Do you know your Oort Cloud from your Kuiper Belt? How about your dwarf planets from your exoplanets or your gas giants from your ice giants? Our solar system is a complex and wondrous place, full of celestial marvels that are sometimes hard to fathom. If you’re an astronomy fan ,who loves to learn new things, test your knowledge with these 111 trivia questions about our solar system to find out.
From the smallest asteroids to the largest masses, we’ve covered all sorts of solar system space stuff. Note: we’ve already covered planet trivia, so if you want to exclude the other celestial bodies in our solar system, click here for a planet-centric challenge.
Get ready to challenge your space smarts, learn new fun facts, and impress your family and friends with solar system expertise. Keep scrolling if you’re ready for liftoff!
1. Question: When was the Hubble Space Telescope first launched?
2. Question: Rank the planets in our solar system from largest to smallest.
3. Question: Which two planets are known as ice giants?
4. Question: Which planet has a moon named Triton?
5. Question: Where is the dwarf planet Ceres located?
6. Question: During which year was Pluto reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union?
7. Question: On what planet does the sun rise in the west and set in the east, and why?
8. Question: Which planet’s axis is almost parallel to its orbital plane?
9. Question: Asteroids are sometimes called minor planets. What is another sometimes synonym for asteroids?
10. Question: Which two elements primarily make up the sun’s composition?
11. Question: How much does each NASA spacesuit cost?
12. Question: Which is longer, a day on Venus or a year on Venus?
13. Question: What are two names for the deepest crater on Mars?
14. Question: Why is Earth the densest planet in our solar system? (It’s not because its inhabitants are dense, even though one might think so!)
15. Question: What shape must a space object be to be classified as a planet?
16. Question: What is the oldest planet in the solar system?
17. Question: Where is the largest canyon in solar system located? (Bonus: what is the canyon named?)
18. Question: What is the largest moon in our solar system? (Bonus: which planet does it belong to?)
19. Question: How many terrestrial planets are in our solar system?
20. Question: What is the name of the German-British astronomer who discovered Uranus?
21. Question: Which three elements primarily make up the atmosphere on Mars?
22. Question: When did the Galileo mission explore the planet Jupiter?
23. Question: Iapetus, Mimus, Enceladus, and Titan are all moons of which planet?
24. Question: What niche food has space been said to smell like?
25. Question: True or false: you can’t walk on Neptune.
26. Question: How many miles from the sun is Earth?
27. Question: How many miles lie between Mercury and Venus?
28. Question: What is the distance in miles from Pluto to Jupiter?
29. Question: Which planet has a hexagonal shaped storm located on its north pole?
30. Question: Which planet has 83 moons?
31. Question: Does Uranus have rings, and if so, how many?
32. Question: What is the third brightest object visible in our sky?
33. Question: How many miles lie between Saturn and Neptune?
34. Question: What is the name of the exoplanet with the shortest year, according to current knowledge?
35. Question: How many stars make up the Big Dipper constellation?
36. Question: Which two planets in our solar system do not have natural satellites?
37. Question: Name the layers of the Earth from outermost to innermost.
38. Question: What spacecraft first took astronauts to the moon?
39. Question: As of early 2023, which planet has the most moons?
40. Question: What is the name of William Herschel’s sister, who assisted him in the construction of the first telescope?
41. Question: How long does the sun’s light reach Earth?
42. Question: The metal iridium is found in large concentrations in which type of space object?
43. Question: In what year was Neptune discovered?
44. Question: Which of the following planets is the hottest in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, or Saturn?
45. Question: What was the first spaceship to fly past Mars?
46. Question: Which planet is the god Marduk associated with?
47. Question: What does the acronym NASA stand for?
48. Question: After the Apollo 11 mission was completed, which ocean did the spacecraft land in when returning to Earth?
49. Question: Which planet’s moons include Hippocamp and Proteus?
50. Question: Which of the following planets has two moons: Earth, Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn?
