Space test
We look at the sky every day, and most of us picture it a little wrong: the Moon’s phases as Earth’s shadow, a permanently dark side, stars that flicker on their own.
What causes the Moon’s phases?
About this test
Every wrong answer here is a named misconception, explained after each question. At the end you get a course that starts from the ones you held.
Questions people ask
What causes the phases of the Moon?
How much of the Moon’s sunlit half faces us as it orbits the Earth. Earth’s shadow only reaches the Moon during a lunar eclipse.
Is there a dark side of the Moon?
There’s a far side, which never faces Earth, but it gets just as much sunlight as the near side.
Can you see the Great Wall of China from space?
Not from the Moon, and usually not with the naked eye from orbit either. It’s long but very narrow.
What is the most common astronomy myth?
Probably that the Moon’s phases are caused by Earth’s shadow. They aren’t: half the Moon is always lit by the Sun, and the phases are just how much of that lit half we can see from Earth. Earth’s shadow only matters during a lunar eclipse.
Do you need to know any astronomy to take this quiz?
No. The questions are about things most of us picture one way and astronomers picture another, so there’s nothing to revise. After each answer you get a short explanation, and many of them come with something surprising to remember.
