Free quiz · 8 questions · Warm-up to Boss

The solar system quiz

How well do you really know The solar system? These 8 questions start easy and end with a Boss round. There are no multiple choice options: you type what you know, and every answer is checked against the key facts.

60 seconds a question, one 2x boost, and a leaderboard. Playing with friends writes a fresh set of The solar system questions for your group.

The questions

1. Warm-up

   At the solar system’s center, what star shines there, and what force keeps the planets in their orbits?

   Show the answer

   • The Sun
   • The Sun is a star
   • Gravity keeps the planets in orbit
2. Warm-up

   Which planet hugs the Sun closest, and which planet comes immediately after it as you travel outward?

   Show the answer

   • Mercury is closest to the Sun
   • Venus is the next planet outward
   • Mercury and Venus are the first two planets from the Sun
3. Easy

   Which planet is famous for its rings, and what are those rings mostly made of?

   Show the answer

   • Saturn
   • Mostly ice
   • Also rock and dust
4. Easy

   Which planet is famous for a giant, long-observed storm, and what is the storm called?

   Show the answer

   • The planet is Jupiter.
   • The storm is called the Great Red Spot.
   • The Great Red Spot is a huge storm.
5. Easy

   Which planet wins the solar system’s size contest, and roughly how many Earths could fit across its diameter?

   Show the answer

   • Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system
   • Jupiter’s diameter is about 11 times Earth’s
   • The comparison is by diameter, not distance from the Sun
6. Medium

   What changes in the Moon’s appearance over a month, and how does its orbit around Earth create that change?

   Show the answer

   • The Moon appears in different phases
   • The Moon orbits Earth
   • Sunlight illuminates half of the Moon
   • As the Moon moves around Earth, we see different portions of its sunlit half
7. Medium

   Which moon takes the solar system’s size crown, and which planet does it orbit?

   Show the answer

   • Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system
   • Ganymede orbits Jupiter
   • Ganymede is larger than Mercury
8. Boss

   Which spacecraft visited all four giant planets, and what did a rare planetary lineup let it do?

   Show the answer

   • Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
   • The planetary alignment made a tour of all four possible
   • The spacecraft used gravity assists to change its path

How scoring works

• Each question has 2 or 3 key facts. Each one earns full, half or no credit, so a wrong answer scores zero.
• Later questions are worth more, fast answers earn a bonus, and great answers in a row build a streak.
• A famous myth or a clear factual error halves the points.

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