Traverse The Deep Space Of Your Astronomy Knowledge With Our Galaxies Quiz
Written by Vasilii Kulev
Last updated · 4 min play time
If our solar system is our neighborhood, then the Milky Way galaxy is our city. But the vast expanse known as the universe doesn't end or begin with the Milky Way. How much do you know about the rest of the galaxies in the universe? Take our quiz to find out.
Galaxies demonstrate how the universe is arranged on the large scale. To get a better understanding of the universe's origins and history, scientists examine how galaxies are structured at the moment and how they has evolved throughout cosmic time.
Galaxies are amazing in terms of scope, reach, and brightness. Their shapes are exquisite. They feature spiral arms that are either regular or irregular. But galaxies have not always appeared in this manner. The ones we are acquainted with were created over billions of years, by a variety of processes.
How much do you know about galaxies? Can you name them just by looking at a picture? Find out with our quiz!
Quiz written by
Vasilii KulevVasilii Kulev is a digital marketing specialist during business hours and a trivia writer in his spare time. His areas of interest range from cars and music to science, history, and food. Whenever he's not busy writing quizzes, you can catch him at the local used records store or the newest craft beer bar. He also wrote this entire bio himself in third person.
Galaxies Quiz Questions
20 Questions · 75 Plays · No comments
Question 1
Name the structure that is composed of hundreds to thousands of galaxies and has an average mass of 10^14-10^15 suns.
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AGalaxy chain
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BGalaxy filament
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CGalaxy group
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DGalaxy cluster
Galaxy cluster
A galaxy cluster is a structure composed of hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are gravitationally linked together. They are among the biggest known gravitationally-bound formations in the cosmos and were thought to be the largest until the superclusters were found in the 1980s.
Question 2
Which of the following large barred spiral galaxies is the closest one to the Milky Way?
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AMessier 58
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BCentaurus A
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CCartwheel Galaxy
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DAndromeda Galaxy
Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy is located about 2.5 million light-years away from Earth. Its name derives from the constellation Andromeda, which was named after an Ethiopian princess who married Perseus, according to Greek mythology.
Question 3
Most of the galaxies discovered so far are remarkably consistent in terms of what shape that they all take?
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ALenticular
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BIrregegular
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CElliptical
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DSpiral
Spiral
Spiral galaxies are twisted groupings of stars and gas that often have stunning forms and are typically composed of young, hot stars. The majority of galaxies found to date are spiral galaxies, as opposed to elliptical and irregular galaxies.
Question 4
A galaxy is a massive cloud of gas and dust that contains billions of stars and their solar systems. What holds all those things together?
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AMagnetism
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BDark energy
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CGravity
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DAngular momentum
Gravity
Gravity is a critical force in the universe. Because space objects have a gravitational attraction to one another, gravity has an effect on the paths taken by everything moving through space. It is the glue that binds whole galaxies together and maintains the orbits of planets.
Question 5
What is the name of the first galaxy other than the Milky Way to be classified as a spiral galaxy, located in the Canes Venatici constellation?
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ASculptor Dwarf Galaxy
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BCircinus Galaxy
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CWhirlpool Galaxy
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DCygnus A
Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that interacts with other galaxies, and is believed to be located 31 million light-years from Earth. Professional astronomers have studied the Whirlpool Galaxy extensively in order to get a better understanding of galaxy structure.
Question 6
What is the name of the spiral galaxy located between the constellations Virgo and Corvus?
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ANGC 5866
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BBorsalino Galaxy
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CSombrero Galaxy
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DIC 3583
Sombrero Galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy is about 31.1 million light-years away from the Milky Way, and it features a brilliant core, an exceptionally massive central bulge, and a conspicuous dust lane seen on the edge of its outer disk. This dust lane and bulge give it the appearance of a sombrero hat - hence the name.
Question 7
What lenticular and ring galaxy is located in the Sculptor constellation 500 million light-years away from Earth?
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ASagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
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BCartwheel Galaxy
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CWolf–Lundmark–Melotte Galaxy
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DMice Galaxy
Cartwheel Galaxy
The Cartwheel Galaxy is located in the constellation Sculptor. It was discovered in 1941 by Fritz Zwicky, who said at the time that it was one of the most perplexing structures awaiting an explanation in terms of star dynamics. The galaxy's estimated diameter was determined to be 150,000 light-years, which is somewhat smaller than the Milky Way.
Question 8
Also known as Messier 33, what is the third biggest galaxy in the Local Group?
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ANGC 6946
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BMalin 1
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CTriangulum Galaxy
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DCircinus Galaxy
Triangulum Galaxy
The Triangulum Galaxy is located in the constellation Triangulum. It's 2.63 million light-years away from Earth and the third biggest galaxy in the Local Group, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. It's one of the most distant objects in the universe visible to the naked eye.
Question 9
Until the early 1920s, the majority of astronomers believed that the Milky Way contained all of the stars in the universe. However, the claim was later discovered to be false. Around how many stars does the Milky Way actually contain?
