65 The Hubble Space Telescope Trivia Questions with Answers
65 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
This Hubble Space Telescope trivia hub examines the observatory’s missions, instruments, images, archives, and place in modern astronomy. Questions cover servicing astronauts, famous nebulae and galaxies, Hubble’s data collections, catalog identifiers, and the institutions that operate the telescope.
The set may ask which astronaut completed eight spacewalks and flew on three Hubble servicing missions, which nebula contains the anniversary image called Mystic Mountain, or how many exposures created the Hubble Legacy Field. Other questions identify the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, the Hubble archive, and its satellite and COSPAR numbers. It suits astronomy classes, science museums, pub quizzes, and space-themed game nights.
Which nebula contains Hubble's 20th-anniversary image known as Mystic Mountain?
Answer
Carina Nebula
Which galaxy is the subject of Hubble's 2015 image 'Zooming In on the Andromeda Galaxy'?
Answer
Andromeda Galaxy
What STScI archive contains data from the Hubble Space Telescope?
Answer
Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes
What is Hubble's satellite catalog number?
Answer
20580
What is Hubble's COSPAR ID?
Answer
1990-037B
Which Hubble camera was installed during Servicing Mission 3B in 2002?
Answer
Advanced Camera for Surveys
Which company built Hubble's optical telescope assembly?
Answer
Perkin-Elmer
Which star catalog was compiled to support Hubble's guide-star targeting?
Answer
Guide Star Catalog
Which NASA center controls the Hubble spacecraft?
Answer
Goddard Space Flight Center
Which European space agency is NASA's partner on Hubble?
Answer
European Space Agency
Which NASA observatory program includes Hubble, Compton, Chandra, and Spitzer?
Answer
Great Observatories
What optical design is used by the Hubble Space Telescope?
Answer
Ritchey-Chretien reflector
What type of star did Hubble use to measure the expansion rate of the universe?
Answer
Cepheid variables
Which instrument was primarily used for the Hubble Deep Field observations?
Answer
Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2
Which institute conducts Hubble's science operations?
Answer
Space Telescope Science Institute
Which Hubble instrument replaced the COSTAR system in 2009?
Answer
Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
How long did the Hubble Ultra Deep Field exposure take?
Answer
1 million seconds
What type of celestial object did Hubble observe to discover cosmic acceleration?
Answer
Type Ia supernovae
What type of orbit does the Hubble Space Telescope use?
Answer
Low Earth orbit
What is the name of the Hubble image that celebrates its 25th anniversary?
Answer
Westerlund 2
What was the original name of the Hubble Space Telescope before it was renamed?
Answer
Large Space Telescope
Which Hubble instrument made the first exoplanet atmosphere detection in 2001?
Answer
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
What is the name of the Hubble spectrograph installed in 2009?
Answer
Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
Which astronomer first proposed a large space telescope in 1946?
Answer
Lyman Spitzer
Which instrument replaced the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on Hubble?
Answer
Wide Field Camera 3
What was the launch date of the first Hubble servicing mission (STS-61)?
Answer
December 2, 1993
Which instrument replaced the Faint Object Camera on Hubble?
Answer
Advanced Camera for Surveys
What is the pointing accuracy of Hubble in arcseconds?
Answer
0.007 arcseconds
What is the power consumption of Hubble in watts?
Answer
2,800 watts
What was Hubble's major optical flaw discovered after launch?
Answer
Spherical aberration
What is the approximate orbital period of Hubble in minutes?
Answer
95 minutes
What is the name of Hubble's 1995 image of distant galaxies?
Answer
Hubble Deep Field
The Hubble Space Telescope trivia — quick answers
What are good Hubble Space Telescope trivia questions?
Useful Hubble questions can cover its launch, servicing missions, instruments, famous images, discoveries, archives, and science operations. Quizzes may ask about the Mystic Mountain image, the Hubble Legacy Field, galaxies and nebulae photographed by Hubble, the Space Telescope Science Institute, or Hubble’s official catalog identifiers.
How difficult is Hubble Space Telescope trivia?
Hubble trivia ranges from accessible questions about famous space images and NASA missions to specialist questions about instruments, archives, and identifiers. Casual players may recognize the telescope’s deep-field images, while astronomy enthusiasts may know the servicing astronauts, STScI, the Mikulski Archive, and technical catalog or COSPAR designations.
Where is Hubble’s science operations center?
Hubble’s science operations center is the Space Telescope Science Institute, located in Baltimore, Maryland. STScI supports scientific planning, helps schedule observations, processes and distributes data, and serves as a major hub for the astronomical community using Hubble and other space observatories.
What is the Hubble Legacy Field?
The Hubble Legacy Field is a large composite image assembled from observations of a small region of sky. It combines imagery collected over many observing programs and years, revealing thousands of galaxies across a broad range of cosmic history. The field builds on earlier deep-field projects and demonstrates Hubble’s long-term imaging reach.