Gilbert

  • |

    September 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    It is the last day of the third quarter, the midway point of the second half of the year.

    • 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
    • 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their baggage train.
    • 1399 – Henry IV is proclaimed king of England.
    • 1520 – Suleiman the Magnificent is proclaimed sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1541 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces enter Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas, encountering fierce resistance.
    • 1551 – A coup by the military establishment of Japan’s Ōuchi clan forces their lord to commit suicide, and their city is burned.
    • 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell’Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia anyway.
    • 1791 – The first performance of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.
    • 1791 – France’s National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly
    • 1882 – Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation.
    • 1888 – Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.
    • 1906 – The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language’s biggest linguistic authority, starts working in La Coruña, Spain.
    • 1907 – The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.
    • 1909 – The Cunard Line’s RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years.
    • 1915 – World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire.
    • 1922 – The University of Alabama opens the American football season with a 110–0 victory over the Marion Military Institute, which still stands as Alabama’s record for largest margin of victory and as their only 100 point game.
    • 1927 – Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season.
    • 1931 – Start of “Die Voortrekkers” youth movement for Afrikaners in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
    • 1935 – The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.
    • 1938 – Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
    • 1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlaws “intentional bombings of civilian populations”.
    • 1939 – World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile.
    • 1939 – NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game.
    • 1941 – World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end.
    • 1943 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt.
    • 1945 – The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43
    • 1947 – The 1947 World Series is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field.
    • 1947 – Pakistan joins the United Nations.
    • 1949 – The Berlin Airlift ends.
    • 1954 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world’s first nuclear-powered vessel.
    • 1962 – Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the National Farm Workers Association.
    • 1962 – James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying racial segregation rules.
    • 1965 – The Lockheed L-100, the civilian version of the C-130 Hercules, is introduced.
    • 1965 – In Indonesia, a coup by the 30 September Movement is crushed, leading to a mass anti-communist purge, with over 500,000 people killed.
    • 1966 – Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana.
    • 1967 – The BBC Light Programme, Third Programme and Home Service are replaced with BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 Respectively, BBC Radio 1 is also launched.
    • 1968 – The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time.
    • 1970 – Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson’s Field hijackings.
    • 1972 – Roberto Clemente records the 3,000th and final hit of his career.
    • 1975 – The AH-64 Apache makes its first flight. Eight years later, the first production model rolled out of the assembly line.
    • 1977 – Because of NASA budget cuts and dwindling power reserves, the Apollo program’s ALSEP experiment packages left on the Moon are shut down.
    • 1980 – Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
    • 1990 – The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa.
    • 1993 – The 6.2 Mw  Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.
    • 1994 – Aldwych tube station (originally Strand Station) of the London Underground closes after eighty-eight years in service.
    • 1994 – Ongar railway station, the furthest London Underground from central London, closes.
    • 1999 – The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan’s second-worst nuclear accident.
    • 2000 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada.
    • 2004 – The AIM-54 Phoenix, the primary missile for the F-14 Tomcat, is retired from service. Almost two years later, the Tomcat itself is retired.
    • 2005 – Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper.
    • 2009 – The 7.6 Mw  Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead.
    • 2016 – Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007.
    • 2016 – Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002.

