Test Your Knowledge of Science and Health Stories in 2013

                              Find out how much you remember about science and health in 2013 by taking our 31st annual quiz of that year.

1) Pluto was demoted as one of the original nine planets.  Now there are eight in our solar system.  What is Pluto known as now?
A) Star
B) Sun
C) Dwarf Planet
2. It has been known as a dirty snowball.  What is it?
A) Comet
B) Planet
C) Star
3. Every year in March the sun is directly over the equator.  People living there claim the sun is good to them on that day.  What is happening?
4. In our Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year occurs on June 21 and the shortest day of the year is Dec. 21.  Why?
5. A shower of meteors from the ETA Aquarid stream leave a trail of dust on May 4 and May 5.  What famous comet leaves the dust trail in our solar system? 
A) Comet Swift-Tuttle
B) Comet Friedman
C) Halley's Comet
6. 2013 had been expected to be the year of great comets.  the most famous of these comets broke apart Nov. 28 when it came near the sun.  What was its name?
A) Comet Halley
B) Comet ISON
C) Comet no-name
7. Comets that come near us in the solar system originate where?
A) Oort cloud near a distant star
B) behind Mars
C) behind the moon
8. Which is hotter?
A) sun
B) moon
9. The United States is the only country to send spacecraft to other planets.  True or False
10. NASA is finished with sending spacecraft into orbit.  True or False



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Answers :  1. (C) Dwarf Planet - Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet in 2006 having been classified as a planet since its discovery in 1930.  It has a surface temperature of minus 375 degrees Fahrenheit and takes 248 years to circle the sun.  Pluto has a large moon 12,200 miles above it.
                  2. (A) Comet - A comet is a mixture of dirt, gases and ice.
                  3. Usually on March 21 there is nearly equal amounts of day and night on the equator.  This is also the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
                  4. The Earth is tilted.  The sun is highest on June 21 and lowest on Dec. 21.
                  5. (C) Halley's Comet - This is a returning comet that will come back in 2061.
                  6. (B) Comet ISON
                  7. (A) Oort Cloud - home of the comets, is a quarter of the way to the nearest star beyond our solar system.
                  8. (A) sun
                  9. False - As of 2011, the USSR, USA and China have sent manned space vehicles into orbit.
                 10. False - NASA plans to send spacecraft to the moon, asteroids and Mars.