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Welcome to the SAASTA AstroQuiz 2017 National Finals! Follow the rules and answer astronomy-related questions to win prizes.
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WELCOME to the SAASTA AstroQuiz 2017 NATIONAL FINALS 5 OCTOBER 2017
RULES OF THE QUIZ • The audience must be silent throughout the quiz and NOT whisper to anyone. • No resource material can be taken into the quiz venue. • Teams have up to 1 minute to discuss each answer and must reveal their answers immediately when the signal is given that the time is up. • The scores will be calculated and given after THE FIRST ten questions ONLY and overall winners will be announced at the Awards function in the evening. • The audience will get a chance to win prizes! • A tie-break will be settled on a “sudden death” basis, involving tied teams only (i.e. as soon as a team falls behind on correct answers, it is knocked out).
QUESTION 1 Which of the following objects is the largest? • Star • Galaxy • solar system • planet
QUESTION 2 What country launched the world's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik? • China • Germany • USSR • United States
QUESTION 3 Isaac Newton created the first ________ telescope. • Refracting • Reflecting • Transmitting • Rotating
QUESTION 4 Which of the following is NOT one of the four broad categories of satellites? • Intelligence • Scientific • Communication • Navigation
QUESTION 5 Probes have been used to investigate only other planets. • False • True
QUESTION 6 On Friday, 15 September 2017, one spacecraft crashed into a certain planet. Which spacecraft was that? • Soyuz • Opportunity • Cassini • Voyager 1
QUESTION 7 A building containing one or more telescopes is referred to as: • An Observatory • An Astrobuilding • An Observation House • A Star Deck
QUESTION 8 What colour is a star when it is cool? • Blue • Yellow • Green • Orange
QUESTION 9 An Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance between…? • The Sun and the Moon • The Sun and Pluto • The Sun and the Earth • The Earth and the Moon
QUESTION 10 A spacecraft crashed into which planet on 15 September 2017? • Mars • Jupiter • Uranus • Saturn
QUESTION 11 Which of the following statements about Mars is true? • It is the only planet except Earth to be visited by humans • C and D below • It is believed that liquid water once formed rivers and ocean on the surface of Mars millions of years ago. • Ice water has been found on Mars surface
QUESTION 12 Which of the following is true? • Venus is hotter than Mercury because of the greenhouse effect • Mercury is hotter than Venus because it is nearest to the Sun • Jupiter is hotter than Mercury because it is the largest planet in the solar system • None of the above
QUESTION 13 Which of the following is not true? • All planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction • The tilt of the rotation axis of Uranus is unlike any other planet in the solar system • All planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction, except Mars • A and Babove
QUESTION 14 Choose the true statements about Ceres. It is: • in the Kuiper Belt. • a dwarf planet. • in the asteroid belt. • the largest comet. The true statements are: A. i&ii B. ii & iii C.i& iii D. i& iv
QUESTION 15 The time interval between identical lunar (e.g between full moon and full moon) phases is approximately: • 29.5 days • 31 days • 27.3 days • 30 days or 31 days depending on length of the month
QUESTION 16 Tswaing, Vredefort, Morokweng and Kalkkopare: • Villages in South Africa • Impact craters outside South Africa • Dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt • Impact craters in South Africa
QUESTION 17 The largest verified and the second oldest crater is: • Tswaing • Kalkkop • Vredefort • Morokweng
QUESTION 18 Unlike the Earth, the Moon does not have an atmosphere to protect itself from impacting bodies. • True • False
QUESTION 19 In which South African province do we find the Vredefortcrater? • Eastern Cape • Free State • North West • Limpopo
QUESTION 20 There are not as many craters on Earth as on the Moon because: • The Earth is bigger than the Moon and cannot be attacked easily by asteroids • The Earth has effective erosion mechanisms that erode away craters at a rapid rate • The Earth moves at a faster speed than the Moon and so it is missed • The surface of the Moon is softer than that of the Earth’s and hence it is more sensitive
QUESTION 21 Ordered from hottest to coolest stars, which arrangement is correct? • Red; white; blue; yellow • White; Red; blue; yellow • Blue; White; Yellow; Red • White; blue; Red; yellow
QUESTION 22 Stars are formed in clouds of gas and dust known as: • Nebulae • Planets • Galaxies • Craters
QUESTION 23 The exact lifetime of a star depends on its: • Colour • Temperature • Brightness • Mass
QUESTION 24 White dwarfs are formed from the collapse of low mass stars, whilst neutron stars are formed in the collapse of a massive star’s core. • False • True
QUESTION 25 Which of the following planets is the fourth largest by diameter and third most massive planet? • Earth • Uranus • Neptune • Saturn
QUESTION 26 Which planet has the shortest day of all the planets in the solar system? • Saturn • Mercury • Earth • Jupiter
QUESTION 27 Which of the following planets has the highest density of all the planets in the solar system? • Earth • Jupiter • Neptune • Saturn
QUESTION 28 Which of the following planets has the lowest density of all the planets in the solar system? • Earth • Saturn • Jupiter • Neptune
QUESTION 29 Which of the following contains an item that does not belong to the list? • Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter • Andromeda, Cigar, Milky Way • Orion, Crux, Cluster • Antares, Spica, Betelgeuse
QUESTION 30 What element is abundantly found inthe core of planet Earth? • Iron • Oxygen • Nitrogen • Gold
THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING
SUDDEN DEATH TIE BREAKERS
PLEASE REMEMBER: The first team to get the first correct answer is the winner! ALL THE BEST!
QUESTION 1 South Africa's MeerKAT telescope is an SKA precursor or 'pathfinder' telescope. How many dish-shaped antennas will it consist of? • 46 • 47 • 64 • 74
QUESTION 2 The nearest planet to the Sun with more than one moon is: • Mercury • Mars • Venus • Earth
QUESTION 3 Which of the following statements is the most accurate about the seasons? • Seasons occur because the Sun goes around the Earth • Seasons occur because the Earth goes around the Sun • Seasons occur because the Earth goes around the Sun and its axis is tilted at 23.50to the plane of its orbit • Seasons occur because the Earth’s orbit brings it nearer and further away from the Sun
QUESTION 4 Which one of the following is true? • A galaxy is made of a few collections of stars held together by gravity • None of the stars in a galaxy have the same gravity • Galaxies contain stars only • A galaxy is a collection of many stars, gas and dust which are held together by gravity
QUESTION 5 Planets in the solar system shine by: • Nuclear fusion in their cores • Refracting sunlight • Reflecting sunlight • B and C above
THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!