51. Question: Which astronaut wrote his daughter’s initials on the surface of the moon?
52. Question: Which planet rotates the fastest out of all of the planets in our solar system?
53. Question: How long is Halley’s Comet’s orbital period?
54. Question: Why does Mercury have craters?
55. Question: Which feature of the solar system lies between Mars and Jupiter?
56. Question: Which planet is home to the Tropic of Capricorn?
57. Question: What galaxy is our solar system located in?
58. Question: How many astronauts live on the International Space Station when fully staffed?
59. Question: Which planet is known as the Red Planet?
60. Question: How many traditional moons are in our solar system?
61. Question: How many small body moons are in our solar system? (Bonus: what qualifies as a small-body moon?)
62. Question: What is the most distant region in our solar system called?
63. Question: In 2014, comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring closely passed by a planet in our solar system. Which planet was it?
64. Question: Approximately how much farther from the sun is dwarf planet Eris than Pluto is?
65. Question: What is the name of the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system?
- Question: What is a meteoroid’s speed when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, at minimum?
- Question: How many Earths could fit inside the sun, hypothetically?
- Question: What’s another name for the surface of the sun?
- Question: How long is a day on Mercury measured in Earth days?
- Question: What distance does one astronomical unit (or AU) represent? (Hint: you don’t need any numbers or units for this answer!)
- Question: How long is one AU in kilometers?
- Question: Which object in are solar system are NASA spacecrafts SOHO, IRIS and Wind currently investigating?
- Question: True or false: none of Saturn’s moons could support life.
- Question: True or false: three of our solar system’s giant planets have rings.
- Question: How large is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot relative to the size of the Earth?
- Question: Which is larger, Mercury or the Earth’s moon?
- Question: How long is a year on Venus, in Earth days?
- Question: What would the air smell like on Venus?
- Question: What is dwarf planet Haumea’s shape?
- Question: Approximately how many known comets are there, to the nearest hundred?
- Question: Which two NASA missions have explored Mercury?
- Question: What type of star is the sun?
- Question: Approximately what is the temperature of the sun’s core in Fahrenheit?
- Question: Approximately what is the temperature of the sun’s core in Celsius?
- Question: How many times did NASA’s Cassini orbit Saturn between 2004 and 2017?
- Question: Approximately how long ago was the solar system formed?
- Question: How many moons in our solar system are larger than the planet Mercury?
- Question: Which planets are known as the inferior planets, and what do they have in common with the moon?
- Question: What planets are known as the classical planets and why?
- Question: How tall in miles is the Olympus Mons, the highest mountain in our solar system? (Bonus: on which planet is the Olympus Mons located?)
- Question: What god is Ceres named for?
- Question: Approximately how many Earths lined up side by side would be the length of Saturn’s diameter, not including its rings?
- Question: How long is a year on Mars in Earth days?
- Question: Oumuamua, P/Shoemaker-Levy 9, and C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) are all names of what kind of space object?
- Question: What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?
- Question: How many Earth days is a year on Neptune?
- Question: Approximately how many Earth years is a year on Neptune?
- Question: What is the name of the only known object in our solar system that orbits the sun backwards?
- Question: When was dwarf planet Pluto first discovered?
- Question: Why is space silent?
- Question: If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, how much would you weigh on a comet?
- Question: Which of the ice giants is a darker blue, Uranus or Neptune? (Bonus: why is this planet a darker blue than the other?)
- Question: Why won’t footprints left on the moon disappear?
- Question: What is the only planet not named after a god or goddess?
- Question: What is the name of Pluto’s largest moon?
- Question: How long does it take a single photon to travel from the core of the sun to the surface of the sun?
- Question: How many known moons down Neptune have?
- Question: When did China become the second nation to land on Mars successfully?
- Question: In which arm of the Milky Way is our solar system located?
- Question: True or false: dwarf planet Haumea has one moon.
- Question: Which two elements largely make up Neptune, along with water?
Final Words
Whether you’re a space enthusiast looking for a new challenge or someone who loves to impress their friends and family with random knowledge, we hope these 111 crazy fun solar system trivia questions kept you entertained. There’s always more to learn about our cosmic neighborhood, and we’re grateful you came to Trivia Bliss to dive in (or rather, blast off?) into this trivia frontier.
Keep looking up at the stars and asking questions—who knows what mind-blowing discoveries you might make! For more fun trivia ideas, check out all the quizzes right here on Trivia Bliss!
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