    Births on September 30

    • 1207 – Rumi, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1273)
    • 1227 – Pope Nicholas IV (d. 1292)
    • 1530 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and physician (d. 1606)
    • 1550 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1631)
    • 1622 – Johann Sebastiani, German composer (d. 1683)
    • 1689 – Jacques Aubert, French violinist and composer (d. 1753)
    • 1700 – Stanisław Konarski, Polish monk, poet, and playwright (d. 1773)
    • 1710 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1771)
    • 1714 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, French epistemologist and philosopher (d. 1780)
    • 1732 – Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1804)
    • 1743 – Christian Ehregott Weinlig, German cantor and composer (d. 1813)
    • 1765 – José María Morelos, Mexican priest and general (d. 1815)
    • 1800 – Decimus Burton, English architect, designed the Pharos Lighthouse (d. 1881)
    • 1813 – John Rae, Scottish physician and explorer (d. 1893)
    • 1814 – Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, American feminist, educator, and philanthropist (d. 1900)
    • 1827 – Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (d. 1918)
    • 1832 – Ann Jarvis, American activist, co-founded Mother’s Day (d. 1905)
    • 1836 – Remigio Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian politician, 56th President of Peru (d. 1894)
    • 1852 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1924)
    • 1861 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (d. 1932)
    • 1863 – Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (d. 1928)
    • 1870 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (d. 1948)
    • 1870 – Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1942)
    • 1882 – Hans Geiger, German physicist and academic (d. 1945)
    • 1883 – Bernhard Rust, German educator and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1883 – Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, American civil engineer, architect, and suffragist (d. 1971)
    • 1887 – Lil Dagover, Indonesian-German actress (d. 1980)
    • 1893 – Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 1964)
    • 1895 – Lewis Milestone, Moldovan-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1980)
    • 1897 – Gaspar Cassadó, Spanish cellist and composer (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Alfred Wintle, Russian-English soldier and politician (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Charlotte Wolff, German-English physician and psychotherapist (d. 1986)
    • 1898 – Renée Adorée, French-American actress (d. 1933)
    • 1898 – Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (d. 1977)
    • 1898 – Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, German-American author and illustrator (d. 1986)
    • 1901 – Thelma Terry, American bassist and bandleader (d. 1966)
    • 1904 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (d. 1971)
    • 1905 – Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
    • 1905 – Michael Powell, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1906 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1996)
    • 1908 – David Oistrakh, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (d. 1974)
    • 1910 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain (d. 1962)
    • 1911 – Gustave Gilbert, American psychologist (d. 1977)
    • 1912 – Kenny Baker, American singer and actor (d. 1985)
    • 1913 – Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1975)
    • 1915 – Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (d. 2003)
    • 1917 – Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, bandleader, and actor (d. 1987)
    • 1918 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (d. 1995)
    • 1918 – René Rémond, French historian and economist (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Roberto Bonomi, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1992)
    • 1919 – Elizabeth Gilels, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (d. 2008)
    • 1919 – William L. Guy, American lieutenant and politician, 26th Governor of North Dakota (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Patricia Neway, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
    • 1921 – Deborah Kerr, Scottish-English actress (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – Aldo Parisot, Brazilian-American cellist and educator (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – Lamont Johnson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1922 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – Donald Swann, Welsh-English pianist and composer (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1925 – Arkady Ostashev, Russian engineer and educator (d. 1998)
    • 1926 – Heino Kruus, Estonian basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2010)
    • 1927 – W. S. Merwin, American poet and translator (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Elie Wiesel, Romanian-American author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – Ray Willsey, Canadian-American football player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Carol Fenner, American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
    • 1929 – Vassilis Papazachos, Greek seismologist and academic
    • 1929 – Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Filipino politician, diplomat and writer (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Dorothee Sölle, German theologian and author (d. 2003)
    • 1931 – Angie Dickinson, American actress
    • 1931 – Teresa Gorman, English educator and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author, playwright, and politician, Governor of Tokyo
    • 1932 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Michel Aoun, Lebanese general and politician, President of Lebanon
    • 1933 – Cissy Houston, American singer
    • 1934 – Alan A’Court, English footballer and manager (d. 2009)
    • 1934 – Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Anna Kashfi, Indian-American actress (d. 2015)
    • 1935 – Johnny Mathis, American singer and actor
    • 1936 – Jim Sasser, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to China
    • 1936 – Sevgi Soysal, Turkish author (d. 1976)
    • 1937 – Jurek Becker, Polish-German author (d. 1997)
    • 1937 – Valentyn Sylvestrov, Ukrainian pianist and composer
    • 1937 – Gary Hocking, Rhodesian motorcycle racer (d. 1962)
    • 1938 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and educator (d. 2012)
    • 1939 – Len Cariou, Canadian actor
    • 1939 – Anthony Green, English painter and academic
    • 1939 – Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – Claudia Card, American philosopher and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1940 – Harry Jerome, Canadian sprinter (d. 1982)
    • 1940 – Dewey Martin, Canadian-American drummer (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Samuel F. Pickering, Jr., American author and educator
    • 1941 – Kamalesh Sharma, Indian academic and diplomat, 5th Commonwealth Secretary General
    • 1941 – Reine Wisell, Swedish race car driver
    • 1942 – Gus Dudgeon, English record producer (d. 2002)
    • 1942 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1943 – Johann Deisenhofer, German-American biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1943 – Marilyn McCoo, American singer
    • 1943 – Philip Moore, English organist and composer
    • 1943 – Ian Ogilvy, English-American actor, playwright, and author
    • 1944 – Diane Dufresne, Canadian singer and painter
    • 1944 – Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
    • 1944 – Red Robbins, American basketball player (d. 2009)
    • 1945 – Richard Edwin Hills, English astronomer and academic
    • 1945 – Ehud Olmert, Israeli lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Israel
    • 1946 – Fran Brill, American actress, singer, and puppeteer
    • 1946 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Leader of the House of Lords
    • 1946 – Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1946 – Jochen Mass, German race car driver
    • 1946 – Paul Sheahan, Australian cricketer and educator
    • 1946 – Claude Vorilhon, French journalist, founded Raëlism
    • 1947 – Marc Bolan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
    • 1947 – Rula Lenska, English actress
    • 1948 – Craig Kusick, American baseball player and coach (d. 2006)
    • 1950 – Laura Esquivel, Mexican author and screenwriter
    • 1950 – Victoria Tennant, English actress and dancer
    • 1951 – John Lloyd, English screenwriter and producer
    • 1951 – Barry Marshall, Australian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1951 – Simon White, English astrophysicist and academic
    • 1952 – John Lombardo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – Matt Abts, American drummer
    • 1953 – Deborah Allen, American country music singer-songwriter, author, and actress
    • 1954 – Basia, Polish singer-songwriter and record producer
    • 1954 – Scott Fields, American guitarist and composer
    • 1954 – Patrice Rushen, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1955 – Andy Bechtolsheim, German engineer, co-founded Sun Microsystems
    • 1955 – Frankie Kennedy, Northern Irish flute player (d. 1994)
    • 1956 – Trevor Morgan, English footballer and manager
    • 1957 – Fran Drescher, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Marty Stuart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1959 – Ettore Messina, Italian basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Julia Adamson, Canadian-English keyboard player, composer, and producer
    • 1960 – Nicola Griffith, English-American author
    • 1960 – Miki Howard, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1960 – Blanche Lincoln, American politician
    • 1961 – Gary Coyne, Australian rugby league player
    • 1961 – Eric Stoltz, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1961 – Mel Stride, English politician
    • 1961 – Eric van de Poele, Belgian race car driver
    • 1963 – David Barbe, American bass player and producer
    • 1964 – Trey Anastasio, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer
    • 1964 – Monica Bellucci, Italian actress and fashion model
    • 1965 – Omid Djalili, English comedian, actor, and producer
    • 1966 – Gary Armstrong, Scottish rugby player
    • 1966 – Markus Burger, German pianist, composer, and educator
    • 1967 – Emmanuelle Houdart, Swiss-French author and illustrator
    • 1969 – Gintaras Einikis, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1969 – Chris von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1991)
    • 1970 – Tony Hale, American actor and producer
    • 1970 – Damian Mori, Australian footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Jenna Elfman, American actress and producer
    • 1972 – Jamal Anderson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1972 – Ari Behn, Danish-Norwegian author and playwright (d. 2019)
    • 1972 – John Campbell, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1972 – Mayumi Kojima, Japanese singer-songwriter
    • 1972 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (d. 2010)
    • 1974 – Jeremy Giambi, American baseball player
    • 1974 – Tom Greatrex, English politician
    • 1974 – Ben Phillips, English cricketer
    • 1974 – Daniel Wu, American–born Hong Kong actor, director, and producer
    • 1975 – Jay Asher, American author
    • 1975 – Marion Cotillard, French-American actress and singer
    • 1975 – Carlos Guillén, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1975 – Laure Pequegnot, French skier
    • 1975 – Christopher Jackson, American actor, singer, musician, and composer
    • 1976 – Georgie Bingham, British radio and television presenter
    • 1977 – Roy Carroll, Northern Irish goalkeeper and manager
    • 1977 – Nick Curran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2012)
    • 1978 – Małgorzata Glinka-Mogentale, Polish female volleyball player
    • 1979 – Cameron Bruce, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1979 – Andy van der Meyde, Dutch footballer
    • 1980 – Martina Hingis, Czechoslovakia-born Swiss tennis player
    • 1980 – Milagros Sequera, Venezuelan tennis player
    • 1981 – Cecelia Ahern, Irish author
    • 1981 – Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast
    • 1982 – Lacey Chabert, American actress
    • 1982 – Ryane Clowe, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Yan Stastny, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Dmytro Boyko, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1983 – Boniek Forbes, Guinea-Bissau footballer
    • 1983 – Andreea Răducan, Romanian gymnast
    • 1984 – Georgios Eleftheriou, Greek footballer
    • 1985 – Adam Cooney, Australian footballer
    • 1985 – David Gower, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Téa Obreht, Serbian-American author
    • 1985 – Cristian Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1985 – T-Pain, American rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1986 – Olivier Giroud, French footballer
    • 1986 – Martin Guptill, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1986 – Ben Lovett, Welsh musician and songwriter
    • 1986 – Cristián Zapata, Colombian footballer
    • 1987 – Aida Garifullina, Russian operatic soprano
    • 1988 – Eglė Staišiūnaitė, Lithuanian hurdler
    • 1989 – André Weis, German footballer
    • 1991 – Thomas Röhler, German javelin thrower
    • 1992 – Ezra Miller, American actor and singer
    • 1994 – Aliya Mustafina, Russian gymnast
    • 1996 – Jacob Host, Australian rugby league player
    • 1997 – Yana Kudryavtseva, Russian gymnast
    • 1997 – Max Verstappen, Dutch Formula One driver
    • 1998 – Trevor Moran, American youtuber and singer
    • 2002 – Maddie Ziegler, American dancer and actress
    • 2002 – Levi Miller, Australian actor and model