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A100-400 billion
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B500-600 million
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C30-50 billion
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D1 trillion
100-400 billion
The Milky Way is estimated to have a mass of about 100 billion solar masses, which converts to 100 billion stars. This compensates for stars that are greater or smaller than our Sun by averaging them out. Milky Way's true mass, on the other hand, is difficult to determine — some estimates place it between 100 and 400 billion solar masses.
Question 10
The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years away from Earth and found in which constellation?
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AUrsa Major
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BLyra
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CAries
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DCassiopeia
Ursa Major
The Pinwheel Galaxy, located in the constellation Ursa Major, was found by Pierre Mechain in 1781. NASA and the European Space Agency published a highly detailed picture of the Pinwheel Galaxy in 2006, which was the Hubble Space Telescope's biggest and most detailed image of a galaxy at that time.
Question 11
What dwarf, irregular galaxy is located in close proximity to the Milky Way?
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AThe Small Magellanic Cloud
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BTriangulum Galaxy
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CWhirlpool Galaxy
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DMessier 87
The Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud, also known as Nubecula Minor, is a dwarf galaxy located in close proximity to the Milky Way. The SMC is an irregular galaxy that scientists hypothesize was originally a barred spiral galaxy disturbed by the Milky Way, resulting in its uneven shape.
Question 12
In which constellation is the isolated spiral Black Eye Galaxy - also called the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy - located?
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AFornax
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BComa Berenices
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CLepus
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DEridanus
Coma Berenices
The Black Eye Galaxy, also known as the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, is a very isolated spiral galaxy located 17 million light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation Coma Berenices. It was founded by Edward Pigott in 1799; a black ring of absorbing dust partly in front of the galaxy's brilliant core earned it the nickname "Black Eye."
Question 13
Name the Milky Way's satellite galaxy that is the second or third nearest galaxy to us.
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ATriangulum Galaxy
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BNGC 5866
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CThe Large Magellanic Cloud
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DHoag's Object
The Large Magellanic Cloud
The Large Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It is either the second or third nearest galaxy to ours, after the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal (or possibly the Canis Major Overdensity, which has yet to be conclusively identified as a galaxy). The Large Magellanic Cloud is visible from Earth's southern hemisphere and appears as a "cloud" that lies between the constellations Dorado and Mensa.
Question 14
At what speed does the Milky Way galaxy as a whole travel through the vastness of space?
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A600 km/s
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B300 km/s
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C250 km/s
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D760 km/s
600 km/s
The Milky Way as a whole travels at a speed of around 600 kilometers per second in extragalactic frames of reference. The Milky Way's earliest stars are almost as ancient as the Universe itself, formed just after the Big Bang's Dark Ages.
Question 15
What galaxies are made up of low-mass stars that are much older and have scant interstellar medium?
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APeculiar galaxies
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BLenticular galaxies
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CElliptical galaxies
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DSpiral galaxies
Elliptical galaxies
Many elliptical galaxies are made up of low-mass stars that are much older and have very little star activity. These galaxies are also ringed by many globular clusters. Roughly 10-15% of galaxies in the Virgo Supercluster are thought to be elliptical in shape, although such galaxies are not so common in the wider universe.
Question 16
Which type of galaxies tend to be light in mass, some only 1/10th the mass of the Milky Way?
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ASpiral galaxies
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BLenticular galaxies
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CElliptical galaxies
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DIrregular galaxies
Irregular galaxies
Irregular galaxies tend to be light in mass, and seem to be vulnerable to collisions with massive galaxies and interstellar clouds because of their diminutive size.
Question 17
Which of the following types of galaxies have consumed or lost the majority of their interstellar matter?
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AIrregular galaxies
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BBarred Spiral galaxies
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CPeculiar galaxies
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DLenticular galaxies
Lenticular galaxies
Lenticular galaxies are disc galaxies that have consumed or lost the majority of their interstellar matter, leaving them with very little continuing star formation. However, they may retain a considerable amount of dust in their disks. As a consequence, they are mostly composed of old stars.
Question 18
What bright galaxy is located in the constellation Ursa Major, 12 million light-years away from Earth?
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APinwheel Galaxy
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BBlack Eye Galaxy
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CNGC 5866
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DMessier 82
Messier 82
Messier 82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, is a starburst galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It's a member of the M81 Group and is about five times brighter than the Milky Way, with a center that is a hundred times brighter.
Question 19
What is the second-biggest galaxy in the Local Group, with a star disk of about 170,000-200,000 light-years in diameter?
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AMessier 87
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BMessier 81
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CMilky Way
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DAndromeda
Milky Way
Our very own Milky Way is the second biggest galaxy in the Local Group after the Andromeda Galaxy, with a star disk diameter of about 170,000-200,000 light-years. The Milky Way has a mass of between 890 billion and 1.54 trillion times the mass of the Sun.
Question 20
At about 2 million light-years in diameter, what is the name of the largest galaxy currently known to Earth's astronomers?
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ATadpole Galaxy
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BMessier 87
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CCondor
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DIC 1101
IC 1101
IC 1101 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy located in the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster. It is one of the biggest galaxies known to humanity, with a halo about 2 million light-years in diameter and containing approximately 100 trillion stars.
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