WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel take a trip to space.
Last week's challenge
Start with the zodiac signs TAURUS and LEO. Drop one letter and you can rearrange the rest to spell a two-word phrase (five letters, letters) that means "eliminates." What is it?
Answer: If you drop the A, you can spell RULES OUT.
THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: THE PLANETS
On-air questions: On June 6, 2012, the phenomenon known as a Transit of Venus occurred. This happens when the planet Venus is visible as a small black dot moving across the face of the sun as it passes between the sun and Earth. The next Transit of Venus will occur in December of 2117 (so set your clocks). In honor of something none of us will ever see again, let's have a quiz about the planets.
1. While most commonly associated with Saturn, the other three outer planets (Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune) also have what?
2. Written between 1914 and 1916, The Planets is a seven-movement orchestral suite written by Gustav Holst, with each movement named after a planet. It begins with "Mars: The Bringer of War," which is followed by "Venus: The Bringer of Peace." Which planet is the third movement – subtitled "The Winged Messenger" – about?
3. In the early 19th century, four objects known as Vesta, Juno, Ceres, and Pallas were classified as planets. They were reclassified some 50 years later as asteroids, since they were of much smaller mass and they occupied space in the asteroid belt between what two planets?
4. Situated along Jefferson Drive in Washington, D.C., Voyage is a 1-to-10-billion scale model of the solar system. At one end, Pluto is located just east of the Smithsonian Castle. At the other end, Mercury is appropriately stationed outside the northeast corner of what museum?
5. Each planet has an associated astronomical symbol. Which planet's symbol is a three-pronged spear known as a trident?
Extra credit
1. The word "planet" is derived from the Greek phrase aster planetes, which translates into English as "wandering" what?
2. The four largest moons of Jupiter – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – are known as the Galilean Moons, after their discoverer, Galileo Galilei. Galileo, however, referred to them by another name, which references what Italian dynastic family that provided patronage to Galileo in the 17th century?
This week's challenge
Start with the names of the planets JUPITER and MARS. Change one letter to a D and you can rearrange the result to spell a two-word phrase (four letters, seven letters) that you might see written on a sign attached to a limousine. What is the phrase?
ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. Rings
2. Mercury
3. Mars and Jupiter
4. National Air and Space Museum
5. Neptune
Extra credit
1. Star
2. Medici family
