Which planet are you? [quiz]

A Dictionary of Space Exploration

Written by a team of experts, this dictionary covers the fascinating world of space exploration and every aspect of the technology involved. The most up-to-date edition is available on Oxford Reference, an online resource that brings together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford’s Dictionaries, Companions, and Encyclopedias, spanning 25 different subject areas. Discover more about Oxford Reference's experts and titles in Science and Technology.

May 4^th 2016

What is a planet? As defined by Oxford Dictionaries it is ‘a celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit round a star’. In our own Solar System, it was traditionally thought that there were nine such planets: Mercury (the closest to the Sun), Venus (the slowest rotating planet in our Solar System), Earth (our home), Mars (which is slightly pear-shaped), Jupiter (which has over 60 moons), Saturn (encircled by bright equatorial rings), Uranus (which has a peculiar magnetic field), Neptune (a gas giant), and Pluto.

(I was taught to remember the order of the planets from the Sun by using the phrase: Many Vile Earthlings Munch Jam Sandwiches Under Newspaper Piles.)

However, in August 2006, Pluto was declassified as a true planet and is now known as a ‘dwarf planet‘ (meaning that my ‘vile earthlings’ sit under just a single newspaper). Then, ten years later in January 2016 a new planet potentially entered the scene: Planet Nine. Currently only hypothetical, some scientists have outlined what they think this planet might be like, and where it came from.

Whilst learning about the planets in our Solar System, and then hearing all that has befallen them in the news over the past decade, have you ever wondered which one you might best get on with? Or which planet you would be?

We certainly have, which is why we’ve created the quiz below, to help you find out. You don’t need to worry, we haven’t left Pluto out of this one.

[qzzr quiz=”207270″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]

Featured image credit: ‘Size planets comparison’, by Lsmpascal. CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Quiz background image credit: ‘Montagem Sistema Solar’, by NASA. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Quiz outcome image credits: ‘Mercury as Never Seen Before’ by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Venus (Computer Simulated Global View of the Northern Hemisphere)’ by NASA/JPL. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Image credit: ‘The Earth seen from Apollo 17’ by NASA/Apollo 17 crew. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Image credit: ‘Mars Valles Marineris’ by NASA / USGS. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; ‘Jupiter family’ by NASA/JPL. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; ‘Color Enhanced Image of Saturn’ by NASA/JPL. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; ‘Uranus vg2’ by NASA/JPL. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Neptune storms’ by NASA/Voyager 2 Team. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; ‘PIA19857: Pluto in True Color’ by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Globular cluster’ by skeeze. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

This quiz has been created by the Oxford Reference marketing team.

Looking for more information about each of the planets in our Solar System? Read these articles from A Dictionary of Space Exploration: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (plus Pluto too).

A Dictionary of Space Exploration

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