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Clues for: Astronomy

Question Answer Value Airdate
The most numerous type of star in the universe is the red type of this dwarf 200 October 18, 2022
When the Sun is above the Earth's equator & day & night are the same length, one of these is happening an equinox 400 October 18, 2022
The distance from Alpha Centauri to our sun is 4.2 light years or just 1.3 of these; sounds quick! parsecs 600 October 18, 2022
Ask any angel, the galactic this is a starry, spherical region surrounding spiral galaxies a (galactic) halo 800 October 18, 2022
This long word describes the orbit of a satellite that matches the rotation of the Earth geosynchronous satellites 1000 October 18, 2022
Discovered in 1930, this body has an estimated diameter of only 1,473 miles Pluto 200 February 20, 2018
Deneb, Albireo, Gienah, Sadr & Rukh in Cygnus form the pattern known as the Northern this the Northern Cross 400 February 20, 2018
China now has the world's largest one of these telescopes; it's basically a dish antenna a third of a mile across a radio telescope 600 February 20, 2018
This spiral galaxy is named for an Ethiopian princess in Greek mythology Andromeda 800 February 20, 2018
(Sarah of the Clue Crew shows a model of Mars on the monitor.) Mars may have an accessory in 40 million years, as its gravity could break apart this inner & larger moon, whose debris would swirl around the planet & form a ring Phobos 1000 February 20, 2018
Dust released by this comet causes the Orionids meteor shower each October Halley\'s Comet 200 March 2, 2012
In 2005, 2 additional moons, Hydra & Nix, were discovered orbiting this dwarf planet Pluto 400 March 2, 2012
Calliope, one of these objects orbiting between Jupiter & Mars, has its own satellite named Linus an asteroid 800 March 2, 2012
John Archibald Wheeler popularized this term for an object so dense that not even light can escape a black hole 1000 March 2, 2012
The 2 shortest-named constellations each have 3 letters: Ara & this one in the zodiac Leo March 2, 2012
It orbits the sun at an average distance of .3871 astronomical units, the lowest average of all the planets Mercury 200 March 7, 2011
Though bright in the night sky, it has a clouded surface, so the image here was made of a mosaic of radar images Venus 400 March 7, 2011
(Kelly of the Clue Crew shows an astronomical photograph on the monitor.) Voyager II captured a photo of the storm called the Great Dark Spot on this ice giant; the clouds are believed to be condensed methane particles Neptune 600 March 7, 2011
(Jimmy of the Clue Crew shows an astronomical photograph on the monitor.) In an infrared picture, Jupiter's bright spot is the moon Io; the smaller dots show impacts from when this comet broke up & hit the planet in 1994 Shoemaker-Levy 800 March 7, 2011
(Kelly of the Clue Crew shows an astronomical diagram on the monitor.) Created by millions of years of eruptions, this now-extinct Martian shield volcano is the tallest mountain in our solar system Olympus Mons 1000 March 7, 2011
A crossing of the celestial equator by the sun, it happens twice a year an equinox 200 May 28, 2010
These long distance travelers may be dirty ice balls or icy dirt balls comets 400 May 28, 2010
Undetected murky stuff in the universe presumed to exist because of its gravitational effects dark matter 600 May 28, 2010
During the course of 5 spacewalks in May 2009, Shuttle astronauts made repairs to this & installed 2 new instruments the Hubble Telescope 200 September 21, 2009
In 1980 the Voyager spacecraft found that this planet's B ring had radial features called spokes Saturn 400 September 21, 2009
This constellation is the site of 2 nebulae: the Great Nebula in its sword & the Horsehead Nebula in its belt Orion 600 September 21, 2009
The 200-inch mirror of the Hale Telescope on this California peak took some 10 months to cool after casting Mt. Palomar 1000 September 21, 2009
In 1672 Giovanni Cassini & Jean Richer calculated the distance between these 2 objects as 87 million miles the Sun and the Earth September 21, 2009
This totally darkened phase of the Moon occurs when the Moon is between the Sun & the Earth the New Moon 200 February 23, 2005
In August 1609 he demonstrated his newly constructed telescope to the Senate of Venice, who then doubled his salary Galileo 400 February 23, 2005
When "shadow bands" are seen on Earth, it means this is about to happen up in the heavens an eclipse 600 February 23, 2005
In ancient times, this star rose at dawn during the hottest time of summer, thus the "dog days of summer" Sirius (or Alpha Canis Majoris) 800 February 23, 2005
(Sarah of the Clue Crew reports from beside a replica rover at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL.) This is a replica of both the Mars exploration rover Spirit and this companion, who came knocking in January 2004 <i>Opportunity</i> 1000 February 23, 2005
Its "A" ring is a little over 9,000 miles wide Saturn 100 May 18, 2001
