universe & solar system section 3 MCQ Questions & Answers Detailed Explanation

Answer: (d)

Answer: (b)

Ursa Major constellation lies in the northern sky. Its name means “the great bear,” or “the larger bear,” in Latin. It is one of the best known constellations in the sky.

Answer: (b)

Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon. The atmosphere of Venus is mostly CO2 making it the hottest planet of our Solar System.

It spins in clock-wise direction.

Answer: (c)

The correct match is as follows:

1. Summer Solstice- 21st June
2. Winter solstice- 22nd December
3. Vernal Equinox- 21st March
4. Autumnal Equinox- 23rd September

• June 21 is called the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs either December 21 or 22.
• Vernal Equinox is the time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth’s equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth and occurring about March 21.
• The Autumn Equinox is the first day of the autumn season and occurs when the sun passes the equator moving from the northern to the southern hemisphere. It occurs on 23 September.

Answer: (c)

The shortest distance between two places on the earth's surface is along with the Great Circles. The property of a great circle is that a plane passed along it passes through the centre of the earth and divides it into two equal parts or hemispheres.

Among the latitudes only the equator is a great circle while among longitudes all of them are great circles

Answer: (b)

The diameter of the planet Mars is less than that of the Earth. Mars has approximately half the diameter of Earth. It is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth’s volume and 11% of the mass. Its diameter is 6,779 kms.