    Deaths on September 30

    • 420 – Jerome, Roman priest, theologian, and saint (b. 347)
    • 653 – Honorius of Canterbury, Italian archbishop and saint
    • 940 – Fan Yanguang, Chinese general
    • 954 – Louis IV of France (b. 920)
    • 1101 – Anselm IV, Italian archbishop
    • 1246 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (b. 1191)
    • 1288 – Leszek II the Black, Polish prince, Duke of Łęczyca, Sieradz, Kraków, Sandomierz (b. 1241)
    • 1440 – Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, Welsh soldier and politician (b. 1362)
    • 1487 – John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1400)
    • 1551 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (b. 1507)
    • 1560 – Melchior Cano, Spanish theologian (b. 1525)
    • 1572 – Francis Borgia, 4th Duke of Gandía, Spanish priest and saint, 3rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1510)
    • 1581 – Hubert Languet, French diplomat and reformer (b. 1518)
    • 1626 – Nurhaci, Chinese emperor (b. 1559)
    • 1628 – Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1554)
    • 1770 – Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1695)
    • 1770 – George Whitefield, English-American priest and theologian (b. 1714)
    • 1865 – Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (b. 1800)
    • 1891 – Georges Ernest Boulanger, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1837)
    • 1897 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (b. 1873)
    • 1910 – Maurice Lévy, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1838)
    • 1942 – Hans-Joachim Marseille, German captain and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 1943 – Franz Oppenheimer, German-American sociologist and economist (b. 1864)
    • 1946 – Takashi Sakai, Japanese general and politician, Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1887)
    • 1955 – James Dean, American actor (b. 1931)
    • 1959 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (b. 1877)
    • 1961 – Onésime Gagnon, Canadian scholar and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1888)
    • 1973 – Peter Pitseolak, Canadian photographer and author (b. 1902)
    • 1974 – Carlos Prats, Chilean general and politician, Chilean Minister of Defense (b. 1915)
    • 1977 – Mary Ford, American singer and guitarist (b. 1924)
    • 1978 – Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (b. 1903)
    • 1985 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (b. 1900)
    • 1985 – Simone Signoret, French actress (b. 1921)
    • 1986 – Nicholas Kaldor, Hungarian-British economist (b. 1908)
    • 1987 – Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1988 – Al Holbert, American race car driver (b. 1946)
    • 1989 – Virgil Thomson, American composer and critic (b. 1896)
    • 1990 – Rob Moroso, American race car driver (b. 1968)
    • 1990 – Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and author (b. 1930)
    • 1990 – Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – Toma Zdravković, Serbian singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
    • 1994 – André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 1998 – Marius Goring, English actor (b. 1912)
    • 1998 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (b. 1953)
    • 1998 – Robert Lewis Taylor, American soldier and author (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (b. 1966)
    • 2002 – Hans-Peter Tschudi, Swiss lawyer and politician, 63rd President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1913)
    • 2003 – Yusuf Bey, American activist, founded Your Black Muslim Bakery (b. 1935)
    • 2003 – Ronnie Dawson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939)
    • 2003 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1944)
    • 2004 – Gamini Fonseka, Sri Lankan actor, director, and politician (b. 1936)
    • 2004 – Jacques Levy, American director and songwriter (b. 1935)
    • 2004 – Michael Relph, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
    • 2008 – J. B. Jeyaretnam, Singaporean lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Stephen J. Cannell, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1941)
    • 2011 – Anwar al-Awlaki, American-Yemeni terrorist (b. 1971)
    • 2011 – Ralph M. Steinman, Canadian-American immunologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Turhan Bey, Austrian actor and producer (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Bobby Jaggers, American wrestler and engineer (b. 1948)
    • 2012 – Clara Stanton Jones, American librarian (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian-American figure skater (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament (b. 1956)
    • 2013 – Janet Powell, Australian educator and politician (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Guido Altarelli, Italian-Swiss physicist and academic (b. 1941)
    • 2015 – Claude Dauphin, French businessman (b. 1951)
    • 2015 – Göran Hägg, Swedish author and critic (b. 1947)
    • 2017 – Monty Hall, American game show host (b. 1921)
    • 2018 – Kim Larsen, Danish rock musician (b. 1945)
    • 2018 – Geoffrey Hayes, British television presenter and actor (b. 1942)
    • 2018 – Sonia Orbuch, Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War and Holocaust educator. (b. 1925)
    • 2019 – Victoria Braithwaite, British research scientist who proved fish feel pain (b. 1967)

    Holidays and observances on September 30

    • Agricultural Reform (Nationalization) Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)
    • Birth of Morelos (Mexico)
    • Boy’s Day (Poland)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Gregory the Illuminator
      • Honorius of Canterbury
      • Jerome
      • September 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Independence Day (Botswana) or Botswana Day, celebrates the independence of Botswana from United Kingdom in 1966.
    • International Translation Day (International Federation of Translators)
    • Orange Shirt Day (Canada)
  • |

    Constituents and Structure Solved MCQs (Set-II) | General Science & Ability

    Click HERE for Q. No.1-50.

    51) Planets are always small compared with stars because otherwise ______.
    ( a) the rotation of the planets would cause them to disintegrate
    (b) the great mass of the planets would cause them to be pulled into their parent star
    (c) the great mass of the planets would prevent them from being held in orbit and they would escape
    (d) the planets would be stars themselves
    Answer: (d)

    52) The least likely reason why planetary systems have not been directly observed around stars other than the sun is that __
    (a) Planets are small
    (b) Planets shine by reflected light
    (c) Planetary systems are rare
    (d) Other stars are far away
    Answer: (c)

    53) Which of the following is the correct ordering of the inner planets according to their proximity to the sun? (CSS 2012)
    (a) Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus , Neptune
    (b) Phobos, Deimes , Europe , Tias
    (c) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    54) The term ‘Blue Shift’ is used to indicate: (CSS 2009)
    (a) Doppler effect in which an object appears bluer when it is moving towards the observer or observer is moving towards the object.

