TheSkySearchers

Greetings excellent TSSers! Sorry for neglecting you guys for so long, I'll try to catch up.
This quiz is lightened up some from the last one, but with some toughies near the end. Here’s the link:
https://forms.gle/GTQzc6hFKrDoNcD88

For the short answer questions, spelling does not matter. (I will adjust scores for misspelled answers.)

Remember:
1. No online research allowed, your own pure brain only!
2. On multiple choice questions, feel free to guess because you may get lucky.
3. If you have a comment about a question, please do NOT give away the correct answer!
4. Please do not repeat the quiz, at least not until after I announce the Champs in a week or so.

Enjoy!

16 out of 20. I actually have an astrolabe which was gifted to me by my father, along with a sextant.

14/20. I missed all my guesses.

19/20 my all time best!!! Just missed the one trick question, so I'll take a half point for it.

Clear skies,
Steve

9/20. if i had spelled two questions Right it would be 11/ 20.

Yep RR had 17/20

I'm just bumping up, should get more test dummies, any takers??

Steve

15 of 20 here - no one in my house owns an astrolabe - and it cost me.

Bob

I had 16/20, though in reality I should've had 18/20 but made a bone head mistake on one question. Oh well.

13/20

I only ever had a sextant!

Should have got the Apollo one!

Good quiz. Thanks Raymond.

Regards

Graeme

Had to guess at one.

Thanks all for participating! Total of 15 responses.

The 14 questions scored 20 points.
Overall average score: 14.67 points = 73.4%. One of my easier ones...

Honorable mentions with 19 points = 95%:
Steve
Bravo!

And now.. (drum roll please) here is your Champion, who scored 20 points = 100%:
Lady Fraktor (Gabrielle)
Hurrah! Hurrah!
There were also two perfect scores who didn't give a name... modest, I suppose.

===
Answers, stats, comments…

1. The image above depicts open cluster NGC 457, a favorite target at star parties. The cluster is also known by which of the following? (1)
All of the above, 9/15 correct. In addition, some apparently call it the “Skiing Cluster”.

2. In which constellation does NGC 457 lie? (1)
Cassiopeia, 9/15 correct. Right under the big W.

3. About how many minutes does it take for the Sun’s light to reach Earth? (1)
8, 15/15 correct.

4. “Planetary nebulae” are so called because they: (1)
Had the appearance of planets to early astronomers, 15/15 correct. One of the silly misnomers of astronomy… a better term might be Ejection Nebula.

5. Latitude is to Declination as Longitude is to: (two words) (1)
Right ascension, 15/15 correct. Wow, so many ways to spell “ascension” :-) Someone suggested hour angle should also be a valid answer, but that’s not really used the same way.

6. Which concept did the ancient astronomer Ptolemy use to explain the apparent retrograde motion of planets? (1)
Epicycles, 14/15 correct.

7. Which noble gas element has the same name as the home planet of a fictional Super visitor? (1)
Krypton, 13/15 correct. The home planet of Superman.

8. Which two planets will reach a very close conjunction in the evening sky next month (December 2020)? (Must check both to get the point) (1)
Jupiter and Saturn, 14/15 correct. Though low in the sky, was quite an interesting sight.

9. In your telescope, an eyepiece with a 50 degree apparent field of view provides 100x magnification. What is the true field of view in minutes of arc? (number only) (2)
30, 7/15 correct. Some answered .5 degree, correct but that’s not minutes of arc.

10. Who discovered the Lagoon Nebula? (2)
Giovanni Battista Hodierna, 8/15 correct.

11. Who was the only Apollo astronaut to orbit the Moon on two different missions without landing? (2)
Jim Lovell, 10/15 correct. Some pointed out that Jim did not actually orbit the moon on Apollo 13. Okay, I should’ve said “went around”.

12. The daily apparent motion of celestial objects around the Earth is known as: (2)
Diurnal motion, 12/15 correct.

13. On an astrolabe, which part consists of a bar with sighting holes that can be rotated to line up on a star? (3)
Alidade, 9/15 correct. Knew that because someone recently gave me a cardboard astrolabe.

14. Opinion question; any answer gets you a point. How many science fiction questions should appear on these quizzes? (1)
Zero, 3. One on occasion, 7. One every quiz, 4. Sometimes more than one, 0. No preference, 1. One on occasion is the plurality winner! Good, because that’s what I’ve been doing.

Thanks again, I'll post the January quiz soon...