Space, Tim Peake, Astronomy - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

1)   Which postal agency created a stamp that travelled 5,250,843,896 km into space?

a. US Postal Service
b. India Post
c. Bangladesh Postal Service
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: US Postal Service

Explanation:

  • A stamp was also sent to Pluto on the New Horizon’s spacecraft; it travelled 5,250,843,896 km becoming the stamp to travel longest distance ever in history.
  • Stamp earned the Guinness World Records title for the farthest distance travelled by the postage stamp.
  • The spacecraft was launched from the US on 19th January 2006 and arrived at Pluto on 14th July 2015.
  • Stamp was from a special series which showed the planets of the solar system and vessels that had explored them.
  • The Pluto: Not Yet Explored stamp on board the New Horizons Spacecraft will journey beyond Pluto visiting a Kuiper Belt Object called 2014MU69 considered a building block of the solar system.


2)   Which astronaut will be testing a pocket sized DNA sequencer through its paces to test samples for DNA based life on space stations for the first time?

a. Kate Rubins
b. Sunita Williams
c. Sarah Wallace
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Kate Rubins

Explanation:
Astronaut Kate Rubins will carry out carefully controlled experiments with bacteria, virus and mouse cells repeatedly testing for in a space station’s closed loop environment.

  • Rubins is a trained microbiologist who will be using samples to put together Oxford Nanopore’s MiniION sequencer- a pocket sized DNA sequencer through its paces.
  • Tests are intended to prove if technology can be used to understand microbes in the space station to scan fellow astronauts for genetic changes to diagnose illness and future missions to test samples from Mars and other planets for DNA based life.
  • Scientists will need to check if the machine can operate in microgravity.
  • The MinION sequencer which is about half the size of a smartphone operates fundamentally different from current DNA sequencers.
  • With most sequencers, scientists put on a sample which runs for 24 to 48 hours and stops.
  • The station’s sequencers displays its analysis as it works.
  • The MinION DNA sequencer is among the 4900 pounds of cargo scheduled to be launched to the station on 18th July 2014 abroad a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
  • This is the first time the machine will be used in space.


3)   From which space probe scientists have found evidences indicating building blocks for life on earth may have come from outer space?

a. Rosetta
b. Cassini
c. MOM
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Rosetta

Explanation:
Scientists have found further evidence supporting the theory that building blocks of life may have come to earth from outer space

  • Instruments used abroad the European space probe Rosetta detected glycine and phosphorous in the dusty world around the comet
  • Glycine is an amino acid which is one of the molecules needed to make proteins while phosphorous is needed for DNA and cells
  • Presence in the coma enveloping comet 67P indicates that comets delivered key molecules for prebiotic chemistry through the solar system and in particular, to the early Earth
  • Scientists also said adding a high concentration of these molecules to bodies of water could have produced the primordial soup giving birth to life on the planet more than 4 billion years ago.


4)   Which astronaut(s) broke the American record for the longest duration spaceflight?

a. Scott Kelly
b. Sunita WIlliams
c. Mikhail Komienko
d. Both a and c
e. All the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Astronauts Scott Kelly, Mikhail Komienko break American record for longest space flight. Both traveled 144 million miles through space and circled the world 5,440 times. They experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets during the longest single spaceflight by an American. The next longest spaceflight is 125 days less. But when it comes to longest space flight, a Russian doctor holds the record with 438 days.


5)   What is galactoseismology?

a. Method to detect dark matter
b. Method to assess dark matter
c. Method to detect dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Method to detect dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter

Explanation:
A global team of scientists led by Indian- American Sukanya Chakrabarti devised s new method called galactoseismology for detecting dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter. Method also explains ripples on the external disk of the galaxy. Chakrabarti, an assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, NY has presented her findings whereby the discovered method employs the use of the waves in the galactic disk to map inner structures and mass of galaxies. This is similar to seismologists who use seismic waves to gather details about the inner part of the earth. Method will be used for hunting mysterious space phenomenon. Team uses the spectroscopic observations for calculation of the speed of three Cepheid variables in the Norma constellation. Cepheid variables are stars used as yardstick for calculating the galaxies’ distances. Study tracks Cepheid variables travelling at the speed of 450,000 MPH.