    (b) Turning a star from white to blue
    (c) In future sun would become blue
    (d) Black hole was blue at its start
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)

    55) Which planet of our solar system is called as Morning star? (CSS 2008)
    Answer: Venus

    56) What is the diameter of the earth?
    Answer: 12 756.2 kilometers

    57) The number of natural satellites orbiting around the Mars is: (CSS 2002/2003)
    (a) 1
    (b) 2
    (c) 5
    (d) 14
    Answer: (b)
    Mars has two natural satellites, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. The innermost of these, Phobos, is about 7 mi (11 km) in diameter and orbits the planet with a period far less than Mars’s period of rotation (7 hr 39 min), causing it to rise in the west and set in the east. The outer satellite, Deimos, is about 4 mi (6 km) in diameter.

    58) All stars are of the same color
    (False)

    59) Our galaxy milky way is shaped like a large thick concave lens with a large central bulge (CSS 2002)
    (True)

    60) The coldest planet of the solar system is: (CSS 2000)
    (a) Earth
    (b) Venus
    (c) Neptune d) Pluto
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    In the past, the title for “most frigid body” went to Pluto, as it was the farthest then-designated planet from the Sun. However, due to the IAU’s decision in 2006 to reclassify Pluto as a “dwarf planet”, the title has since passed to Neptune. As the eight planet from our Sun, it is now the outermost planet in the Solar System, and hence the coldest.

    61) Venus is the smallest planet of the solar system. (CSS 1999)
    (False)

    62) Black hole is a hypothetical region of space having a gravitational pull so great that no matter or radiation can escape from it. (CSS 1998)

    63) Our solar system has about — satellites. (CSS 1996)
    (a) 35
    (b) 179
    (c) 96
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    In the Solar System, there are 179 satellites. A majority of those moons belong to the planet of Jupiter, the second most belonging to Saturn. The largest of these moons is Ganymede, which is one of the Galilean Moons.

    64) ——- cannot be nominated for the Nobel Prize. (CSS 1996)
    (a) Physicists
    (b) Economists
    (c) Astronomers
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    65) The largest planet of the solar system is Jupiter. (CSS 1995)

    66) Planet Mars has (CSS 1995)
    (a) 1 Moon
    (b) 2 Moons
    (c) 4 Moons
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    The moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. Both moons were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall Asaph Hall was about to give up his frustrating search for a Martian moon one August night in 1877, but his wife Angelina urged him on. He discovered Deimos the next night, and Phobos six nights after that. Ninety-four years later, NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft got a much better look at the two moons from its orbit around Mars. The dominant feature on Phobos, it found, was a crater 10 km (6 miles) wide — nearly half the width of the moon itself. It was given Angelina’s maiden name: Stickney.

    67) Where do most of Asteroids lie? (CSS 2007)
    (a) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
    (b) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Venus
    (c) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Venus
    (d) Everywhere in the sky
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)

    68) This is the measure of moisture in the air.
    (a) Temperature
    (b) Humidity
    (c) Altitude
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)

    69) This is the greatest amount of water vapor the air could hold at a certain temperature
    (a) Absolute humidity
    (b) Relative humidity
    (c) Variable humidity
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Absolute humidity is the measure of water vapor (moisture) in the air, regardless of temperature. It is expressed as grams of moisture per cubic meter of air (g/m3).
    The maximum absolute humidity of warm air at 30°C/86°F is approximately 30g of water vapor – 30g/m3. The maximum absolute humidity of cold air at 0°C/32°F is approximately 5g of water vapor – 5g/m3.

    70) This is how much actual water vapor is in the air at a certain temperature.
    (a)Absolute humidity
    (b) Relative humidity
    (c) Variable
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    Relative humidity also measures water vapor but RELATIVE to the temperature of the air. It is expressed as the amount of water vapor in the air as a percentage of the total amount that could be held at its current temperature.

    71) Humidity is measured with a
    (a) Barometer
    (b) Thermometer
    (c) Hygrometer
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    72) Founder of modern astronomy was: (CSS-2009)
    (a) Archimedes
    (b) William Gilbert
    (c) Nicolas Copernicus
    (d) Michael Faraday
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    73) The most splendid and the most magnificent constellation on the sky is: (CSS-2009)
    (a) Orion
    (b) Columbia
    (c) Canis Major
    (d) Taurus
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    (Canis Major is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name means “the greater dog” in Latin.) Orion, which is located on the celestial equator, is one of the most prominent and recognizable constellations in the sky and can be seen throughout the world.

    74) Which of the following explains the reason why there is no total eclipse of the sun? (CSS-2009)
    (a) Size of the earth in relation to that of moon
    (b) Orbit of moon around earth
    (c) Direction of rotation of earth around sun
    (d) Area of the sun covered by the moon
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (b)

    75) Where do most of Asteroids lie? (CSS-2009)
    (a) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
    (b) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Venus
    (c) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Venus
    (d) Everywhere in the sky
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Most asteroids lie in a vast ring between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This main asteroid belt holds more than 200 asteroids larger than 60 miles (100 kilometers) in diameter. Scientists estimate the asteroid belt also contains more than 750,000 asteroids larger than three-fifths of a mile (1 km) in diameter and millions of smaller ones. Not everything in the main belt is an asteroid — for instance, comets have recently been discovered there, and Ceres, once thought of only as an asteroid, is now also considered a dwarf planet.

    76) The largest circular storm in our solar system is on the surface of which of the following planets?
    (a) Jupiter
    (b) Venus
    (c) Uranus
    (d) Earth
    Answer: (a)
    Jupiter boasts the largest storm in the Solar System . It is called the Great Red Spot and has been observed for hundreds of years that kind of storm is dwarfed by the Great Red Spot, a gigantic storm in Jupiter. There, gigantic means twice as wide as Earth. Today, scientists know the Great Red Spot is there and it’s been there for a while, but they still struggle to learn what causes its swirl of reddish hues.

    77) The biggest asteroid known is:
    (a) Vesta
    (b) Icarus
    (c) Ceres
    (d) Eros
    Answer: (c)
    Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest asteroid in the solar system yet known. Discovered in 1801 and first thought to be a planet and then an asteroid, we now call Ceres a dwarf planet. Gravitational forces from Jupiter billions of years ago prevented it from becoming a full-fledged planet. But Ceres has more in common with Earth and Mars than its rocky neighbors in the main asteroid belt. There may even be water ice buried under Ceres’ crust.

