Earth, Moon, and the Sun — Quiz

Q1. When viewed from above the North Pole, the rotation of the Earth appears to be in which direction?

• A. Clockwise
• B. Anti-clockwise
• C. First clockwise, then anti-clockwise
• D. It does not appear to rotate

Q2. While you sit on a merry-go-round turning anti-clockwise and look at a tree ahead, the tree appears to

• A. Stay perfectly still
• B. Move with you in the same anti-clockwise direction
• C. Move around you in the opposite, clockwise direction
• D. Move up and down

Q3. In India, the Sun rises first in the eastern parts because the Earth

• A. Rotates from East to West
• B. Rotates from West to East
• C. Is closer to the Sun on its eastern side
• D. Is tilted toward the East

Q4. Abhay notices that when it is daytime in India, his uncle in the USA is sleeping because it is night-time there. The best reason is

• A. The USA is on a different planet's time zone
• B. The Earth's rotation lights one half while the other half stays dark
• C. The Sun travels around the Earth and shines on only one country at a time
• D. The USA does not receive sunlight in summer

Q5. The Pole Star appears nearly stationary in the sky from the Northern Hemisphere because

• A. It is the brightest star in the night sky
• B. It does not move in space at all
• C. The Earth's axis of rotation points very close to the Pole Star
• D. It is a very close neighbour of the Sun

Q6. A 22-metre-long Foucault pendulum has been hung from a skylight in the Constitution Hall of the new Parliament building in

• A. Mumbai
• B. Bengaluru
• C. Kolkata
• D. New Delhi

Q7. Aryabhata's value for the time taken by the Earth to complete one rotation about its axis is approximately

• A. 12 hours
• B. 23 hours 56 minutes 4.1 seconds
• C. 24 hours 30 minutes
• D. 365 days 6 hours

Q8. In June, the Northern Hemisphere experiences summer because it

• A. Is at the closest distance from the Sun
• B. Is tilted toward the Sun and receives more intense, longer sunlight
• C. Is tilted away from the Sun
• D. Stops rotating for a short while

Q9. When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, in the Southern Hemisphere it is

• A. Also summer
• B. Spring
• C. Winter
• D. Autumn equinox

Q10. Around 21 March and 23 September, the duration of daytime in the Northern Hemisphere is approximately

• A. 8 hours
• B. 12 hours
• C. 16 hours
• D. 20 hours

Q11. On the equator, throughout the year there are

• A. 16 hours of sunlight and 8 hours of darkness
• B. 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness
• C. 24 hours of sunlight in summer, none in winter
• D. Unpredictable lengths of day and night

Q12. Though the Moon is much smaller than the Sun, it can fully cover the Sun during a total solar eclipse because

• A. The Moon is hotter than the Sun
• B. The Moon's actual size equals that of the Sun
• C. The Moon is much closer to us, so the apparent sizes of the Moon and the Sun from Earth are similar
• D. The Moon blocks light using its own light

Q13. During a total solar eclipse, the small region of the Earth in total darkness is the area

• A. Where the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon
• B. Where the Moon's shadow falls on the Earth's surface
• C. Closest to the Sun at that moment
• D. Where the Earth's tilt is most extreme

Q14. During a total lunar eclipse, the bright disc of the Moon

• A. Appears dark red in colour
• B. Vanishes completely from the sky
• C. Becomes brighter than the Sun
• D. Turns bright blue

Q15. M.K. Vainu Bappu is known as

• A. The first Indian to walk on the Moon
• B. The father of modern Indian astronomy
• C. The founder of ISRO's lunar mission
• D. The discoverer of Pluto