Its perigee, the closest it can come to Earth, is 221,456 miles The moon 200 May 18, 2001
The lowest point on this heavenly body is the Diana Chasma, a rift valley Venus 300 May 18, 2001
The Chandra Orbiting Telescope takes this kind of photo; hey, maybe we can see Pluto in its underwear! X-ray 400 May 18, 2001
In 1986 astronomers found a massive one of these at the center of the Milky Way galaxy Black hole 500 May 18, 2001
On Valentine's Day 2000, the Near spacecraft is due to begin orbiting this asteroid named for the Greek god of love Eros 100 December 31, 1999
One of the more impressive meteor showers comes in December from this constellation of the twins Gemini 200 December 31, 1999
In 1994 fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck this planet, creating a plume over 1,000 miles high Jupiter 300 December 31, 1999
The solar observatory at Kitt Peak in this Southwestern state focuses on spectroscopy Arizona 400 December 31, 1999
According to one of this German's laws of motion, planets travel faster when they are closer to the sun Johannes Kepler 500 December 31, 1999
All the stars you can see with the naked eye are part of this galaxy Milky Way 100 September 15, 1999
A camera orbiting this planet in March 1999 snapped a crater that resembles a "happy face" Mars 200 September 15, 1999
In an emergency repair mission scheduled for October 1999 NASA will replace all of the gyros in this telescope Hubble Space Telescope 300 September 15, 1999
Sky and Telescope magazine erred 53 years ago; it's the fourth full moon in a season, not the second in a month Blue moon 400 September 15, 1999
In 1967 what were called "Schwarzschild Singularities" were renamed this Black holes September 15, 1999
2 stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper, called The Pointers, point to this star the North Star 100 December 23, 1997
Some scientists say thousands of these, known as "dirty snowballs", strike our atmosphere every day comets 200 December 23, 1997
Unlike the spiral type, like ours, the elliptical type of this system has little gas & rather dim stars a galaxy 300 December 23, 1997
Most of these minor planets revolve around the sun in a "belt" between the orbits of Mars & Jupiter asteroids 400 December 23, 1997
Titan is the largest moon of this planet; Calypso & Telesto are among the smallest Saturn 500 December 23, 1997
The next time we'll be able to see this famous object from Earth is in 2134; reserve your seats now Halley\'s Comet 100 January 19, 1996
It's the only star on which astronomers have observed spots Sun 200 January 19, 1996
In 1504 Columbus scared the locals in Jamaica when he predicted one of these (Lunar) Eclipse 300 January 19, 1996
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant in this constellation of the hunter Orion 400 January 19, 1996
CP 1919, the first of these ever found, emits bursts of radiation every 1.337 seconds Pulsar 500 January 19, 1996
Records show that this comet was observed as early as 240 B.C. Halley\'s Comet 100 December 25, 1995
Giovanni Cassini discovered the main division in this planet's rings & 4 of it satellites Saturn 200 December 25, 1995
To the naked eye this planet appears as a bright red star Mars 300 December 25, 1995
First described in 1836, Baily's beads is a short-lived phenomenon seen during one of these a solar eclipse 400 December 25, 1995
Named for their "quasi-stellar" appearance, they're possibly the most distant objects in the universe quasars 500 December 25, 1995
Encke's, one of these, has a return period of under 4 years; Halley's is 76 years a comet 100 July 18, 1995
The only green star visible to the naked eye appears in this constellation of the scales Libra 200 July 18, 1995
The constellation Cygnus is believed to contain one of these invisible collapsed stars a black hole 300 July 18, 1995
Taking place in August, it's been called the most spectacular of the meteor showers a Perseid shower 500 July 18, 1995
Titan, a moon of this planet, is the second-largest satellite in the solar system Saturn July 18, 1995
One of these can be a hundred times more luminous than a regular nova a supernova 100 January 4, 1995
This comet appendage develops as the comet reaches perihelion, its closest point to the Sun its tail 200 January 4, 1995
This innermost planet has been explored by only one spacecraft–Mariner 10 Mercury 300 January 4, 1995
In this phase of the Moon, its illuminated side is invisible to observers on Earth a new moon 400 January 4, 1995
Of these "minor planets", Vesta is the only one sometimes visible to the naked eye asteroids 500 January 4, 1995
Totality during one of these never lasts for more than about 8 minutes eclipse of the Sun 100 May 12, 1993
These lunar features range in size from tiny pits of more than 600 miles across crater 200 May 12, 1993
These star systems like the Milky Way are sometimes referred to as "island universes" galaxies 300 May 12, 1993