    78) Rounded to the nearest day, the Mercurian year is equal to:
    (a) 111 days
    (b) 87.97 days
    (c) 50 days
    (d) 25 days
    Answer: (b)
    Mercurian Year: A year on Mercury takes 87.97 Earth days; it takes 87.97 Earth days for Mercury to orbit the sun once

    79) One of the largest volcanoes in our solar system-if not the largest-is named Olympus Mons. This volcano is located on:
    (a) Jupiter’s moon Callisto
    (b) Venus
    (c) Saturn’s moon Titan
    (d) Mars
    Answer: (d)
    Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system. The massive Martian mountain towers high above the surrounding plains of the red planet, and may be biding its time until the next eruption. Olympus Mons rises three times higher than Earth’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, whose peak is 5.5 miles above sea level.

    80) One Jupiter day is equal to which of the following?
    (a) 30 hrs 40 min
    (b) 9 hrs 50 min
    (c) 3 hrs 20 min
    (d) 52 hrs 10 min
    Answer: (b)

    81) The time interval between two successive occurrences of a specific type of alignment of a planet (or the moon) with the sun and the earth is referred to as:
    (a) a conjunction
    (b) an opposition
    (c) a sidereal period
    (d) a synodic period.
    Answer: (d)
    Synodic period , in astronomy, length of time during which a body in the solar system makes one orbit of the sun relative to the earth, i.e. The synodic period of the moon, which is called the lunar month, or lunation, is 291/2 days long; it is longer than the sidereal month.

    82) Of the following four times, which one best represents the time it takes energy generated in the core of the sun to reach the surface of the sun and be radiated?
    (a) Three minutes
    (b) Thirty days
    (c) One thousand years
    (d) One million years
    Answer: (d)

    83) The sunspot cycle is:
    (a) 3 years
    (b) 11 years
    (c) 26 years
    (d) 49 years
    Answer: (b)

    The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun’s surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is sometimes referred to as the sunspot cycle.

    84) The Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram of stars DIRECTLY compares what TWO of the following properties of stars?
    (a) size
    (b) temperature
    (c) luminosity
    (d) Both b & c
    Answer: (d)
    One of the most useful and powerful plots in astrophysics is the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (hereafter called the H-R diagram). It originated in 1911 when the Danish astronomer, Ejnar Hertzsprung, plotted the absolute magnitude of stars against their color (hence effective temperature). Independently in 1913 the American astronomer Henry Norris Russell used spectral class against absolute magnitude. Their resultant plots showed that the relationship between temperature and luminosity of a star was not random but instead appeared to fall into distinct groups.

    The majority of stars, including our Sun, are found along a region called the Main Sequence. Main Sequence stars vary widely in effective temperature but the hotter they are, the more luminous they are, hence the main sequence tends to follow a band going from the bottom right of the diagram to the top left. These stars are fusing hydrogen to helium in their cores. Stars spend the bulk of their existence as main sequence stars. Other major groups of stars found on the H-R diagram are the giants and supergiants; luminous stars that have evolved off the main sequence, and the white dwarfs. Whilst each of these types is discussed in detail in later pages we can use their positions on the H-R diagram to infer some of their properties.

    85) The Andromeda Galaxy is which of the following types of galaxies?
    (a) elliptical
    (b) spiral
    (c) barred-spiral
    (d) irregular
    Answer: (b)
    The Andromeda Galaxy also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, is a spiral galaxy approximately 780 kilo parsecs (2.5 million light-years) from Earth

    86) About how many light years across is the Milky Way? Is it:
    (a) 1,000
    (b) 10,000
    (c) 100,000
    (d) 1,000,000
    Answer: (c)
    100 000 light years across
    A light-year is precisely equal to a whole number of meters, namely 9460730472580800 m or approximately 9.46073 1015 m. That’s the distance traveled by light in a vacuum, at a speed of 299792458 m/s, during a “scientific year” of 31557600 s. All these numbers are exact… In particular, “Einstein’s Constant” is exactly c = 299792458 m/s, because of the latest definition of the meter, officially adopted in 1983.

    87) Who was the first man to classify stars according to their brightness. Was it:
    (a) Aristarchus
    (b) Pythagoras
    (c) Copernicus
    (d) Hipparchus
    Answer: (d)
    The first person to classify stars by their apparent magnitude (brightness) was Hipparchus in about 130 BC. He divided the stars into classes based on how bright they appeared in the night sky. The brightest stars were classified as magnitude 1, those that were just visible to the naked eye as magnitude 6. In practice the intensity of a magnitude 1 star is 100 times that of a magnitude 6 star, so the 5 magnitude steps correspond to a multiple of 100. For a geometric series of magnitudes each magnitude must be a times the intensity of the previous one with a5 – 100. This means that going up one magnitude increases the intensity by a factor of a = 2.51. So magnitude 3 is 2.51 times as intense as magnitude 4 and so on.

    88) For what reason was the Schmidt telescope specially built? Was it to serve as:
    (a) a sky camera
    (b) a radio telescope
    (c) an optical telescope
    (d) a solar telescope
    Answer: (a)

    A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930.

    89) The greatest distance of a planet from the sun is called what? Is it the planet’s:
    (a) aphelion
    (b) perihelion
    (c) helix
    (d) eccentricity
    Answer: (a)
    The closest point to the Sun in a planet’s orbit is called perihelion. The furthest point is called aphelion

    90) How is the atmospheric pressure of Mars as compared to the atmospheric pressure of the earth? Is it:
    (a) about the same as the earth’s
    (b) about 100 times as great as the earth’s
    (c) about 1/200th that of the earth’s
    (d) half as much as that of the earth’s
    Answer: (c)
    The atmosphere and (probably) the interior of Mars differ substantially from that of the Earth. The atmosphere is much less dense and of different composition, and it is unlikely that the core is molten.
    The atmosphere has a pressure at the surface that is only 1/200 that of Earth. The primary component of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide (95%), with the remainder mostly nitrogen. Seasonal heating drives strong winds that can reach 100 mph or more, stirring up large dust storms. Clouds form in the atmosphere, but liquid water cannot exist at the ambient pressure and temperature of the Martian surface: water goes directly between solid and vapor phases without becoming liquid.

    91) A typical galaxy, such as our Milky Way galaxy, contains how many billion stars? Is it approximately:
    (a) 10 billion
    (b) 40 billion
    (c) 400 billion
    (d) 800 billion
    Answer: (c)
    According to astronomers, our Milky Way is an average-sized barred spiral galaxy measuring up to 120,000 light-years across. Our Sun is located about 27,000 light-years from the galactic core in the Orion arm. Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains up to 400 billion stars of various sizes and brightness.
    According to astronomers, there are probably more than 170 billion galaxies in the observable Universe, stretching out into a region of space 13.8 billion light-years away from us in all directions.

