Quiztronomy 13 finals

Quiztronomy 2013
The annual Astronomy flavoured quiz

Q 1
Connect:
Planet,
X-men supervillain,
another planet,
Gatling gun,
Old ford model

Q 2
This cave is part of Sequoia National Park, a naturally formed system of caves
in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The cave was discovered in
August 2006 by four professional cave explorers from the Cave Research
Foundation who found a grapefruit-sized hole on a cliff face in the Sierra
Nevada mountains. After widening the hole to allow for human entry, the
explorers discovered one of the most spectacular caves in the western U.S.
A large bear skeleton was found in the cave, which attracted many
scientists and researchers interested in finding new species of troglobites,
organisms that live in the complete darkness afforded by caves. What was
the cave named?

Q 3
X, a pioneer in applying Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity to
cosmology, published an article in 1927 deriving what is today known as
Hubble's Law two years before Edwin Hubble. He also proposed the
"hypothesis of the primeval atom" which is popularly known by another
name given by Fred Hoyle. Name "the master"

Q 4
Connect:
1. Cassiopeia
2. Perseus
3. Cetus
4. NGC 224 5. M 31

Q 5
X- Locations where the sun is less than 6 (or 7) degrees below the horizon
which are above 60° 34’ (or 59° 34’) latitude that are south of the Arctic
Circle or north of the Antarctic Circle experience the sun's presence even
during the night, so that daytime activities, such as reading, are still
possible without artificial light on a clear night. The farther north (south)
you go, the longer this period becomes. These Xs have become a common
symbol of Saint Petersburg, Russia, where they occur from about June 11
to July 2, and the last 10 days of June are celebrated with cultural events.
Y is a title given to this character played by Aaron Eckhart for "cleaning up the
streets" in one of the most iconic movies by Christopher Nolan. His battle
with the criminal underworld leaves him disfigured, transforming him into
a murderer bent on revenge, choosing to bring about good or evil based
upon the outcome of a coin flip. X & Y?

X – White Night
Y – White Knight

Q 6
Cydonia is a region on Mars, which has attracted both scientific and popular
interest. It was first imaged in detail by the Viking 1 and Viking 2 orbiters.
Eighteen images of the Cydonia region were taken by the orbiters. In one
of the images taken by Viking 1 on July 25, 1976, a 2 km long Cydonian
mesa, situated at 40.75° north latitude and 9.46° west longitude had a
unique feature. When the image was originally acquired, Viking chief
scientist Gerry Soffen dismissed this feature as a "trick of light and
shadow". However, a second image, also shows this feature, and was
acquired 35 Viking orbits later at a different sun-angle from the earlier
image. This image inspired individuals and organizations interested in
extraterrestrial intelligence and visitations to Earth, and the images were
published in this context in 1977. What am I talking about?

Q 7
Between whom did this conversation take place?
X: Among the large headlines this morning, there's one asking that you
watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful
Chinese girl called Chang-o has been living there for 4000 years. It seems
she was banished to the ____ because she stole the pill of immortality
from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese
rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in
the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not reported.
Y:: Okay. We'll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.

Answer
Houston and Apollo 11, referring to the Chinese legend of the Moon rabbit

Q 8
Lyrics of the song "Astronomy" by the band Blue Oyster Cult:
In hellish glare and inference
The other one's a duplicate
The queenly flux, eternal light (1)
Or the light that never warms (2)
.
.
.
Call me Desdenova, eternal light
These gravely digs of mine
Will surely prove a sight
And don't forget my dog, fixed and consequent (3)
The lines 1, 2 and 3 are references to 3 astronomical objects. Identify all 3.

Answer
1: Cassiopeia
2: Moon
3: Sirius

Q 9
The Planets is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer
Gustav Holst. The suite has seven movements, each named after a planet:
1. Mars, the Bringer of War
2. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
3. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
4. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
5. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
6. Uranus, the Magician
7. Neptune, the Mystic
Why isn't the Earth and Pluto included in it? (Half points)

Answer
Earth wasn't included because the orchestra is astrological in nature, not
astronomical, as can be seen by the astrological characters of every
planet. Earth is considered to be astrologically inert.
Pluto wasn't included because it wasn't yet discovered when the orchestra
was written between 1914 and 1916.

