Lammas to the September Equinox – Quiz
Lammas is a Christian harvest festival celebrated on 1 August, but its origins are pagan. In the Gaelic tradition, it was Lughnasa. Lying midway between the June solstice and the September equinox, it was one of the four 'cross quarter' days of the Gaelic year.
Quiz: Lammas to the September equinox
1. This comet discoverer's birthday is on 1 August: (A) Maria Mitchell.
She was the both the first American woman astronomy professor and the first to discover a comet. Herschel discovered 8 comets, the first of them on 1 August 1786. Shoemaker, who died on August 13, 2021, discovered 32 comets and over 500 asteroids.
2. Soviet astronomers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko discovered: (C) the comet that was the target of the Rosetta mission.
The Great Comet of 1969 was Comet Bennett, discovered in 1969 by John Caister Bennett. In 1985 the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) made the first flyby of a comet. It was Comet Giacobini-Zinner. Three days before the 1969 September equinox, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko was discovered. In August 2014 ESA's Rosetta spacecraft rendezvoused with the comet in deep space.
3. The Apollo astronaut born on 5 August 1930 was: (A) Neil Armstrong.
Stuart Roosa, Apollo 14 command module pilot, was born 16 August 1933, and the Lunar Module pilot Ed Mitchell was born 17 September 1930.
4. One of these women with August birthdays didn't play an important role in the Apollo program: (A) Martha Betz Shapley
Among other tasks, Katherine Johnson calculated the trajectory for Apollo 11's flight to the Moon. Margaret Hamilton was the lead developer for Apollo flight software. Martha Shapley was retired before the space age began, but during World War II she used her mathematical skills to compute the trajectories of shells for the US Navy.
5. In August 1877, he discovered the moons of Mars: (B) Asaph Hall.
Hall was at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. when he made his discoveries. Bond was the first director of the Harvard College Observatory. Humason made the observations of the movement of galaxies through space that Edwin Hubble used to measure the expansion of the Universe.
6. These prominent astronomers are linked, though one of them was born in December - she was:(C) Annie Jump Cannon.
Wellesley College physics professor, Sarah Frances Whiting (born 23 August 1847), taught Annie Cannon. At Harvard College Observatory, Annie Cannon (born 11 December 1863) classified nearly a quarter of a million stellar spectra for the Henry Draper catalogue. The Annie Jump Cannon Award of the American Astronomical Society, was endowed by Cannon to support women doing outstanding research in their post-doctoral years. Helen Sawyer Hogg received one of the awards.
7. Helium was first discovered in the Sun. During the solar eclipse of 18 August 1868, this man found the new element in the solar spectrum: (B) Pierre Janssen.
English astronomer Norman Lockyer had independently found the new element in his own observations. Both men sent reports to the French Academy of Sciences. They arrived on the same day and the men were regarded as joint discoverers. In 1882 Italian physicist Luigi Palmieri first detected helium on Earth in volcanic lava.
8. Born on 14 September 1915, he's known for promoting astronomy and inventing a low-cost telescope for amateur astronomers: (B) John Dobson.
Dobson, an American amateur, created the Dobsonian telescope, a portable, low-cost Newtonian reflector. Bernard Lovell, born 31 August 1913, was a pioneering British radio astronomer. Born on 7 September 1878, American astronomer Joseph Haines Moore joined the Lick Observatory as an assistant. Eventually he became its director.
9. NASA's Viking missions were launched in 1975 – Viking 1 in August and Viking 2 in September. Where did they go? (C) Both went to Mars
Each comprised an orbiter and a lander. The mission was noted for what was an unusual feature then: looking for evidence of life.
10. On the September equinox the Sun sets: (A) due west
On the equinoxes, the Sun rises due east and sets due west.
Quiz: Lammas to the September equinox
- This comet discoverer's birthday is on 1 August: (A) Maria Mitchell; (B) Caroline Herschel; (C) Carolyn Shoemaker.
- Soviet astronomers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko discovered: (A) the Great Comet of 1969; (B) the first comet imaged by a space probe; (C) the comet that was the target of the Rosetta mission.
- The Apollo astronaut born on 5 August 1930 was: (A) Neil Armstrong; (B) Stuart Roosa; (C) Ed Mitchell.
- One of these women with August birthdays didn't play an important role in the Apollo program: (A) Martha Betz Shapley; (B) Katherine Johnson; (C) Margaret Hamilton.
- In August 1877, he discovered the moons of Mars: (A) William Cranch Bond; (B) Asaph Hall; (C) Milton Humason.
