Science General · Geography

Astronomy and Celestial Phenomena

1,884 Questions

This section provides practice questions on astronomy and celestial phenomena, focusing on eclipses, planetary movements, and tides. These concepts are commonly tested in general science sections of various competitive exams. Use this hub to practice questions related to the Earth, Moon, and solar system dynamics.

Solar and lunar eclipsesEquinoxes and solsticesPlanetary movementsOcean tidesCoriolis effectMeteor showers

Astronomy and Celestial Phenomena Questions

Multiple choice

Why Venus (Planet) of our solar system shines so much?

  1. Because it reflects 90% of light which falls on it.

  2. Because it reflects 10% of light which falls on it.

  3. Because it reflects 20% of light which falls on it.

  4. Because it reflects 50% of light which falls on it.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Multiple choice

Diamond Harbour in Kolkata is related to

  1. Total Solar Eclipse

  2. Lunar Eclipse

  3. Harbour of diamonds

  4. A new kind of ship

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Diamond Harbour in Kolkata was used as a viewing station for the Total Solar Eclipse of 1995 (and other eclipses). The location's positioning made it suitable for astronomical observations, thus the association.

Multiple choice

Rainbows are often seen

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:

Rainbows! Rainbows! The sight which the children love to see. They are awestruck when they see the magnificence of the colourful arc. These wonderful arc like structures are caused when sunlight shines through drops of water in the sky at a specific angle. It is the rainstorm which becomes the birthplace of the rainbows. Rainbows are often seen when the sun comes out after or during a rainstorm. When white sunlight enters a raindrop, it exits the raindrop in a different colour. The rainbow is also called ‘VIBGYOR’ when it exits lots of different raindrops at different angles. The different coloured lights are: V is violet, I is indigo, B is blue, G is green, Y is yellow, O is orange and R is red. Together, these colours are known as the spectrum. These colours can sometimes be seen in waterfalls and fountains as well. We can see double rainbows, meaning a rainbow which forms two arcs. In other words, the order of colours starts with violet on top and ends with red on bottom. Believe it or not, rainbows sometimes appear as white arcs at night. These rainbows are called moonbows. Moonbows are caused by moonlight (rather than sunlight) shining through drops of water.

  1. after a rainstorm

  2. before a rainstorm

  3. after the sun sets at night
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The line 'Rainbows are often seen when the sun comes out after or during a rainstorm' suggests the answer.

Multiple choice

What colour is a moonbow?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:

Rainbows! Rainbows! The sight which the children love to see. They are awestruck when they see the magnificence of the colourful arc. These wonderful arc like structures are caused when sunlight shines through drops of water in the sky at a specific angle. It is the rainstorm which becomes the birthplace of the rainbows. Rainbows are often seen when the sun comes out after or during a rainstorm. When white sunlight enters a raindrop, it exits the raindrop in a different colour. The rainbow is also called ‘VIBGYOR’ when it exits lots of different raindrops at different angles. The different coloured lights are: V is violet, I is indigo, B is blue, G is green, Y is yellow, O is orange and R is red. Together, these colours are known as the spectrum. These colours can sometimes be seen in waterfalls and fountains as well. We can see double rainbows, meaning a rainbow which forms two arcs. In other words, the order of colours starts with violet on top and ends with red on bottom. Believe it or not, rainbows sometimes appear as white arcs at night. These rainbows are called moonbows. Moonbows are caused by moonlight (rather than sunlight) shining through drops of water.

  1. White

  2. Green

  3. Yellow
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The line '...rainbows sometimes appear as white arcs at night... called moonbows' suggests the answer. 

Multiple choice

What would be a good title for this passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:

Rainbows! Rainbows! The sight which the children love to see. They are awestruck when they see the magnificence of the colourful arc. These wonderful arc like structures are caused when sunlight shines through drops of water in the sky at a specific angle. It is the rainstorm which becomes the birthplace of the rainbows. Rainbows are often seen when the sun comes out after or during a rainstorm. When white sunlight enters a raindrop, it exits the raindrop in a different colour. The rainbow is also called ‘VIBGYOR’ when it exits lots of different raindrops at different angles. The different coloured lights are: V is violet, I is indigo, B is blue, G is green, Y is yellow, O is orange and R is red. Together, these colours are known as the spectrum. These colours can sometimes be seen in waterfalls and fountains as well. We can see double rainbows, meaning a rainbow which forms two arcs. In other words, the order of colours starts with violet on top and ends with red on bottom. Believe it or not, rainbows sometimes appear as white arcs at night. These rainbows are called moonbows. Moonbows are caused by moonlight (rather than sunlight) shining through drops of water.

  1. The History of Rainbows

  2. The Basics About Rainbows

  3. Moonbows!

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Option (4) is the correct answer as the passage gives us the basic knowledge of types of rainbows and what causes them.

Multiple choice

To an astronaut on the surface of the moon the sky appears:

  1. white

  2. rich blue

  3. light blue

  4. dark
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The Moon has an extremely thin atmosphere, so there is almost no Rayleigh scattering to create a blue sky like on Earth. The sky appears dark/ black even during daytime due to this lack of atmospheric scattering.

Multiple choice

Solar eclipse occurs when

  1. the sun comes in between the moon and the earth

  2. the earth comes in between the sun and the moon

  3. the moon comes in between the sun and the earth

  4. the moon, the sun and the earth are in a straight line
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, blocking the Sun's light. Option D describes a syzygy (alignment) but doesn't specify which body blocks which - C is the precise answer. The Moon's shadow falls on Earth during solar eclipse.

Multiple choice

The rays of the sun reach the earth in

  1. 8 ½ minutes

  2. 9 ½ minutes

  3. 7 ½ minutes

  4. 6 ½ minutes
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Sunlight takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds (8.33 minutes) to travel from the Sun to Earth. This is calculated based on the average Earth-Sun distance of approximately 150 million kilometers and the speed of light at about 300,000 kilometers per second. Among the given options, 8 1/2 minutes is the closest approximation to this actual value.

Multiple choice

The solar eclipse occurs

  1. when the moon comes between the earth and the sun

  2. when the earth comes between the moon and the sun

  3. when the earth and the sun are parallel

  4. None of these

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking the Sun's light either partially or completely from certain areas on Earth. This alignment can only happen during a new moon phase when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. The Moon's shadow falls on Earth's surface, creating the eclipse phenomenon. Total solar eclipses are rare events at any given location because the Moon's shadow is relatively small.