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Best Comets trivia quiz questions

Take a journey through the cosmos with questions about comets, their structure, and more.

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's nucleus?

    Philae

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 81P/Wild?

    Stardust

  • What is the term used to describe the solid nucleus of a comet, composed mainly of ice and dust particles?

    Dirty snowball

  • Which comet was visited by the Stardust spacecraft?

    81P/Wild

  • Which comet was first observed by Chinese astronomers in 240 BC?

    Halley's Comet

  • What is the term for the solid core of a comet?

    Nucleus

  • Which comet broke apart into multiple fragments in 1994?

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

  • Which comet was discovered by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle in 1862?

    Comet Swift-Tuttle

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 46P/Wirtanen's nucleus?

    OSIRIS-REx

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner?

    Stardust-NExT

  • Which comet was discovered by Edmond Halley using historical records?

    Halley's Comet

  • Which comet, discovered in 1995, has the longest known orbital period of any short-period comet?

    Comet Hale-Bopp

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami?

    EPOXI

  • What causes the distinctive tails of comets?

    Solar Radiation

  • What is the name of the French astronomer who first calculated the orbit of Halley's Comet?

    Alexis Bouvard

  • Which comet was discovered by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp in 1995?

    Comet Hale-Bopp

  • What is the Kuiper Belt?

    A region of space beyond Neptune's orbit that contains many small, icy objects

  • What is the name of the most famous comet that has been observed from Earth?

    Halley's Comet

  • What is the term for a small celestial body composed mostly of rock and ice?

    Comet

  • What is the name of the process by which a comet's surface erodes and releases gas and dust into space?

    Sublimation

  • What was the first spacecraft to visit a comet?

    Vega 1

  • What is the name of the mission launched by NASA to study a comet up close?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014?

    Rosetta

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)?

    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's dust?

    Giotto

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 in 2006?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that orbited Halley's Comet in 1986?

    Giotto

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 46P/Wirtanen?

    NEOWISE

  • Which comet was discovered independently by two Japanese amateur astronomers in January 1996?

    Comet Hyakutake

  • What is the name of the mission that studied Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko?

    Rosetta

  • Which comet was discovered by two independent observers in July 1995?

    Comet Hale-Bopp

  • Which comet was targeted by the Deep Impact mission?

    Tempel 1

  • What is the name of the process by which a comet's coma expands as it approaches the Sun?

    Outgassing

  • What is a meteor shower?

    A celestial event where many meteors can be seen radiating from one point in the sky

  • What is the name of the Russian spacecraft that landed on a comet in 1986?

    Vega 1

  • What is the name of the phenomenon that causes a comet's tail to always point away from the Sun?

    Solar radiation pressure

  • What is a comet?

    A small, icy celestial body that orbits the sun

  • What is the name of the Soviet spacecraft that studied Halley's Comet in 1986?

    Vega 1

  • What is the coma of a comet?

    The fuzzy cloud surrounding the nucleus

  • Which famous comet was first observed by Chinese astronomers in 240 BC and last appeared in Earth's vicinity in 1986?

    Halley's Comet

  • What is the name of the first comet discovered by a spacecraft?

    Comet Giacobini-Zinner (discovered by the International Cometary Explorer)

  • What is the name of the first comet discovered by telescope?

    Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet P/Wild 2 in 2004?

    Stardust

  • What is the name of the brightest comet ever recorded?

    Comet West

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 103P/Hartley?

    EPOXI

  • What is the name of the first spacecraft to land on a comet?

    Philae

  • What is the term for the tail of a comet that always points away from the Sun?

    Ion Tail

  • What is the term for a meteoroid that has survived its passage through Earth's atmosphere and landed on the surface?

    Meteorite

  • What was the first spacecraft to land on a comet?

    Philae (part of the Rosetta mission)

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet 81P/Wild in 2004?

    Stardust

  • What is the term for the point in a comet's orbit when it is closest to the Sun?

    Perihelion

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet Giacobini-Zinner in 1985?

    International Cometary Explorer

  • Which comet was discovered by Carl Wirtanen in 1948?

    46P/Wirtanen

  • What is the name of the American spacecraft that studied the comet Tempel 1 in 2005?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the name of the process by which comets lose mass as they approach the Sun?