    92) A comet’s tail points in which direction?
    (a) toward the sun
    (b) toward the earth
    (c) behind the comet in its orbit
    (d) away from the sun
    Answer: (d)
    Comet tails are expansions of the coma. Comet tails point away from the Sun, regardless of the direction in which the comet is traveling. Comets have two tails because escaping gas and dust are influenced by the Sun in slightly different ways, and the tails point in slightly different directions.

    93) Spectral line splitting due to the influence of magnetic fields is called:
    (a) Boltzmann Effect
    (b) Zeeman Effect
    (c) Planck Effect
    (d) Zanstra’s Effect
    Answer: (b)
    The Zeeman effect is the splitting of a spectral line by a magnetic field. That is, if an atomic spectral line of 400 nm was considered under normal conditions, in a strong magnetic field, because of the Zeeman effect, the spectral line would be split to yield a more energetic line and a less energetic line, in addition to the original line at 400 nm.

    94) Which of the following is true for ORION? Orion is:
    (a) the brightest star in the sky
    (b) a constellation
    (c) the name given to a NASA spacecraft
    (d) an asteroid
    Answer: (b)

    95) Which of the following men wrote the book “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”?
    (a) Kepler
    (b) Euclid
    (c) Copernicus
    (d) Newton
    Answer: (c)

    De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543).

    96) The most distant planet in the solar system is (CSS 1995)
    (a) Mars
    (b) Pluto
    (c) Jupiter
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    New Dwarf Planet In Our Solar System May Be The Farthest One Yet. Object V774104 was discovered in late October, 2015, and is one of the most distant objects ever detected in the solar system. It appears to be about half the size of Pluto, but with an orbit two to three times larger than Pluto’s. (Nov 12, 2015)

    97) The 2.7 Kelvin cosmic background radiation is concentrated in the:
    (a) radio wavelengths
    (b) infrared
    (c) visible
    (d) ultraviolet
    Answer: (a)

    98) If you were watching a star collapsing to form a black hole, the light would disappear because it:
    (a) is strongly red shifted
    (b) is strongly blue shifted
    (c) its color suddenly becomes black
    (d) none of the above
    Answer: (a)

    99) The Magellanic Clouds are
    (a) irregular galaxies
    (b) spiral galaxies
    (c) elliptical galaxies
    (d) large clouds of gas and dust
    Answer: (a)
    The Magellanic Clouds are comprised of two irregular galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), which orbit the Milky Way once every 1,500 million years and each other once every 900 million years. Lying only about 200,000 light years away, they were the closest known galaxies to the Milky Way until recently, when the Sagittarius and Canis Major dwarf galaxies were discovered and found to be even closer.

    100) According to Kepler’s Laws, the cube of the mean distance of a planet from the sun is proportional to the:
    (a) area that is swept out
    (b) cube of the period
    (c) square of the period
    (d) fourth power of the mean distance
    Answer: (c)

  • |

    Constituents and Structure Solved MCQs (Set-I) | General Science & Ability

    The universe, Galaxy, Light Year, Solar System, Sun, Earth, Astronomical System of Units

    1) The biggest planet in our solar system is (CSS 2013)

    (a) Venus
    (b) Pluto
    (c) Jupiter
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    In terms of mass, volume, and surface area, Jupiter is the biggest planet in our Solar System by a wide margin.
    Size and Mass:
    Jupiter’s mass, volume, surface area and mean circumference are 1.8981 x 1027 kg, 1.43128 x 1015 km3, 6.1419 x 1010 km2, and 4.39264 x 105 km respectively. To put that in perspective, Jupiter diameter is roughly 11 times that of Earth, and 2.5 the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.

    2) The universe is ———-. (CSS 1996)

    (a) Stationary
    (b) Expanding
    (c) Contracting
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    In June 2016, NASA and ESA scientists reported that the universe was found to be expanding 5% to 9% faster than thought earlier, based on studies using the Hubble Space Telescope

    3) The atmosphere of moon consists of: (CSS 2013)

    (a) . 90% Hydrogen, 10% Nitrogen
    (b) . 80%Nitrogen, 20% Hydrogen
    (c) 60% Nitrogen, 40%inert gases
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    The Moon has no atmosphere. None. That’s why astronauts have to wear their spacesuits when they get outside of their spacecraft on the surface of the Moon.
    Atmosphere of the Moon might be electro statically levitated moon dust. These tiny particles are constantly leaping up and down off the surface of the Moon.

    4) Who gave the first evidence of the Big- Bang theory?

    (a) Edwin Hubble
    (b) Albert Einstein
    (c) S. Chandrasekhar
    (d) Stephen Hawking
    Answer: (a)
    The Hubble Space Telescope was named after astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble (1889–1953), who made some of the most important discoveries in modern astronomy. Dr. Hubble determined that the farther a galaxy is from Earth, the faster it appears to move away. This notion of an “expanding” universe formed the basis of the Big Bang theory, which states that the universe began with an intense burst of energy at a single moment in time — and has been expanding ever since.

    5) Which one of the following planets has largest number of natural satellites or moons?

    (a) Jupiter
    (b) Mars
    (c) Saturn
    (d) Venus
    Answer: (a)
    In the Solar System, there are 179 satellites. A majority of those moons belong to the planet of Jupiter, the second most belonging to Saturn.

    6) Which of the following planets rotates clock wise?

    (a) Mars
    (b) Jupiter
    (c) Venus
    (d) Mercury
    Answer: (c)
    Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. Venus (radius 3,760.4 miles) is similar to Earth (radius 3,963.19 miles) in size and structure but spins very slowly; a day on Venus is 243 Earth days long.

    7) Which of the following order is given to the planets of solar system on the basis of their sizes?

    (a) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
    (b) Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Earth
    (c) Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn
    (d) Earth, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter
    Answer: (a)
    Jupiter (69,911 km / 43,441 miles) – 1,120% the size of Earth
    Saturn (58,232 km / 36,184 miles) – 945% the size of Earth
    Uranus (25,362 km / 15,759 miles) –400% the size of Earth
    Neptune (24,622 km / 15,299 miles) – 388% the size of Earth
    Earth (6,371 km / 3,959 miles)

    8) The time taken by the Sun to revolve around the center of our galaxy is

    (a) 50 Million years
    (b) 100 Million years
    (c) 250 Million years
    (d) 365 Million years
    Answer: (c)
    the Sun is dragging us around the galaxy at around 800,000km/h, taking around 250 million years to complete a single orbit.
    That means our Solar System has made around 18 complete circuits since it was formed around 4.5 billion years ago.

