Solar System Surprises: 10 Questions That Make You Think

Ten entertaining, carefully explained planet and Moon questions. Look beyond the obvious answers and learn something unexpected.

Choose one answer per question. There’s no timer. You can skip a question; unanswered questions count as incorrect.

QUESTION 01Which planet is the hottest in our solar system?

MercuryVenusMarsJupiter

QUESTION 02On which planet does one rotation take longer than one orbit around the Sun?

EarthMarsVenusNeptune

QUESTION 03Which planet spins backward compared with the rotation direction of most planets?

VenusJupiterSaturnMars

QUESTION 04Which is the largest planet in our solar system?

SaturnJupiterNeptuneEarth

QUESTION 05What is Jupiter's Great Red Spot?

A volcanic craterA vast atmospheric stormA frozen lakeA giant mountain

QUESTION 06Which planet has the shortest day, taking about 9.9 hours to rotate?

VenusMercuryJupiterUranus

QUESTION 07Which planet has an average density lower than water?

EarthNeptuneSaturnMars

QUESTION 08Which planet's axis is tilted by roughly 98 degrees?

UranusMarsEarthJupiter

QUESTION 09Which is the most distant of the eight recognized planets?

SaturnNeptuneUranusJupiter

QUESTION 10Why do we usually see the same side of Earth's Moon?

It never rotatesIt rotates once per orbitEarth blocks the far sideIt is always in Earth's shadow

Keep your curiosity going.