Today's Bing Quiz

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Questions updated: November 3, 2026

1. Type Ia supernovae occur when which kind of star in a binary system gains too much mass and explodes?Clue: This dense stellar leftover is about the size of Earth, and our Sun will become one in billions of years.
2. A white dwarf can no longer support itself against gravity once it passes the Chandrasekhar limit. Roughly what is that limit?Clue: It is named for an Indian-American astrophysicist who shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics.
3. The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in which year?Clue: The "guest star" was so bright that it could be seen in daylight for about three weeks.
4. In November 1572, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe spotted a brilliant "new star" in which constellation?Clue: This constellation's five brightest stars form a distinctive W shape.
5. Supernova 1987A, the closest supernova observed since 1604, exploded in which galaxy?Clue: This satellite galaxy of the Milky Way is named after the Portuguese explorer whose expedition first sailed around the world.
6. Which astronomer gave his name to the 1604 supernova, the last one seen with the naked eye in our Milky Way galaxy?Clue: NASA named a planet-hunting space telescope, launched in 2009, in his honor.
7. When a massive star's core collapses in a supernova, which super-dense object can be left behind besides a black hole?Clue: A single teaspoon of its material would weigh billions of tons on Earth.
8. Studies of distant Type Ia supernovae in the late 1990s revealed that the expansion of the universe is doing what?Clue: The discovery earned three astronomers the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.
9. Which red supergiant in the constellation Orion, famous for its "Great Dimming" in 2019–2020, is expected to explode as a supernova someday?Clue: It marks one of the hunter's shoulders and glows a distinct reddish-orange.
10. Which element builds up in a massive star's core just before it collapses, because fusing it releases no energy?Clue: It's the main metal in steel and helps carry oxygen in your blood.