    9): The planet having the largest diameter is

    (a) Earth
    (b) Jupiter
    (c) Venus
    (d) Uranus
    Answer: (b)
    Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter. It is the largest of the four giant planets in the Solar System and hence its largest planet. It has a diameter of 142,984 km (88,846 mi) at its equator

    10) The planet Mercury completes one rotation around the sun is (CSS 2010)

    (a) 88 days
    (b) 365 days
    (c) 98 days
    (d) 60 days
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    A year on Mercury is just 88 days long. One solar day (the time from noon to noon on the planet’s surface) on Mercury lasts the equivalent of 176 Earth days while the sidereal day (the time for 1 rotation in relation to a fixed point) lasts 59 Earth days. Mercury is nearly tidally locked to the Sun and over time this has slowed the rotation of the planet to almost match its orbit around the Sun. Mercury also has the highest orbital eccentricity of all the planets with its distance from the Sun ranging from 46 to 70 million km.

    11) The biggest planet in our solar system is (CSS 2013)

    (a) Venus
    (b) Pluto
    (c) Jupiter
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter has a mean radius of 43,440.7 miles (69,911 kilometers), about a tenth that of the sun. However, its rapid rotation — it spins once every 9.8 hours

    12) The atmosphere of moon consists of: (CSS 2013)

    (a) 90% Hydrogen, 10% Nitrogen
    (b) 80%Nitrogen, 20% Hydrogen
    (c) 60% Nitrogen, 40%inert gases
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    The Apollo 17 mission deployed an instrument called the Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (LACE) on the moon’s surface. It detected small amounts of a number of atoms and molecules including helium, argon, and possibly neon, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide.

    13) Which of the following explains the reason why there is no total eclipse of the sun? (CSS 2009)

    (a) Size of the earth in relation to that of moon
    (b) Orbit of moon around earth
    (c) Direction of rotation of earth around sun
    (d) Area of the sun covered by the moon
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall upon Earth’s surface.

    14) The sun produces most of its energy by (CSS 2012)

    (a) Nuclear fusion which involves converting “H” to “He”
    (b) Nuclear fission involving the burning of uranium & plutonium
    (c) Nuclear fission involving the combining of uranium and palladium
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Sun, like all stars, is able to create energy because it is essentially a massive fusion reaction.
    The core of the Sun is the region that extends from the center to about 20–25% of the solar radius. It is here, in the core, where energy is produced by hydrogen atoms (H) being converted into molecules of helium (He) This is possible thanks to the extreme pressure and temperature that exists within the core, which are estimated to be the equivalent of 250 billion atmospheres (25.33 trillion KPa) and 15.7 million kelvin, respectively.

    15) Although the mass of a man on moon remains same as on the earth he will (CSS 2012)

    (a) Be much happier there
    (b) Weigh one sixth as much
    (c) Weigh twice as much
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    The Moon’s gravity is one sixth of the Earth’s gravity. A 120 kg astronaut weighs 1200 N on Earth. On the Moon they would weigh only 200 N. The astronaut’s mass is 120kg wherever they are.

    16) The planet of the solar system which has maximum numbers of Moon is: (CSS 2011)

    (a) Jupiter
    (b) Venus
    (c) Saturn
    (d) Uranus
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)

    17): The earth rotates 011 its axis from_

    (a) North to south
    (b) South to north
    (c) East to west
    (d) West to east
    Answer: (d)
    The Earth rotates from the west towards east. As viewed from North Star or polestar Polaris, the Earth turns counter-clockwise. The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth’s axis of rotation meets its surface.

    18): Name two planets which revolve around their axis from east to west

    (a) Earth and Venus
    (b) Mars and Earth
    (c) Venus and Uranus
    (d) Mars and Uranus
    Answer: (c)
    Planets have no light of their own and all of them expect Venus and Uranus, rotate upon their axis from west to east.

    19) Our sun is classified as (CSS 2012)

    (a) A Blue giant
    (b) A Yellow dwarf
    (c) Supernova
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    The sun is classified as a G-type main-sequence star, or G dwarf star, or more imprecisely, a yellow dwarf. Actually, the sun — like other G-type stars — is white, but appears yellow through Earth’s atmosphere. Stars generally get bigger as they grow older

    20): Name the planet which revolve approximately 90 degree with its orbital plane_.

    (a) Neptune
    (b) Venus
    (c) Uranus
    (d) Jupiter
    Answer: (c)
    Unlike any other planet, Uranus rotates on its side. That is, the rotation axis is tilted approximately 90 degrees relative to the planet’s orbital plane.

    21): The hottest planet of our solar system is
    (a) Mercury
    (b) Venus
    (c) Mars
    (d) Earth
    Answer: (b)
    Venus’s thick atmosphere made up mainly of CO2 makes it the hottest planet in the solar system. Mercury is colder because it’s atmosphere is thin.

    22): Which of the following constellation contains Pole Star?

    (a) Orion
    (b) Ursa Major
    (c) Ursa Minor
    (d) Scorpio
    Answer: (b)

    23): All the stars appear to move from

    (a) North to south
    (b) South to north
    (c) East to west
    (d) West to east
    Answer: (c)
    Every day, the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appear to rise in the east and set in the west. Actually, these celestial objects aren’t moving that fast, but Earth is. It spins on its axis from west to east approximately every 24 hours.
    Because we are standing on Earth’s surface, we move along with it. To us, it appears as if everything in the sky is moving from east to west.

    24): The body burning like a star and coming towards the earth

    (a) Comet
    (b) Meteor
    (c) Ceres
    (d) Satellites
    Answer: (b)
    Fleeting trails of light are called meteors or shooting stars and they are created by small particles, some no bigger than a grain of rice, as they are completely burned up high in the atmosphere: about 100 km (or 60 miles) above the Earth. They are over literally in the blink of an eye. Space debris is collectively termed meteoroids, those larger fragments that reach the ground are called meteorites. Very big meteoroids are also known as asteroids. If one collides with Earth it would cause a major catastrophe.

    25) Which of the following is not true?

    (a) Planets rotate on their own axis.
    (b) Planets do not emit light.
    (c) Some planets are gaseous and some are rocky
    (d) Most of the planets have rings around them.
    Answer: (d)

    26) Which is the brightest planet?

    (a) Mars
    (b) Jupiter
    (c) Venus
    (d) Saturn
    Answer: (c)
    Venus is so bright because its thick clouds reflect most of the sunlight that reaches it (about 70%) back into space, and because it is the closest planet to Earth. Venus can often be seen within a few hours after sunset or before sunrise as the brightest object in the sky (other than the moon)

    27) The stars in space are ___.