Q 10
During the total solar eclipse of 7 August 1869, a green emission line of
wavelength 530.3 nm was independently observed by Charles Augustus
Young & William Harkness in the spectrum of the sun's ______. Since this
line did not correspond to that of any known material, it was proposed
that it was due to an unknown element, provisionally named X. In 1902,
Dmitri Mendeleev hypothesized that there existed 2 inert chemical
elements of lesser atomic weight than hydrogen. Of these two, he thought
the lighter to be an all-penetrating, all-pervasive gas, and the slightly
heavier one to be X. Later he renamed X as newtonium. It was not until
the 1930s that Walter Grotrian and Bengt Edlén discovered that the
spectral line was due to highly ionized iron (Fe13+); which was caused due
to the extreme temperature of the solar ______. Give X or the blank.

Answer
X: Coronium
Blank: Corona

Q 11
90377 sedna holds a certain significance in our solar system. A similar large
scale list can be prepared. The title was first held by Andromeda in 964 AD
and it has since passed from Triangulum galaxy to 3C 273 Quasar to its
current holder UDFj-39546284. What is this coveted title we are talking
about?

Answer
Most distant object known in the universe

Q 12
The Jupiter and Lake Worth Railway was a 12.1 km connection between the
Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway system. It connected Lake
Worth at Juno, Florida to Jupiter Inlet at Jupiter, Florida. With
intermediate stops at Venus and Mars, by what common name waws this
railroad often known?

Q 13
Kesarbai Kerkar was an Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana.
One of her recordings, "Jaat Kahan Ho", duration 3:30 (an interpretation of
raga Bhairavi) received a recommendation for inclusion on a certain
"compilation" by the ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown, who believed it
to be the finest recorded example of Indian classical music. What
compilation is this?

Answer
The Voyager Golden Record

Q 14
There are hardly any instances of a practical real-time representation of an
___-___ bridge. The Sangam, possibly represented such a
portal/wormhole in an ancient time, for then, possibly existed a third river,
the now invisible, Saraswati. When Yamuna (space) and Ganga (time) are
folded along a third dimension of Saraswati, an ___-___ bridge is believed
to have been created. Thus, in ancient times, just taking a dip at such a
confluence would have hypothetically transported a man or a woman
physically into a parallel universe, thereby liberating him/her from the
birth-cycle. FITB.

Q 15
The Ericsson Globe was the national indoor arena of Sweden, located in the
Johanneshov district of Stockholm. The Ericsson Globe is currently the
largest hemispherical building in the world and took two and a half years
to build. Shaped like a large white ball, it is a venue for shows, concerts,
and ice hockey. On February 2, 2009, the naming rights to the Stockholm
Globe Arena were officially acquired by Swedish telecommunications
company Ericsson, and it became known as the Ericsson Globe. What is its
'astronomy' connection?

Answer
It represents the Sun in the Sweden Solar System, the world's largest scale
model of the Solar System.

Q 16
The X British award is given in recognition of notable contributions to space
exploration, particularly British achievements. It was founded as an annual
event by Dave Wright and Jerry Stone in 2005. The award was established
with the permission of X, who also chose a special award independently of
the public nominations prior to his death on 18 March 2008. The award
features the diagram X drew in 1945 in order to demonstrate how
satellites can provide global communications around the Earth from
geostationary orbit, also called the X Orbit. It was co-designed by Jerry
Stone and Howard Berry. Who is X?

Q 17
The Gold Medal is the highest award of the Royal Astronomical Society. In the
early years, more than one medal was often awarded in a year, but by
1833 only one medal was being awarded per year. This caused a problem
in 1846 due to a landmark astronomical discovery, because many felt an
award should jointly be made to John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier.
A controversy arose and no award was made in 1847. The controversy was
resolved by giving 12 "testimonial" awards in 1848 to various people
including Adams and Le Verrier. What was the discovery?

Q 18
What does the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society depict on it?
(image)

Answer
William Herschel's 40 foot telescope

Q 19
In orbital mechanics, a _________ orbit, named after Jules Antoine
_________, is a quasi-periodic orbital trajectory that an object can follow
around a Lagrangian point of a three-body system without requiring any
propulsion. Lyapunov orbits around a libration point are curved paths that
lie entirely in the plane of the two primary bodies. In contrast, _________
orbits include components in this plane and perpendicular to it, and follow
a _________ curve. In mathematics, a _________ curve is a graph of a
system of parametric equations which describe complex harmonic motion.
This family of curves was investigated by Nathaniel Bowditch in 1815, and
later in more detail by Jules Antoine _________ in 1857. FITB.

