Ever gazed up at the night sky wondering which dot is Mars and which is just an airplane? With eight planets, hundreds of moons, countless asteroids, and a history of space exploration spanning decades, keeping track of our cosmic neighborhood can be more mind-boggling than calculating a rocket trajectory! Our Solar System trivia collection solves this astronomical confusion with questions covering everything from Mercury’s scorching surface to Neptune’s icy winds. Perfect for sparking wonder in young stargazers or testing whether your science teacher taught you correctly about the planets.
Check out these Earth Trivia Questions.
Solar System Trivia Questions and Answers
- What is the name of our galaxy?
Answer: The Milky Way - How many planets are in our solar system?
Answer: 8 - Which planet is closest to the Sun?
Answer: Mercury - Which planet is known as the “Red Planet”?
Answer: Mars - What is the largest planet in our solar system?
Answer: Jupiter - What planet is famous for its beautiful rings?
Answer: Saturn - What is the name of Earth’s natural satellite?
Answer: The Moon - Which planet is known as the “Blue Planet”?
Answer: Earth - What is the hottest planet in our solar system?
Answer: Venus - Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
Answer: Neil Armstrong - What year did humans first land on the Moon?
Answer: 1969 - What is the name of the force that keeps planets orbiting the Sun?
Answer: Gravity - What is the name of the first dog sent to space?
Answer: Laika - Which planet is known as the “Morning Star” or “Evening Star”?
Answer: Venus - What is the name of the spacecraft that carried the first astronauts to the Moon?
Answer: Apollo 11 - What is the coldest planet in our solar system?
Answer: Neptune - What was the first artificial satellite sent into space?
Answer: Sputnik 1 - What is the average distance from Earth to the Sun?
Answer: 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) - What is the name of the dwarf planet that was once considered the ninth planet?
Answer: Pluto - What is the center of the solar system?
Answer: The Sun - Which planet has the most moons?
Answer: Saturn - What is the name of the space station currently orbiting Earth?
Answer: International Space Station (ISS) - What is the name of NASA’s most famous space telescope?
Answer: Hubble Space Telescope - What is the giant red spot on Jupiter?
Answer: A giant storm - What are the rocky objects that orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter?
Answer: Asteroids - What is the name of the galaxy closest to the Milky Way?
Answer: Andromeda Galaxy - What is the name of the first woman in space?
Answer: Valentina Tereshkova - What is the time it takes for Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun?
Answer: 365.25 days (one year) - What is a shooting star?
Answer: A meteor - What are the tails of comets made of?
Answer: Gas and dust - What is the largest moon in our solar system?
Answer: Ganymede (a moon of Jupiter) - Which space agency sent the Curiosity rover to Mars?
Answer: NASA - What does NASA stand for?
Answer: National Aeronautics and Space Administration - What type of star is our Sun?
Answer: Yellow dwarf star - What is the name of Earth’s protective magnetic field?
Answer: Magnetosphere - Which two planets in our solar system do not have moons?
Answer: Mercury and Venus - How many Earth days does it take Mercury to orbit the Sun?
Answer: 88 days - What is the main element the Sun is made of?
Answer: Hydrogen - What is the big dark spot on Mars’ surface called?
Answer: Syrtis Major - What is a group of stars forming a pattern called?
Answer: A constellation - What is the name of Saturn’s largest moon?
Answer: Titan - What is the name of the only planet that rotates on its side?
Answer: Uranus - What is the approximate age of our solar system?
Answer: 4.6 billion years - What is the process by which a star like our Sun produces energy?
Answer: Nuclear fusion - Which planet has the shortest day in our solar system?
Answer: Jupiter - What is the approximate surface temperature of the Sun?
Answer: 5,500 degrees Celsius (9,940 degrees Fahrenheit) - How many moons does Mars have?
Answer: 2 (Phobos and Deimos) - What is the name of the point where an object is farthest from the Sun in its orbit?
Answer: Aphelion - What causes the seasons on Earth?
Answer: The tilt of Earth’s axis - What is the name of Pluto’s largest moon?
Answer: Charon - What is the name of the boundary that marks the edge of our solar system?
Answer: Heliopause - How long does it take for light from the Sun to reach Earth?
Answer: About 8 minutes and 20 seconds - What were the first living things sent into orbit that were safely returned to Earth?
Answer: Fruit flies - What is the name of the first human-made object to leave our solar system?
Answer: Voyager 1 - What are frozen gases that orbit the Sun in very long elliptical paths?
Answer: Comets - What is the name of the massive cloud of gas and dust where stars are born?
Answer: Nebula - How many moons does Jupiter have?
Answer: 79 confirmed moons - What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?
Answer: A giant storm - Who was the first American to orbit the Earth?
Answer: John Glenn - What is the name of the imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole around which Earth rotates?
Answer: The axis - What is the region of space around a black hole from which nothing can escape?
Answer: Event horizon - What is the approximate diameter of the Sun?
Answer: 1.4 million kilometers (870,000 miles) - What is the name of Mars’ largest volcano?
Answer: Olympus Mons - What are Neptune’s fast winds made of?
Answer: Hydrogen, helium, and methane - What is the name of Earth’s nearest star after the Sun?
Answer: Proxima Centauri - What space telescope replaced the Hubble Space Telescope?
Answer: James Webb Space Telescope - What are the dark spots on the Sun called?
Answer: Sunspots - What is the name of the first human to journey into space?
Answer: Yuri Gagarin - What is the largest volcano in our solar system?
Answer: Olympus Mons on Mars - Which NASA mission delivered the first humans to the Moon?
Answer: Apollo 11 - What is the largest known asteroid in the asteroid belt?
Answer: Ceres - What is the bright streak of light in the night sky that results when a small meteoroid burns up as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere?
Answer: A meteor - What causes the beautiful atmospheric light display known as the aurora borealis?
Answer: Solar particles colliding with gases in Earth’s atmosphere - What is the name of the theoretical sphere surrounding the Sun where objects are gravitationally bound to it?
Answer: The Oort Cloud - What is the average surface temperature on Mars?
Answer: -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius) - Which astronaut said “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”?
Answer: Neil Armstrong - What is the approximate escape velocity needed to leave Earth’s surface?
Answer: 11.2 kilometers per second (7 miles per second) - What is a collection of billions of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity called?
Answer: A galaxy - How many times can Earth fit inside the Sun?
Answer: About 1.3 million times - What is the distance light travels in one year called?
Answer: A light-year - What is the name of the hypothesized ninth planet that may exist far beyond Pluto?
Answer: Planet Nine - What is the theory of how our universe began called?
Answer: The Big Bang Theory - What is the approximate mass of the Sun compared to Earth?
Answer: 333,000 times more massive - Which spacecraft performed the first flyby of all four giant planets?
Answer: Voyager 2 - What is the name of the first commercial spacecraft to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station?
Answer: SpaceX Crew Dragon - What is the phenomenon where a planet passes directly between Earth and the Sun?
Answer: Transit - Which planet in our solar system has the strongest magnetic field?
Answer: Jupiter - What is the farthest planet from the Sun in our solar system?
Answer: Neptune