Exploring Exoplanets Quiz

What is an exoplanet?

• A planet outside of our solar system

• A planet within our solar system

• A moon orbiting a planet in our galaxy

• A comet orbiting another star

How far away is Proxima Centauri b, the closest known exoplanet to Earth?

• 1 light-year

• 4 light-years

• 100 light-years

• 10 light-years

Which method detects exoplanets by observing the dimming of a star as a planet passes in front of it?

• Direct imaging

• Gravitational microlensing

• Radial velocity method

• Transit method

What was the Kepler Space Telescope's mission?

• To discover Earth-size planets in the habitable zone

• To map the Milky Way galaxy

• To photograph the surfaces of exoplanets

• To study the sun

What is the 'habitable zone' also known as?

• Red zone

• Dark zone

• Goldilocks zone

• Cold zone

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-1

What does a planet candidate become once confirmed?

• A star

• A confirmed exoplanet

• A comet

• A galaxy

How are exoplanets named?

• After their discoverers

• Using the star's name followed by a lowercase letter

• With unique proper names only

• Randomly generated names

What does the lowercase letter in an exoplanet's name represent?

• The size of the planet

• The planet's distance from its star

• The temperature of the planet

• The order in which the planet was discovered

Which telescope was not originally designed to search for exoplanets but became an excellent tool for doing so?

• Hubble Space Telescope

• James Webb Space Telescope

• Kepler Space Telescope

• Spitzer Space Telescope

What significant milestone did the discovery of six new exoplanets represent?

• The first exoplanet in the habitable zone

• Passing 5,500 known exoplanets

• The discovery of the smallest exoplanet

• The first discovery of an Earth-like planet