Q 20
X is the fourth largest asteroid in the Solar System located in the asteroid belt.
It was discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on April 12, 1849, in Naples,
Italy. The director of the Naples observatory, Ernesto Capocci, named the
asteroid. He chose to call it Igea Borbonica ("Bourbon X") in honor of the
ruling family of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies where Naples was located.
However, in 1852, John Russell Hind wrote that "it is universally termed X,
the unnecessary appendage 'Borbonica' being dropped." The name comes
from the Greek goddess of health, daughter of Asclepius. X's astronomical
symbol is the Rod of Asclepius, a serpent-entwined rod used as a symbol
in modern times, where it is associated with medicine and health care.
What is X?

Q 21
The establishment of this building was proposed in 1674 by Sir Jonas Moore
who, in his role as Surveyor General at the Ordnance Office, persuaded
King Charles II with John Flamsteed being installed as its director. The
Ordnance Office was given responsibility for building it, with Moore
providing the key instruments and equipment for its functioning at his
own personal cost. Flamsteed House, the original part of this building was
designed by Sir Christopher Wren, probably with the assistance of Robert
Hooke, and was the first purpose-built scientific research facility in Britain.
What building is this?

Answer
Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Q 22
The Javanese people of Indonesia call this constellation Kalapa Doyong
meaning "leaning coconut tree" due to the shape similarity. How do we
know it better?

Q 23
Cover art for the DVD "Live in concert at the
Roundhouse London 2008" by Shpongle.
Identify the location.

Q 24
What's the connection between the winner of the
1983 Nobel Prize for Physics with William A. Fowler
and the winner of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physics?

Answer
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1983) was the nephew of
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1930)

Q 25
Agreed gallileo/kepler blew away the traditional geocentric model
and established Copernicus‘ heliocentric model with little modifications in it.
But it doesn't mean model of Ptolemy was an illogical one. The biggest
merit of the model was it explained the phenomenon in the visual
with proper mathematics using something called as X. X literally means
on the circle in Greek and this phenomenon gives certain cosmic bodies
their appropriate name Y in Greek as they roam around randomly.
ID X and Y (half point each)

Answer
X - Epicycles
Y - Planets

Q 26
Helium is named after helios i.e. Sun as helium expresses itself prominently
in the emission spectra. Similarly William Huggins while observing %% that
can be categorized as *Answer1* found that it's emission lines
don't correspond to any of the known elements. Scientists suggested
on the same lines that it is a new element and lets name it *Answer2*.
Fortunately the blunder was resolved and it was actually doubly
ionized Oxygen.
ID both answers and bonus point for %%

Answer
Answer 1 - Nebula
Answer 2 - Nebulium
%% - Cat's eye Nebula

Q 27
Image is cover of ___, famous magazine published by Games workshop
who in turn are known for their RPG games. ___ is also important
from astronomy point of view. I am sure many of the giants in sky
would possibly play their games if they are to last for few thousand years.

Q 28
During the Renaissance, Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a heliocentric
model of the solar system. His work was defended, expanded upon,
and corrected by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler.
But it seems Copernicus wasn't the first one to do so. It was first proposed
in the 3rd century BC by a certain astronomer who was neither an
aristocrat nor a samosa lover. Who?

Q 29
This is a gem by Philip Plait. Here he is concerned about people
equating things to religions. Obviously the character in the comic is mad
after X where its central character is capable of time travel. You have to say
it is quite a godly talent of always landing into same place. Who?

Q 30
Whenever I look at nobel laureates, certainly this person deserved a place
but missed out, especially looking at very less no. of winners from his country.
His name inspires half of name of a certain something. In Dragon ball
universe it would have been called Kami's or in later generations Dende's
particle; if we follow the analogy of it's more familiar name in common
people. Who is this person? Points only for his complete name
(name and surname); no point for particle's name.

Answer
Satyendranath Bose
Ref : Kami and Dende are
earth's gods in Dragon Ball
universe; also kami means
god in Japanese

Q 31
What is Dr. Sheldon Cooper explaining?

Q 32
What astrobiological theory gets its name from the title of this book? The
theory shares its name with a group of elements in the periodic table as well
as an American rock band popular in the 1970s.

