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Science Olympiad (NSO) Solar System — practice questions

Explore 30 free Solar System questions in Science Olympiad (NSO) Astronomy. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Solar System questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 30.

A student lists Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars together. This group is the:Read the answer and worked solution →A probe lands on a small rocky world close to the Sun. Such worlds are made mainly of:Read the answer and worked solution →Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are huge and are built mostly from:Read the answer and worked solution →One planet outweighs every other planet put together. That planet is:Read the answer and worked solution →Roughly how many Earths would fit inside the volume of Jupiter?Read the answer and worked solution →A textbook states distances in AU. One AU is the distance from the Sun to:Read the answer and worked solution →A student must find the density of a rock sample. She divides its mass by its:Read the answer and worked solution →Saturn's moon Mimas has a density close to that of water, so Mimas is mostly:Read the answer and worked solution →Two planets travel through space with no moon of their own. They are:Read the answer and worked solution →A beginner points a small telescope at the easiest planetary rings to see. They belong to:Read the answer and worked solution →Seen edge on, the orbits of all eight major planets lie in roughly the same:Read the answer and worked solution →Pluto's path around the Sun differs from the eight planets because it is not in their:Read the answer and worked solution →A category was created for Pluto and similar icy bodies past Neptune. It is:Read the answer and worked solution →The largest object in the asteroid belt is also counted as a dwarf planet. It is:Read the answer and worked solution →The first body beyond Neptune to be discovered, back in 1930, was:Read the answer and worked solution →Uranus is odd because its spin axis is tipped so far that it rolls along nearly:Read the answer and worked solution →A rock from space survives its fiery fall and lands in a field. On the ground it is a:Read the answer and worked solution →A geologist wants a rough age for a moon's surface. A simple method is counting its:Read the answer and worked solution →The Sun and planets formed together out of a spinning cloud of gas and dust called the:Read the answer and worked solution →Icy and rocky bodies that came before the planets and later built them are called:Read the answer and worked solution →In 1994 more than 20 pieces of a broken comet smashed into one planet. That planet was:Read the answer and worked solution →A spacecraft flew past the icy dwarf planet Pluto in 2015. The mission was:Read the answer and worked solution →Catch the major planetsRead the answer and worked solution →Pop the rocky worldsRead the answer and worked solution →Run the solar system gatesRead the answer and worked solution →Slice the real worldsRead the answer and worked solution →Inner or outerRead the answer and worked solution →Sort the space objectsRead the answer and worked solution →Type the numberRead the answer and worked solution →Solar system bingoRead the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

A student lists Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars together. This group is the:

  1. Terrestrial planets
  2. Outer giant planets
  3. Distant dwarf worlds
  4. Frozen comet swarm
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. Terrestrial planets

1. The four planets nearest the Sun form one family. 2. They are called the inner or terrestrial planets. 3. So the group is the terrestrial planets. _Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, Chapter 7, Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System._

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A probe lands on a small rocky world close to the Sun. Such worlds are made mainly of:

  1. Salt and water
  2. Rock and metal
  3. Ice and gases
  4. Dust and smoke
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Correct answer: B. Rock and metal

1. Terrestrial planets are relatively small worlds. 2. Their bulk is rock together with metal. 3. So they are made mainly of rock and metal. _Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, Chapter 7, Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System._

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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are huge and are built mostly from:

  1. Ices and gases
  2. Iron and nickel
  3. Rock and metal
  4. Sand and clay
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. Ices and gases

1. The four outer planets dwarf the inner ones. 2. Their material is lighter ices, liquids and gases. 3. So they are built mostly from ices and gases. _Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, Chapter 7, Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System._

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More Astronomy topics

AstronomyOlympiad AstronomyEarth Moon and SkyObserving the Sky