Astro QuizTakneek 2014

Prepared by: Yashi Shahi, Kartik Jain, Dibya RanjanQuiz Master: Yash Shahi

PRELIMS• Written round

1. What is that “white trail” ?

2. Who said this…

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

3. Id the blurred name

4. What planet am I talking about?

• X has several broad depressions: Atalanta Planitia, Guinevere Planitia, Lavinia Planitia. There are two large highland areas: Ishtar Terra in the northern hemisphere (about the size of Australia) and Aphrodite Terra along the equator (about the size of South America). The interior of Ishtar consists mainly of a high plateau, Lakshmi Planum, which is surrounded by the highest mountains on X including the enormous Maxwell Montes.

5. Identify the two “stars” in the image.

From a famous event that occurred in 2008.

6*. The order.

• Earth

• Mercury

• Venus

• Mars

• Saturn

• Moon

• Neptune

• Jupiter

• Uranus

• Exactly one object is not in it’s correct position in the list. Which object is it, and what decides the positions of objects in this list?

7.* Identify X.

• Richard Hinckley Allen lists many folk names for the X. The English ones include: Jacob's Rod or Staff; Peter's Staff; the Golden Yard-arm; the Ell; the Yard-wand; the Ellwand ; Our Lady's Wand; the Magi; the Three Kings; the Three Marys etc.

• The passage "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of X?" is found in the Book of Job.

8.

• According to the ancient Greeks, X were Y. In Greek, the word "X" means "doves." Their parents were Pleione and Atlas who was condemned by Zeus to support the Heavens on his shoulders.

• Id X & Y.

9.* Identify and “relate” the two.

10.

• Analogous to the four laws of thermodynamics, there are four laws of __________ mechanics, discovered by Brandon Carter, Stephen Hawking and James Bardeen.

11.*

• Who was the first in the sequence of the six loneliest persons of the world? “Loneliest” meaning the farthest away from any human being.

12. Identify the object.

FINALS• Pouncing rounds

1.

• A thousand years ago, the festival of Makar Sankranti was on 31st December and is now on 14 January. According to calculations, from 2050 Makar Sankranti will fall on 15 January.

• Why should it be so?

• Precession of Earth’s axis.

2.

• The water carrier represented by the zodiacal constellation X is Y, a beautiful Phrygian youth. Y was the son of Tros, king of Troy . While tending his father's flocks on Mount Ida, Y was spotted by Jupiter. The king of gods became enamored of the boy and flew down to the mountain in the form of a large bird, whisking Y away to the heavens. Identify X & Y.

• X – Aquarius.

• Y – Ganymede.

3.

• _______, Virgo, Coma Berenices, Ursa Major, Ophiuchus, CanisVenatici, Leo,...

• What decides the order of constellations in this list?

• Fill in the blank.

• Sagittarius.

• Decreasing order of number of messiers in each constellation.

4. Identify the phenomenon

• Tidal locking.

5.

• ________ is the world's first and largest operational _________. It is leased by the Kazakh government to Russia (until 2050) and is in the shape of an ellipse, measuring 90 kilometres (56 mi) east-west by 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-south.

• Baikonur.

• Space launch facility.

6.

• ……..was an international media event, with merchandising of T-shirts and hats with bullseyes, wagering on the time and place of entry, and nightly news reports. The San Francisco Examiner offered a $10,000 prize for the first piece of X delivered to its offices; the competing Chronicle offered $200,000 if a subscriber suffered personal or property damage. Seventeen year-old Stan Thornton found 24 pieces of X at his home in Esperance. A Philadelphia businessman flew him, his parents, and girlfriend to San Francisco, where he collected the Examiner prize. In a coincidence for the organizers, the annual Miss Universe pageant was scheduled to be held a few days later, on July 20, 1979 in Perth. A large piece of X was displayed on the stage.

• Identify X.

• Skylab.

REVERSE

7.

• In May 2010, an astronomical event gained widespread popularity. Here are some statements regarding the same:

• This is not the first time this has happened, X goes missing every 10 years or so. In fact, it's disappeared about 18 times since the turn of the 19th century.

• It's possible, that some 'ammonia cirrus' has formed on top of X, hiding it from view.

• It's like a missing tooth. There is disorder on Jupiter — and we just don't know why.

What is being talked about?

• Jupiter loses a stripe.

8.

• What is this picture?• What event is related to the picture?

• Google Doodle.

• End of Mayan Calendar.

9.

• In which constellation does the southern pole of the celestial sphere lie?

• Octans.

10.

• This is a page from a famous manga. Identify the phenomenon being discussed.

• Solar eclipse.

11.

• What logo is the following a part of?

• European Space Agency (ESA).

12.

• Complete the song:Since the dawn of man is really not that long,As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song.A fraction of a second and the elements were made.The bipeds stood up straight,The dinosaurs all met their fate,They tried to leave, but they were lateAnd they all died. (They froze their asses off.)The oceans and Pangea,See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya,Set in motion by the same ________.

• Big Bang.

REVERSE

13.

• X lies in the northern hemisphere. It is one of the largest constellations in the sky. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. The constellation is known for Y, a familiar asterism in the northern sky, as well as for a number of bright stars and deep sky objects, among them Stephan’s Quintet of galaxies, the Einstein Cross (a gravitationally lensed quasar), and the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 7742.

• Pegasus.

14.

• What was the first animal sent in space?

• Fruit fly.

15. What do these data show?

The data has been recorded today at 8:27 AM IST.

• Data for Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

16.

The following is a mural in the temple of Angkor Wat. What phenomena does it depict?

• Solar eclipse and Lunar eclipse.

17.

• In the PK Kelkar library, beside the computers for Library Catalogue Search on ground floor, a scale model of ________ is kept, which was presented by the Ambassdor of USA on October 26, 1970.

• Lunar module “Eagle” in which Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrinmade their landing on the moon.

18.

• According to X's national act number 5,700 of 1 September 1971, the flag portrays the stars as they would be seen by an imaginary observer an infinite distance above Y standing outside the firmament in which the stars are meant to be placed (i.e. as found on a celestial globe).

• The above is a description of one of the most difficult to construct national flag. Which country’s flag?

• Brazil