    (a) Uniformly spread out.
    (b) Distributed completely at random
    (c) Chiefly in the Milky Way
    (d) Mostly contained within widely separated galaxies
    Answer: (d)

    28) “Black holes” refer to: (CSS 2009)

    (a) Hole occurring in heavenly bodies
    (b) Bright spots on the sun
    (c) Collapsing objects of high density
    (d) Collapsing of low density
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    29) The Milky Way is _____.

    ( a) a gas cloud in the solar system
    (b) a gas cloud in the galaxy of which the sun is a member
    (c) the galaxy of which the sun is a member
    (d) a nearby galaxy
    Answer: (c)

    30) Relative to the center of our galaxy, ____.

    ( a) its starts are stationary
    (b) its stars move entirely at random
    (c) its stars revolve
    (d) Population I starts are stationary and Population II star revolve
    Answer: (c)

    31) Evidence of various kinds suggests that at the center of our galaxy is a ___.

    ( a) Quasar
    (b) Pulsar
    (c) Neutron star
    (d) Black hole
    Answer: (d)
    A supermassive black hole (SMBH) is the largest type of black hole, in the order of hundreds of thousands to billions of solar masses (M☉), and is found in the centre of almost all currently known massive galaxies. In the case of the Milky Way, the SMBH corresponds with the location of Sagittarius A*

    32) A radio telescope is basically a (an) __.

    (a) device for magnifying radio waves
    (b) Telescope remotely controlled by radio
    (c) Directional antenna connected to a sensitive radio receiver
    (d) Optical telescope that uses electronic techniques to produce an image
    Answer: (c)
    Radio telescope is an astronomical instrument consisting of a radio receiver and an antenna system that is used to detect radio-frequency radiation emitted by extraterrestrial sources. Because radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, radio telescopes must be very large in order to attain the resolution of optical telescopes.
    The first radio telescope, built in 1937 by Grote Reber of Wheaton

    33) Sun is a: (CSS 2011)

    (a) Planet
    (b) Comet
    (c) Satellite
    (d) Aurora
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (e)
    The Sun (or Sol), is the star at the centre of our solar system
    The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System (Jupiter contains most of the rest).

    34) The age of the solar system is (CSS 2011)

    (a) 4.5 billion years
    (b) 5.5 billion years
    (c) 6.5 billion years
    (d) 7.5 billion years
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (e)
    By studying several things, mostly meteorites, and using radioactive dating techniques, specifically looking at daughter isotopes, scientists have determined that the Solar System is 4.6 billion years old. Well, give or take a few million years. That age can be extended to most of the objects and material in the Solar System.

    35) An eclipse of the sun occurs when (CSS 2011)

    (a) The moon is between the sun and the earth
    (b) The sun is between the earth and the moon
    (c) The earth is between the sun and the moon
    (d) The earth casts its shadow on the moon
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall upon Earth’s surface.

    36) Founder of modern astronomy was: (CSS 2009)

    (a) Archimedes
    (b) William Gilbert
    (c) Nicolaus Copernicus
    (d) Michael Faraday
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    Considered today to be the father of modern astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland.

    37) Orbital period of the planet Mercury around the sun is: (CSS 2009)

    (a) 88 days
    (b) 365 days
    (c) 2 years
    (d) 98 days
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Mercury has an orbital period of 88 days (87.969 to be exact), which means a single year is 88 Earth days – or the equivalent of about 0.241 Earth years. But here’s the thing. Because of Mercury’s slow rotation (once every 58.646 days) and its rapid orbital speed (47.362 km/s), one day on Mercury actually works out to 175.96 Earth days.

    38) Primary cosmic rays are composed largely of very fast ___.

    ( a) Protons
    (b) Neutrons
    (c) Electrons
    (d) Gamma rays
    Answer: (a)
    Of primary cosmic rays, which originate outside of Earth’s atmosphere, about 99% are the nuclei (stripped of their electron shells) of well-known atoms, and about 1% are solitary electrons (similar to beta particles). Of the nuclei, about 90% are simple protons, i. e. hydrogen nuclei; 9% are alpha particles, identical to helium nuclei, and 1% are the nuclei of heavier elements, called HZE ions

    39) Cosmic rays ____.

    (a) Circulate freely through space
    (b) are trapped in our galaxy by electric fields
    (c) are trapped in our galaxy by magnetic fields
    (d) are trapped in our galaxy by gravitational fields
    Answer: (c)

    40) The red shift in the spectral lines of light reaching us from other galaxies implies that these galaxies ______.

    ( a) are moving closer to one another
    (b) are moving farther apart from one another
    (c) are in rapid rotation
    (d) Consist predominantly of red giant stars
    Answer: (b)

    41) According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the universe _____.

    ( a) Must be expanding
    (b) Must be contracting
    (c) Must be either expanding or contracting
    (d) May be neither expanding nor contracting
    Answer: (c)

    42) Supernova explosions have no connection with _______.

    ( a) The formation of heavy elements
    (b) Cosmic rays
    (c) Pulsars
    (d) Quasars
    Answer: (d)

    43) Current ideas suggest that what is responsible for the observed properties of a quasar is a massive ____.

    (a) Neutron star
    (b) Black hole
    (c) Spiral galaxy
    (d) Star cluster
    Answer: (b)

    44) The age of the universe is probably in the neighborhood of ______.

    ( a) 15 million years
    (b) 4 ½ billion years
    (c) 15 billion years
    (d) 30 billion years
    Answer: (c)

    45) The term big bang refers to ___.

    ( a) the origin of the universe
    (b) the ultimate fate of the universe
    (c) a supernova explosion
    (d) the formation of a quasar
    Answer: (a)

    46) The elements heavier than hydrogen and helium of which the planets are composed probably came from the __.
    ( a) Sun
    (b) Debris of supernova explosions that occurred before the solar system came into being
    (c) Big bang
    (d) Big crunch
    Answer: (b)

    47) Today the universe apparently contains ____.

    ( a) Only matter
    (b) Only antimatter
    (c) Equal amounts of matter and antimatter
    (d) Slightly more matter than antimatter
    Answer: (a)

    48) Radiation from the early history of the universe was Doppler-shifted by the expansion of the universe until today it is in the form of _______.

    ( a) X-rays
    (b) Ultraviolet waves
    (c) Infrared waves
    (d) Radio waves
    Answer: (d)

    49) Present evidence suggests that most of the mass of the universe is in the form of ______.

    ( a) Dark matter
    (b) Luminous matter
    (c) Cosmic rays
    (d) Black holes
    Answer: (a)

    50) It is likely that the planets, satellites, and other members of the solar system were formed ________.

    (a) Together with the sun
    (b) Later than the sun from material it ejected
    (c) Later than the sun from material it captured from space
    (d) Elsewhere and were captured by the sun
    Answer: (a)