Astronomy 1000+ MCQ with answer for GMAT

1. Which of the following is known as 'King of Planets'?
A. Earth
B. Jupiter
C. Mercury
D. Venus
Answer : B

2. Nearest star to the earth is _____.
A. Alfa Centaury
B. Sun
C. Proxima Centaury
D. Dog Star
Answer : B

3. Sun revolves around galaxy once in every 250 million years, this length of time is called _____.
A. Cosmic or Galactic Year
B. Mean Solar Year
C. Sidereal Year
D. Leap Year
Answer : A

4. When the earth is at its maximum distance from the Sun it is said to be in
A. Perigee
B. Apogee
C. Perihelion
D. Aphelion
Answer : D

5. Which planet is called 'red planet'?
A. Mars
B. Jupiter
C. Mercury
D. Venus
Answer : A

6. Relatively cool spots of the Sun are called __ while relatively hot spots of the Sun are called __.
A. Fusionspot, Facu1ae
B. Sunspot, Faculae
C. Faculae, Sunspot
D. Sunspot, Hotspot
Answer : B

7. What happens when ships cross the International Date Line?
A. They have to pay a tax
B. Ships going west from the USA lose a day, ships going east from Japan and Australia gain a day
C. They have to report at the customs post
D. They have to check their clocks agains
Answer : B

8. What do you call a narrow neck oC land that connects two larger landmasses?
A. Peninsula
B. Isthmus
C. Cape
D. Strait
Answer : B

9. Hale Bopp' is a newly discovered ____.
A. Planet
B. Meteore
C. Satellite
D. Comet
Answer : D

10. Sun-rays reaches earth in (approximately)
A. 8 seconds
B. 8 minutes
C. 4.3 seconds
D. 1 light year
Answer : B

11. A meteor is
A. a rapidly moving star
B. a piece of matter which has entered the earth's atmosphere from outer space
C. part of a constellation
D. a comet without a tail
Answer : B

12. From west to east, what are the three main island groups in the Pacific called?
A. Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia
B. Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia
C. Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia
D. Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia
Answer : A

13. Earth revolves round the Sun In an orbit once In every __.
A. 24 hours
B. 20 hours
C. 365 % days
D. 366 days
Answer : C

14. Which of the following statements is correct with reference to our Solar System?
A. The Earth is the densest of all the Planets in our Solar System
B. The predominant element in the composition of Earth is silicon
C. The sun contains 75 per cent of the mass of the Solar System
D. The diameter of the Sun is 190 times that of the Earth
Answer : A

15. On which date is the Earth in 'perihelion'?
A. January-3
B. June-21
C. July-4
D. December-22
Answer : A

16. What is peninsula?
A. A narrow belt of land
B. A mountainous island
C. A piece of land surrounded by water on three sides
D. A range of hills
Answer : C

17. Which planet has the largest equatorial radius?
A. Jupiter
B. Saturn
C. Mars
D. Earth
Answer : A

18. Deimos and Phobos are the satellites of
A. Earth
B. Mars
C. Uranus
D. Neptune
Answer : B

19. To a space traveller stationed in Moon, during the day time the lunar sky will appear
A. Blue
B. White
C. Black
D. Crimson Red
Answer : C

20. What is the distance around the earth at the Equator?
A. 21,000 km
B. 16,800 km
C. 18,600 km
D. 12,500 km
Answer : C

21. The atmospheric� pressure on the surface of Venus is more than__ times the atmospheric pressure of the Earth.
A. 90
B. 80
C. 50
D. 100
Answer : A

22. How many degrees north and south are the Tropics?
A. 47 degrees
B. 23.5 degrees
C. 12 degrees
D. 30 degrees
Answer : A

23. How much time does earth take in making one rotation on its axis with respect to a fixed star at infinite distance?
A. 23 hours 56 minutes
B. 24 hours
C. 23 hours 46 minutes
D. 24 hours 4 minutes
Answer : A

24. Which of the following is 'the cruel planet' in Indian astrology?
A. Jupiter
B. Saturn
C. Uranus
D. Neptune
Answer : B

25. Brightest planet of our Solar System is _____.
A. Venus
B. Mercury
C. Uranus
D. Saturn
Answer : A

26. The rate of rotation of the Earth on its axis is the highest on which of the following date?
A. It never changes
B. January-4
C. January-3
D. January-21
Answer : A

