries into which constellation?

A) Gemini

B) Taurus

C) Pisces

D) Aquarius

Answer · why

C) Pisces

It shifts about one degree every 72 years, a full circle in roughly 26,000 years; Hipparchus is credited with discovering it.