6)   A massive, galaxy cluster 1000 times more massive than the Milky Way galaxy has been discovered by astronomers 10 billion light years away.  What is the name of the cluster?

a. IDCS 1426
b. IDCS 1436
c. IDCS 1416
d. IDCS 1406
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: IDCS 1426

Explanation:
This massive, churning galaxy cluster 1000 times more massive than the Milky Way galaxy has been discovered by astronomers some 10 billion light years away. This cluster is unique is formed when the Universe was 3.8 billion years old. Scientists have found that super giant structures could form much later after billions of years of clumping matter. MIT, University of Missouri, University of Florida have found the cluster using NASA’s 3 great observatories- Hubble Space Telescope, Keck Observatory and Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Cluster called IDCS 1426 is the most massive cluster of galaxies yet discovered during the first 4 billion years following the Big Bang. IDCS 1426 appears to be undergoing a considerable amount of upheaval. Researchers observed a bright knot of X-rays off center in the cluster, indicating the core of the cluster might have shifted some 100 thousand years ago from its centre. Core may have been dislodged from a massive collision with another galaxy cluster causing the gas within the cluster around, much like a wine in a glass that has been immediately moved. Galaxy clusters are conglomerates of 100s to 1000s of galaxies bound together by gravity. They are the most massive structures within the universe. Some like the Virgo cluster nearly are bright and easy to spot in the sky.


7)   What are globular star clusters?

a. Clusters holding million stars in the ball
b. Clusters holding planets and stars in a ball
c. Both a and b
d. Neither a nor b
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
A globular cluster holding million stars in a ball about 100 light years ago could be the place to look for intelligent life identified in the galaxy. Milky Way galaxy hosts about 150 globular clusters, most of them orbiting in the galactic outskirts. They formed about 10 billion years ago on average, researchers said. Some scientists have argued that this makes globular cluster stars less likely to host planets. In fact, only one planet has been found in a globular cluster to date. Interstellar communication becomes easy for stars within the cluster called global customer opportunity.


8)   Which of the following statements are correct?

1. Exoplanet  orbits a star other than the Sun.
2. Rogue planet orbits the galaxy directly.
3. An exomoon, is a natural satellite that orbits an exoplanet.


a. 1,2
b. 2,3
c. 1,3
d. All
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: All

Explanation:
The discovery of exoplanets has intensified interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, particularly for those that orbit in the host star's habitable zone where it is possible for liquid water (and therefore life) to exist on the surface. NASA astronomers have discovered the nearest rocky planet outside the solar system which is larger than earth.


9)   According to IAU's definition of planet ,”A planet is a body that orbits the Sun, is massive enough for its own gravity to make it round, and has "cleared its neighborhood" of smaller objects around its orbit.” Which criteria is not fulfilled by pluto?

a. It needs to be in orbit around the Sun
b. It needs to have enough gravity to pull itself into a round shape
c. It needs to have “cleared the neighborhood” of its orbit
d. Both b and c
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: It needs to have “cleared the neighborhood” of its orbit

Explanation:
As planets form, they become the dominant gravitational body in their orbit in the Solar System. As they interact with other, smaller objects, they either consume them, or sling them away with their gravity. There are still many objects with similar size and mass to Pluto jostling around in its orbit. And until Pluto crashes into many of them and gains mass, it will remain a dwarf planet.


10)   Which of the following statements are correct?

1. The IAU General Assembly meets every three years.
2. 29th IAU General Assembly will be held at Honolulu, Hawaii in 2015.


a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both
d. None
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
Since 1922, the IAU General Assembly meets every three years, with the exception of the period between 1938 to 1948, due to World War II. After a Polish request in 1967, and by a controversial decision of the then President of the IAU, an Extraordinary IAU General Assembly was held in February 1973 in Warsaw, Poland, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus


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