Universe
The Sun is the controlling body of Earth’s solar system.
Sodium was the first metal identified in the Sun
Hydrogen accounts for 71% of the Sun’s mass, helium 26.5 percent and all the other
known elements. 2.5%.
The Sun’s core lies a giant nuclear furnace which converts hydrogen to helium at a rate of
600 million tonnes per second.
The diameter of the whole solar system is about 1170 crore kilometers.
The Sun is made up of extremely hot gases. Its glowing surface is called the photo sphere
The visible white light of the Sun is made up of 7 colours
Like other stars, the Sun is composed mainly of hydrogen.
The Moon is the one and only one satellite of the Earth. It is a natural satellite and is
nearest neighbour in space.
The Moon revolves around the earth while rotating on its own axis. Only 59% of its surface
is directly visible from the earth.
The moon is about 1/4 the size of its mother planet, the earth. It takes 1.3 seconds for
Moonlight to reach the earth.
The sunlight takes about 8 minutes and 16.6 seconds to reach the earth.
The Moon is the first member of our solar system to have been visited by man.
The earth rotates around its axis. This axis is an imaginary line passing through the centre
of the earth.
The earth completes one rotation in 24 hours (23 hrs 56 min. 4.09 secs). The earth rotates
from west to east.
The Science which deals with the nature and motion of celestial bodies is called
Astronomy.
Galaxies are dotted like islands throughout the universe. A galaxy is a huge concentration
of stars which are held together by the force of the gravity. They are so big that
sometimes they are called Island Galaxies.
Milky Way is our Home galaxy in one of a cluster of 25 galaxies called local group.
Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin and evolution of the
universe.
In the universe, some matter appears small but emit more energy than the other stars of
the milky way. Such stars are called “Quasars.”
When the hydrogen of a star is depleted, its outer regions swell and redden. This stage of
a star is called a “Red Giant”. The sun will turn into a Red Giant in 5 billion Years.
Black hole stage of the star occurs when the ancient star collapses. Gravity becomes so
intense in the hole that nothing escapes even light. This Dark object is thus called a “Black
hole”.
An Earthquake is a vibration or oscillation of the surface of the earth caused by a transient
disturbance of the elastic or gravitational equilibrium of the rocks at or beneath the
surface.
Asteroids are a series of very small planets or fragments of planets lying between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres (length 1000 km.) is the largest asteroid. Asteroids are
also called planetoids.
It was believed that comets were formed from the remaining material that was left during
the formation of the outer planets. A comet consists of three parts i.e. centre, coma and
tail.
The Meteors are probably the remains of comets which are scattered in the interplanetary
space of the solar system. On contact with earth’s atmosphere they burn due to friction.
Those which completely burn out into ash are called Meteors or shooting star.
Equinox is the dates when the nights and days are equal. During these days the Sun
shines directly over the equator. March 21 is called Unreal equinox and September 23 is
called autumnal equinox.
The moon is said to be in eclipse when the earth comes between the moon and the sun,
this is called Lunar Eclipse. Lunar eclipse occurs only on a pull, moon day.
The sun is said to be in eclipse when the moon comes between the sun and the earth. This
is called solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day, when the moon is in line
with the sun.
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Solved MCQs
1. Who discovered the Solar System?
(a) Kepler (b) Galileo
(c) Copernicus (d) Eratosthenes
3. The scientists have found some proofs of presence of water on which of the following
planets?
(a) Jupiter (b) Venus
(c) Mars (d) Mercury
4. Mercury is
(a) The smallest planet
(b) The fastest planet
(c) The planet nearest to Sun
(d) All of these
8. Bodies which usually fall from the sky on the Earth are called
(a) Comets (b) Meteors
(c) Rock (d) None of these
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NTS, FPSC
13. Which of the following planets is dropped from the list of planets in 2006?
(a) Neptune (b) Pluto
(c) Jupiter (d) Earth
15. Which planet takes the largest time to go once around the Sun?
(a) Uranus (b) Jupiter
(c) Neptune (d) Pluto
18. There is a well developed system of rings around it. This statement is about
(a) Venus (b) Saturn
(c) Mars (d) Uranus
20. How many days does the moon take to return to the same position among the
constellations?
(a) 28 days (b) 29 days
(c) 26 days (d) 30 days
21. How many layers are present in the atmosphere of the sun?
(a) 1 (b) 2
(c) 3 (d) 4
23. Which one of the following planets has the maximum number of satellites?
(a) Jupiter (b) Uranus
(c) Saturn (d) Venus
24. Name two planets lying between the sun and the earth.
(a) Mercury and Mars
(b) Venus and Mars
(c) Mercury and Venus
(d) Jupiter and Saturn
29. Russia launched its space station into space in 1986, which was
(a) Sputnik (b) Rahber
(c) Mir (d) Skylab – II
30. Sun rises in the east and sets in the west due to the:
(a) Shape of the Earth
(b) Rotation of the Earth around the Sun
(c) Rotation of the Earth on its axis
(d) Movement of the Sun
32. The planet which revolves very slowly around the sun is
(a) Neptune (b) Jupiter
(c) Mars (d) None of these
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37. Who was the first Saudi (first Muslim also) in space?
(a) Rai Shaher Yar
(b) Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
(c) Muhammad Faris
(d) Sultan Salman Al Saud
39. When did the space age begin with the launch of the Russian Sputnik?
(a) October 4, 1950
(b) October 2, 1952
(c) September 4, 1954
(d) October 4, 1957
42. Which planet contains largest quantity of carbon dioxide with 95%?
(a) Earth (b) Jupiter
(c) Venus (d) Mercury
44. The comet, named after Edmund Halley, reappears after a time of every
(a) 36 years (b) 76 years
(c) 55 years (d) 56 years
45. The group of small pieces of rock revolving round the sun between the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter are called
51. What is the rank of the earth in the solar system in terms of size?
(a) Third (b) Fourth
(c) Fifth (d) Sixth