- These prominent astronomers are linked, though one of them was born in December – she was: (A) Sarah Frances Whiting; (B) Helen Sawyer Hogg; (C) Annie Jump Cannon.
- Helium was first discovered in the Sun. During the solar eclipse of 18 August 1868, this man found the new element in the solar spectrum: (A) Norman Lockyer; (B) Pierre Janssen; (C) Luigi Palmieri.
- Born on 14 September 1915, he's known for promoting astronomy and inventing a low-cost telescope for amateur astronomers: (A) Bernard Lovell; (B) John Dobson; (C) Joseph Haines Moore.
- NASA's Viking missions were launched in 1975 – Viking 1 in August and Viking 2 in September. Where did they go? (A) Both orbited asteroids; (B) Viking 1 mapped Venus, Viking 2 went to Mars; (C) Both went to Mars.
- On the September equinox the Sun sets: (A) due west; (B) due east; (A) northwest.
1. This comet discoverer's birthday is on 1 August: (A) Maria Mitchell.
She was the both the first American woman astronomy professor and the first to discover a comet. Herschel discovered 8 comets, the first of them on 1 August 1786. Shoemaker, who died on August 13, 2021, discovered 32 comets and over 500 asteroids.
2. Soviet astronomers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko discovered: (C) the comet that was the target of the Rosetta mission.
The Great Comet of 1969 was Comet Bennett, discovered in 1969 by John Caister Bennett. In 1985 the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) made the first flyby of a comet. It was Comet Giacobini-Zinner. Three days before the 1969 September equinox, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko was discovered. In August 2014 ESA's Rosetta spacecraft rendezvoused with the comet in deep space.
3. The Apollo astronaut born on 5 August 1930 was: (A) Neil Armstrong.
Stuart Roosa, Apollo 14 command module pilot, was born 16 August 1933, and the Lunar Module pilot Ed Mitchell was born 17 September 1930.
4. One of these women with August birthdays didn't play an important role in the Apollo program: (A) Martha Betz Shapley
Among other tasks, Katherine Johnson calculated the trajectory for Apollo 11's flight to the Moon. Margaret Hamilton was the lead developer for Apollo flight software. Martha Shapley was retired before the space age began, but during World War II she used her mathematical skills to compute the trajectories of shells for the US Navy.
5. In August 1877, he discovered the moons of Mars: (B) Asaph Hall.
Hall was at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. when he made his discoveries. Bond was the first director of the Harvard College Observatory. Humason made the observations of the movement of galaxies through space that Edwin Hubble used to measure the expansion of the Universe.
6. These prominent astronomers are linked, though one of them was born in December - she was:(C) Annie Jump Cannon.
Wellesley College physics professor, Sarah Frances Whiting (born 23 August 1847), taught Annie Cannon. At Harvard College Observatory, Annie Cannon (born 11 December 1863) classified nearly a quarter of a million stellar spectra for the Henry Draper catalogue. The Annie Jump Cannon Award of the American Astronomical Society, was endowed by Cannon to support women doing outstanding research in their post-doctoral years. Helen Sawyer Hogg received one of the awards.
7. Helium was first discovered in the Sun. During the solar eclipse of 18 August 1868, this man found the new element in the solar spectrum: (B) Pierre Janssen.
English astronomer Norman Lockyer had independently found the new element in his own observations. Both men sent reports to the French Academy of Sciences. They arrived on the same day and the men were regarded as joint discoverers. In 1882 Italian physicist Luigi Palmieri first detected helium on Earth in volcanic lava.
8. Born on 14 September 1915, he's known for promoting astronomy and inventing a low-cost telescope for amateur astronomers: (B) John Dobson.
Dobson, an American amateur, created the Dobsonian telescope, a portable, low-cost Newtonian reflector. Bernard Lovell, born 31 August 1913, was a pioneering British radio astronomer. Born on 7 September 1878, American astronomer Joseph Haines Moore joined the Lick Observatory as an assistant. Eventually he became its director.
9. NASA's Viking missions were launched in 1975 – Viking 1 in August and Viking 2 in September. Where did they go? (C) Both went to Mars
Each comprised an orbiter and a lander. The mission was noted for what was an unusual feature then: looking for evidence of life.
10. On the September equinox the Sun sets: (A) due west
On the equinoxes, the Sun rises due east and sets due west.
You Should Also Read:
Annie Jump Cannon
Moons of Mars – Phobos
Rosetta the Comet Chaser
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