    Sublimation

  • What is the name of the American spacecraft that studied the comet Borrelly in 2001?

    Deep Space 1

  • Which spacecraft performed the first-ever flyby of a comet nucleus?

    Giotto

  • What is the name of the Japanese spacecraft that studied the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in 1998?

    Sakigake

  • Which comet was responsible for the Perseid meteor shower?

    Comet Swift-Tuttle

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's plasma environment?

    Rosetta Plasma Consortium

  • What is the term for a comet that orbits the Sun in less than 200 years?

    Short-Period Comet

  • What is the name of the mission that will study Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova?

    NEOWISE

  • What is the tail of a comet made of?

    Dust and gas

  • What is the primary component of a comet's nucleus?

    Water Ice

  • Which part of a comet is also known as its 'tail'?

    Ion tail

  • What is the term for the point in a comet's orbit when it is farthest from the Sun?

    Aphelion

  • What is the name of the process by which a comet's orbit changes due to the gravitational influence of planets?

    Perturbation

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet Tempel 1 in 2011?

    EPOXI

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring in 2014?

    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

  • What is the name of the cloud that is believed to be the source of most long-period comets?

    Oort Cloud

  • What is the name of the region in our solar system where comets originate?

    Oort Cloud

  • What is the term for a group of comets with similar orbits that are thought to have originated from the same parent body?

    Comet Family

  • What is the name of the process by which a comet's dust particles reflect sunlight and become visible from Earth?

    Backscattering

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that returned samples from the comet Wild 2 in 2006?

    Stardust

  • What is the term for a comet that orbits the Sun in more than 200 years?

    Long-Period Comet

  • What is the name of the German astronomer who first suggested that comets are made of ice?

    Fred Whipple

  • What is the nucleus of a comet?

    The solid part at the center of the coma

  • What is the term for the tail of a comet that is composed primarily of dust particles?

    Dust Tail

  • What is the Oort Cloud?

    A hypothetical cloud of comets located far beyond the orbit of Pluto

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet 103P/Hartley in 2010?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the term for a small fragment of a comet or asteroid that has entered Earth's atmosphere?

    Meteoroid

  • What is the name of the largest comet ever discovered?

    Comet Hale-Bopp

  • Which famous comet was last seen from Earth in 1986?

    Halley's Comet

  • What is a shooting star?

    A meteor burning up in Earth's atmosphere

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that flew through the tail of Halley's Comet in 1986?

    Giotto

  • Which comet has an orbital period of approximately 76 years?

    Halley's Comet

  • What is the difference between a meteoroid and a meteorite?

    A meteoroid is a small object in space, while a meteorite is a meteor that has landed on Earth

  • In which year did the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft land its Philae probe on a comet for the first time in history?

    2014

  • What is the name of the bright star-like object that appears in the sky when a comet is near Earth?

    False nucleus

  • What causes a comet's tail to form?

    Solar wind and radiation pressure

  • What is the name of the largest known comet?

    Comet Hale-Bopp

  • What is the term for the visible streak of light produced by a meteoroid entering Earth's atmosphere?

    Meteor

  • What is the difference between a short-period comet and a long-period comet?

    A short-period comet takes less than 200 years to orbit the sun, while a long-period comet takes more than 200 years

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet Encke in 2007?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the name of the Italian astronomer who first proposed that comets follow elliptical orbits around the Sun?

    Giovanni Schiaparelli

  • What is the name of the spacecraft that studied the comet Hartley 2 in 2010?

    Deep Impact

  • What is the name of the process by which a comet's ion tail points directly away from the Sun?

    Anti-tail

  • What is the name of the most famous comet?

    Halley's Comet

  • Which comet did the Rosetta mission study and land on?

    67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

  • What is the name of the process by which a comet's nucleus breaks apart?

    Disintegration

  • What is the term for the bright, glowing head of a comet?

    Coma

  • Which comet had a close encounter with Earth in March 1996?

    Comet Hyakutake

  • Which comet has the longest known orbital period?

    Comet West

  • Which comet collided with Jupiter in 1994?

    Shoemaker-Levy 9
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