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Comet A3 visible over the Netherlands earlier this week. Alamy Stock Photo
Quiz

Quiz: How much do you know about comets?

Comet A3 has been billed by some as “comet of the century”.
10.01pm, 19 Oct 2024
4.1k
8

A COMET THAT was last visible when Neanderthals were walking the planet 80,000 years ago has shot over Ireland.

The comet, named Comet A3, will be visible until 30 October, although it’s decreasing in brightness as it moves away from Earth.

Formally known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, Comet A3 has been billed by some as “comet of the century”.

So today we’re here to quiz you: How much do you know about comets?

What is a comet?
Alamy
A type of star
A celestial body made of ice, dust, and gas

A meteor that burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere
A planet’s moon
The largest comet ever disproved, Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, was how many kilometres wide?
Alamy
8 kilometres
35 kilometres

88 kilometres
119 kilometres
In which year did the famous Halley's Comet last appear in the sky over Ireland?
Alamy
1960
1978

1986
2000
The Great Telescope at Birr Castle, once the largest telescope in the world, is also known as which?
Alamy
The Demense Telescope
Leviathan of Parsonstown

Offaly's Eye
Oculus of Oxamtown
French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons claimed to have discovered the most visual comets. How many did he claim to have discovered?
Alamy
37
31

22
16
What was the name of the 2021 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers warning the planet of an approaching comet?
Alamy
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day After Tomorrow

The End of the F***ing World
Don't Look Up
True of false: a comet and an asteroid are the same thing.
Alamy
True
False
Bruce Willis leads an unlikely mission to stop a gigantic asteroid colliding with Earth in the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. Another movie with a similar plot was also released in the same year - what was it called?
Alamy
Night of the Comet
Deep Impact

Greenland
Goodbye Earth
What bright comet, visible in 2020, could be seen from many parts of Ireland?
Alamy
Comet McNaught
Comet Halley

Comet Donati
Comet NEOWISE
What are comets traditionally named for?
Alamy
The stars by which they are first spotted
Constellations they originate from

Those who discover them
Astronomers of the past
Answer all the questions to see your result!
Alamy
You scored out of !
Galileo Galilei
One of the most influential astronomers of modern times.
Share your result:
Alamy
You scored out of !
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
Once the owner of the largest telescope in the world - now, dethroned.
Share your result:
Alamy
You scored out of !
Spaceman
There is infinite space to improve.
Share your result:

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Author
Emma Hickey
emmahickey@thejournal.ie
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