Q 33
The philosopher Immanuel Kant made an analogy to the theories of X when
describing a problem from a different point of view. The conditions and
qualities he ascribed to the subject of knowledge placed man at the centre of
all conceptual and empirical experience, and overcame the rationalism-
empiricism impasse, characteristic of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Kant said that: "Up to now it has been assumed that all our cognition must
conform to the objects; but ... let us once try whether we do not get farther
with the problems of metaphysics by assuming that the objects must
conform to our cognition." Who is X?

Q 34
In real life I am a lizard. Back in my day, I used to guard Hera's wedding gift to
Zeus in the garden of Hesperides. But I was tricked by a certain cunning
young man and was punished by Hera for letting the young man get away
with her gift. Who am I?

Q 35
X is the 7th track in the third studio album of a popular American heavy metal
band. It was named X due to the song's spacey sounding bridge. Of the
four solos, the third is a notable bass solo by Cliff Burton who died in a bus
crash in Sweden while touring to promote the album. In honour of Cliff, the
band has named its festival "X music and more".
What is the astronomy connect?

Answer
X - Orion, the connect being it is also the name of a prominent constellation

Q 36
______ is a popular volunteer distributed computing project that was
launched by the University of California, Berkeley in May 1999. Any
individual can become involved with its research by downloading
the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) software
program, attaching to the project, and allowing the program to run as a
background process that uses idle computer power for accomplishing goals
such as monitoring electromagnetic radiation. What are we talking
about?

Q 37
X is a constellation created by Petrus Plancius in
1613 to represent the animal Rebecca rode to marry
Isaac in the Bible. Its name comes from Latin, and it
is the Romanisation of the Greek "καμηλοπάρδαλις"
meaning "giraffe". X?

Q 38
___X___ was a Roman Catholic priest. He initially studied civil engineering at
the Catholic University of Louvain, but his studies were interrupted when he
served as an artillery officer with the Belgian army in WWI; for which he
received a Military Cross. He later studied physics and mathematics, obtaining
his doctorate in 1920 and his priesthood in 1923. He then developed a then
controversial theory, then opposed by Einstein and Eddington. His theory is
now known as something else and someone else who developed the theory 2
years later, albeit with experimental proof, is known for this work.
Name ___X___

Answer
Georges Lemaitre and the Big Bang Theory

Q 39
____ are named after X, which represent the stationary solutions of the
circular restricted three-body problem. They are 5 in number; 3 of them are
collinear and were seen by Leonhard Euler in 1750. However in 1772, X was
trying to discover a way to calculate the gravitational interaction between
more than two bodies easily. The solution that he discovered for a 3 body
system consists of two major bodies and one with negligible mass. A practical
example of his theory was demonstrated when the Trojan asteroids were
discovered in relation to the Sun-Jupiter system.
What are we talking about?

Q 40
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has the
responsibility of aerospace warning and defense of USA and Canada.
It tracks missile and aircraft activity.
In December 1955 a Sears dept. store in Colorado misprinted its telephone
no. in an ad campaign and many children thought they were calling ___X___
but instead called NORAD. This began a tradition where NORAD tracks
___X___ and popularly displays it.
What?

Q 41
‘The Dynamics of an Asteroid’ is a fictional book written by ____X____.
His archnemesis _____ remarked, "Is he not the celebrated author of The
Dynamics of an Asteroid, a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure
mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of
criticizing it?"
This book is said to be inspired by Carl Friedrich Gauss' ground-breaking treatise
on the dynamics of an asteroid (1 Ceres) and his method is still used today for
orbit calculation. Another inspiration is Simon Newcomb who had published a
series of books analysing motions of planets in the solar system. The notoriously
spiteful Professor Newcomb could have been the inspiration for ___X___.
ID X

Answer
Professor James Moriarty

Q 42
Long Connect :
Set 1 : a. Contact scene - Ellie is estimating possibility of
extra-terrestrial life. "There are 400 billion stars in our
galaxy alone. If one in million have planets and one
in a million of them have life. Still there are millions of
civilizations in universe"
b. E. T. repeated scene - Flying on the cycle with focus on the
moon in background always behind the same tree.

Set 2 :
A star wars couple :
a. Asteroid Field
b. Seismic Charge

Set 3 :
Star Trek sun time warp scene

Answer
All are scientifically inaccurate even if we take into account supernatural
phenomena which occur in these movies.

Quiztronomy 13 finals

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