27. What is the shape of our galaxy 'Milky Way'?
A. spiral
B. elliptical
C. circular
D. spherical
Answer : A

28. Big Bang Theory' explains
A. the formation of universe
B. the origin and evolution of earth's crust
C. formation of Solar System
D. formation of constellation
Answer : A

29. Equatorial circumference of the Earth is
A. 40067 km
B. 50067 km
C. 4067 km
D. 5067 km
Answer : A

30. Outside Antarctica, which is the deepest part of the earth?
A. The Dead Sea
B. The Aral Sea
C. The Caspian Sea
D. Lake Baikal
Answer : A

31. Equatorial diameter of the Earth is __.
A. 12757 km
B. 17257 km
C. 17527 km
D. 17572 km
Answer : A

32. Which two Planets do not have any satellites?
A. Venus and Mercury
B. Venus and Uranus
C. Venus and Neptune
D. Mercury and Uranus
Answer : A

33. The atmosphere of Venus contains large quantity of
A. Carbondioxide and sulphuric acid
B. Carbondioxide and nitric acid
C. Nitrogen and sulphuric acid
D. Nitrogen and nitric acid
Answer : A

34. Arrange the Outer Planets in increasing order of their sizes.
1. Jupiter
2. Uranus
3. Saturn
4. Neptune
A. 4, 2, 3, 1
B. 4, 2, 1, 3
C. 2, 4, 3, 1
D. 4, 2, 3, 1
Answer : A

35. When the Sun is vertically overhead along the Tropic of Capricorn at mid-day
A. days and nights are of equal lengths in the Northern Hemisphere
B. Nights are longer than days in the Southern Hemisphere
C. Days and nights are of equal lengths at the poles
D. Night is equal to 24 hours at the North Pole
Answer : D

36. The tail of a comet is directed away from the Sun because
A. as the comet rotates around the Sun, the light mass of the comet is pushed away due to the centrifugal force alone
B. as the comet rotates, the lighter mass of the comet is attracted by some star situated in the direction of its tail
C. the radiation emitted by the Sun exerts a radial pressure on the comet throwing its tail away from the Sun
D. the tail of the comet always exists in the same orientation
Answer : A

37. Smallest planet of our Solar System is _____.
A. Pluto
B. Earth
C. Venus
D. Mercury
Answer : A

38. The planet of lowest density (0.69) is __ .
A. Jupiter
B. Saturn
C. Neptune
D. Pluto
Answer : B

39. What is the name of the planet which takes 88 days to make one revolution of the Sun?
A. Venus
B. Mercury
C. Pluto
D. Neptune
Answer : B

40. The shortest route between two places is along the
A. longitudes
B. latitudes
C. rivers
D. direction of winds
Answer : A

41. How much time (approximately) does the light from the nearest star to the Sun take in reaching the earth?
A. 4.3 seconds
B. 4.3 years
C. 4.3 minutes
D. 4.3 hours
Answer : B

42. What is the position of the moon called when it la farthest from the earth?
A. Perigee
B. Perihelion
C. Aphelion
D. Apogee
Answer : D

43. The study of universe on grand scale is called.
A. Cosmology
B. Astronomy
C. Astrology
D. Exbiology
Answer : A

44. What part of the moon's surface is never visible from the earth?
A. 1.41
B. 1.47
C. 0.59
D. 0.5
Answer : A

45. All asteroids collectively revolve around the
A. Sun
B. Planet
C. Satellite
D. Moon
Answer : A

46. Distance between the Moon and the Earth is
1. Approximately 386000 km
2. 1.25 light seconds
A. Only 1
B. Only 2
C. Both land 2
D. None of these
Answer : C

47. Which star la called the brightest star (Dog star)?
A. Sirius
B. Proxima Centaury
C. Orion
D. Pole Star
Answer : A

48. How many of the following statements are true?
1. Mean Solar Day is greater than Sidereal Day approximately by 4 minutes.
2. Earth's rotational velocity is decreasing.
3. Planets are arranged according to their increasing distance from the sun as follo
A. 3 and 4
B. 1, 3 and 4
C. 1 and 2
D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer : D

49. Our Solar System is an orderly community of _____.
A. One star
B. Two stars
C. Three stars
D. Four stars
Answer : A

50. Which planet rotates on its axis from east to west?
A. Venus
B. Uranus
C. Earth
D. Jupiter
Answer : A