The diameter of this planet is estimated to be less than 2,000 miles Pluto 500 May 12, 1993
Olympus Mons, believed to be the largest volcano in the solar system, is located on this planet Mars May 12, 1993
This 9th planet's one moon has an orbit period of 6.4 days Pluto 100 June 19, 1991
He developed his heliocentric theory of the universe while a canon at Torun, Poland Copernicus 200 June 19, 1991
The name of these fuzzy-looking objects comes from a Greek word meaning "long hair" comet 300 June 19, 1991
The largest of these telescopes is the one in Puerto Rico that has a 1,000-foot diameter dish radio telescopes 400 June 19, 1991
In 1801, Ceres became the 1st of these bodies to be discovered asteroids 500 June 19, 1991
Term for the devouring of a galaxy by another or of a person by another cannibalism 100 December 19, 1990
Greek letter usually used to designate the second brightest star in a constellation beta 200 December 19, 1990
When the Sun is on the celestial meridian, it's this time where you are noon 300 December 19, 1990
Many believe the "red shift" of the light from distant galaxies proves the universe is doing this expanding 400 December 19, 1990
H.G. Wells & Yuri Gagarin have geographic features named for them here the Moon 500 December 19, 1990
An early system classified stars as giants or these, of which our sun is one dwarves 100 June 19, 1989
Isaac Newton built the 1st telescope of this type reflecting 200 June 19, 1989
The average distance between the earth & this is 239,000 miles, not too far the moon 300 June 19, 1989
It's defined as all space & everything contained in it cosmos or universe 400 June 19, 1989
The crab nebula is the remnant of one of these witnessed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 supernova 500 June 19, 1989
This Italian astronomer died in 1642, the year of Newton's birth Galileo 100 April 8, 1988
Term for disturbances that were detected by the Apollo seismic network moonquakes 200 April 8, 1988
This small outer planet may be a low-density ice ball Pluto 300 April 8, 1988
Discovered in 1973, this comet was extensively investigated from Skylab Kohoutek 400 April 8, 1988
Containing Vega, the 5th brightest star, it's the only constellation representing a string instrument Lyre 500 April 8, 1988
In 1959, The Soviet spacecraft Lunik 3 took 1st pictures of its far side the moon 100 December 21, 1987
"Occupation" of the constellation Sagittarius archer 200 December 21, 1987
This planet contains about 70% of all matter in our sun's 9 major planets Jupiter 300 December 21, 1987
This element usually contains 2 electrons, & is synthesized from hydrogen in the centers of some stars helium 400 December 21, 1987
About 14,000 years ago & again in A.D. 14000, the star Vega, not Polaris, will be this the North Star 500 December 21, 1987
This closest star in the sky is so bright it usually prevents us from seeing all others the sun 100 March 2, 1987
The "Expanding Universe" theory is also given this explosive name the Big Bang Theory 200 March 2, 1987
It appears as the brightest of the celestial planets Venus 300 March 2, 1987
Restudying data from Viking I, scientists believe this planet once had enough water to support life Mars 100 March 21, 1986
Popular name for scintillation, little stars do it twinkling 200 March 21, 1986
Of much larger, about the same size, or 1/4 smaller, how Uranus compares to Earth much larger 300 March 21, 1986
Phase in which the Moon must be for a lunar eclipse to occur a Full Moon 400 March 21, 1986
It follows that if the constellation Sagittarius is "the archer", the constellation Sagitta is this the Arrow 500 March 21, 1986
Winds reach over 900 MPH on this giant neighbor of Jupiter Saturn 100 January 24, 1986
Most meteors are bits of debris left by these passing by comets 200 January 24, 1986
Energy the sun emits in this time unit is 13 million times the energy used in the U.S. daily one second 300 January 24, 1986
Since 1979, this planet, not Pluto, is furthest from the sun Neptune 400 January 24, 1986
It would take an Apollo spacecraft over 100,000 years to reach this nearest star to the sun Alpha Centauri 500 January 24, 1986
The Sun, plus all the celestial bodies revolving around it a Solar System 100 May 1, 1985
The only space satellite whose features could be observed prior to the invention of the telescope the Moon 200 May 1, 1985
Bowl-shaped cavity left by a meteorite impact a crater 300 May 1, 1985
Moon's phase when the side facing the Earth is completely dark a new moon 400 May 1, 1985
3rd planet from the Sun the Earth 100 April 24, 1985
From Greek "to omit", the partial or total obscuring of one celestial body by another an eclipse 200 April 24, 1985
Theory that a massive explosion started the universe the Big Bang 300 April 24, 1985
Approximately 5.88 trillion miles a light-year 400 April 24, 1985
From Greek "long-haired", they have tails up to a hundred million miles a comet 500 April 24, 1985