Science General · Geography

Astronomy and Celestial Phenomena

1,839 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 evs sun and planets phases of moon moon and it's phases moon

Fill in the blanks:

The period between two consecutive new moon days is _______ and is called a _______.

  1. $31$ days, month
  2. $7$ days, week
  3. $15$ days, fortnight
  4. slightly longer than $29$ days, month
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The time taken for one revolution of moon is a few hours longer than 29 days. But for ease of calculation, these hours have been divided amongst the months to give us months having 30 and 31 days. It takes one complete revolution of the moon around the Earth to have the next new moon day after the previous one. This period is called a month.

Multiple choice evs sun and planets phases of moon moon and it's phases moon

What occurs 15 days after the full moon day?

  1. Half moon day

  2. Crescent moon day

  3. New moon day

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Every night after the full moon day, the size for the visible part of the Moon becomes thinner. It takes a period of 15 days for the Moon to become completely invisible. This day is called new moon day.

Multiple choice evs sun and planets phases of moon moon and it's phases moon

The moon takes _____ days to complete one spin.

  1. $25$
  2. $26$
  3. $27$
  4. $28$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The moon orbits the Earth once every $27.322$ days. It also takes approximately $27$ days for the moon to rotate once on its axis. As a result, the moon does not seem to be spinning but appears to observers from Earth to be keeping almost perfectly still.

Multiple choice evs sun and planets phases of moon moon and it's phases moon

At what phase are the earth, moon and sun are in approximate alignment?

  1. Full Moon

  2. New Moon

  3. Waning Crescent

  4. Waxing Crescent
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A,B Correct answer
Explanation

The moon is visible on earth because the light from the sun falls on it, gets reflected from it and enters the eyes of the people who are watching it on earth.  The moon appears crescent, half, full, not at all, etc, depending on its position with respect to the sun and the earth.

The light falling on any part of the moon gets reflected. However the light reflected only from some part of the moon reaches the earth. Only that part is visible to the people on the earth.
On the new moon day, the moon is on the same side of the earth as that of the sun with respect to earth. No light from the moon reaches the earth and it becomes invisible. Its apparent colour is black, i.e. same of that as that of the night sky.
On the full moon day, the moon is on the opposite side of the earth as that of the sun with respect to earth. The light reflected from the entire moon reaches the earth and it appears like a glowing circular disc.

Thus, on new moon day and a full moon day, earth, sun and moon are almost in one line.

For practical understanding, you can perform the experiment given below
Take a torch, switch it on and place it on a table.
Stand in front of the source of light of the torch.
Take a small ball and hold it at a height same as that of the torch and facing the torch.
You will notice that the ball appears dark.
Now if you change the position of the ball, keeping the height same, you will notice that only some part of the ball appears illuminated.
If you place it diametrically opposite to the torch, but at height slightly higher than your head, the entire ball gets illuminated.
You can also notice that in the positions where the ball appears completely bright and in that when completely dark, the torch, your eyes and the ball are in one line.
The phases of the moon are due to situations similar to this experiment. 

Multiple choice geography our changing earth earthquake earthquakes earth's movement and creation of landforms

Earth takes 24 hours to ____________.

  1. Rotate around the sun

  2. Rotates on its axis

  3. Revolve around the sun

  4. Revolve around itself
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Rotation is the movement of the earth on its axis. The earth takes about 24 hours to complete one rotation on its axis. The period of rotation is known as the earth day. This is the daily motion of the earth.

Multiple choice geography our changing earth earthquake earthquakes earth's movement and creation of landforms

What causes days and nights?

  1. Earth's rotation

  2. Earth's revolution

  3. Sun's rotation

  4. Sun's revolution
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Earth is a non-luminous body but the sun is luminous. As the earth is rotating around its axis, half of its portion is facing the sun and the other half is entirely dark due to the absence of sun. In other words, half of the globe have day and on the other half, it is a night. As the earth is rotating around the sun its every part is exposed to Sun within every 24 hours this rotation causes days and nights.

Multiple choice geography our changing earth earthquake earthquakes earth's movement and creation of landforms

Earth takes 365 days to ___________.

  1. Rotate around the sun

  2. Rotate around itself

  3. Revolve around the sun

  4. Revolve around itself
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Earth takes about 365 1/4 days to revolve around the sun. As we take 365 days for a year, the difference of 1/4 of a day requires adjustment. This is why we add one day to February every four years.

Multiple choice geography the signature of time movement of the earth's plates development of landforms study of continents - north america biosphere and landscape

The cycle of season is caused by _________________.

  1. the varying distances between the Earth and the Sun

  2. the spherical shape of the Earth

  3. the tilt of the earth's axis

  4. the presence of plants and animals
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

C. The tilt of Earths Axis

Seasons happen because Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of about 23.4 degrees and different parts of Earth receive more solar energy than others. Because of Earth's axial tilt, different areas of Earth point toward or away from the Sun at different times of the year. Around the June solstice, the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun and the Northern Hemisphere gets more of the Sun's direct rays. This is why June, July and August are summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere points away from the Sun, creating winter during the months of June, July and August. Summer in the Southern Hemisphere is in December, January, and February, when the South Pole is tilted toward the Sun and the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away.

Multiple choice geography the signature of time movement of the earth's plates development of landforms study of continents - north america biosphere and landscape

Sequence of positions during solar eclipse is ________________.

  1. Sun, Earth and Moon

  2. Earth, Sun and Moon

  3. Sun, Earth and Planet

  4. Sun, Moon and Earth
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. This can happen only at new moon when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth in an alignment. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured.
Multiple choice geography the signature of time movement of the earth's plates development of landforms study of continents - north america biosphere and landscape

Natural satellite of the earth is completely under the shadow during the ____________.

  1. Lunar eclipse

  2. Solar eclipse

  3. Any eclipse

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned in the same line, with the Earth in the middle. Generally, a lunar eclipse occur only in the night of a full moon.
A total lunar eclipse has the direct sunlight completely blocked by the earth's shadow. The only light seen is refracted through the earth's shadow. 
Multiple choice geography the signature of time movement of the earth's plates development of landforms study of continents - north america biosphere and landscape

Lunar eclipse happen only on a ___________.

  1. half moon night

  2. no moon night

  3. full moon night

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned in the same line, with the Earth in the middle. Generally, a lunar eclipse occur only in the night of a full moon.
A total lunar eclipse has the direct sunlight completely blocked by the earth's shadow. The only light seen is refracted through the earth's shadow. 
Multiple choice geography the signature of time movement of the earth's plates development of landforms study of continents - north america biosphere and landscape

For a lunar eclipse to occur, the sun, earth and the moon have to come in a straight line with the earth in the middle.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon. 

The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes.A total lunar eclipse has the direct sunlight completely blocked by the earth's shadow. The only light seen is refracted through the earth's shadow. 
Multiple choice geography the signature of time movement of the earth's plates development of landforms study of continents - north america biosphere and landscape

Vishal was watching the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. Slowly the entire Moon became dark and invisible. At this. point Vishal can assume that _______________.

  1. Earth has come in between the Sun and the moon

  2. Sun has blocked the view of the Moon

  3. Moon has come in between the Sun and the Earth

  4. Moon has stopped producing light
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes.

A total lunar eclipse has the direct sunlight completely blocked by the earth's shadow. The only light seen is refracted through the earth's shadow. This light looks red for the same reason that the sunset looks red. Because of its reddish color, a total lunar eclipse is sometimes called a blood moon.