IF YOU WERE paying attention this weekend you may have witnessed the “celestial fireworks display” as the Perseid meteor shower reached its peak. 

We’re not going to ask you to tell the difference between meteors and asteroids (asteroids are much bigger bigger; meteors are when a bit of an asteroid burns up on entering the Earth’s atmosphere) but we do want to see what you know about them. 

Since humans found out about asteroids (in 1801, thanks to an Italian astronomer called Giuseppe Piazzi), we have been fascinated by the possibilities they pose. 

Was human life brought to planet Earth via an asteroid? Will a huge shower take us out one day? Who knows. Either way, these travelling space rocks have been the creative inspiration for disaster movies, novels, and theories about the beginning of human life itself. 

So, in the weekend that saw the cosmic wonders of asteroids entering the earth’s orbit, we want to know, how much do you know about asteroids and meteors? 

What is an asteroid, technically speaking?

A small planet

A rocky leftover remnant left over from the early formation of our solar system, all those years ago

A falling star that hasn't entered a planet's orbit yet

A mysterious object seen in the sky which has bacteria living on it

How did the Italian astronomer who discovered asteroids stumble upon them?

He was creating a new star chart on New Year's Day when he found the asteroid, and thought it was a missing planet

He was trying to figure out the distances of planets from the sun when he found 'Ceres', the first asteroid detected, during a star-gazing session in Sicily

He was trying to prove the existence of asteroids based on a theory that his mentor came up with, but never managed to prove

Between which two planets will you find the 'Asteroid Belt', a vast expanse where millions of asteroids circle the sun?

Venus and Mars

Jupitar and Uranus

Mars and Neptune

Mars and Jupiter

What is the closest an asteroid has come to earth without hitting the planet? This happened in 2020, and NASA only clocked it after it had happened. The asteroid was the size of a car, roughly speaking.

NASA/UPI

10,000 miles

3,245 miles

1,235 miles

1,830 miles

What is a meteoroid?

An asteroid that holds water

A medium sized asteroid

An asteroid that travels faster, hence why they are called "shooting stars"

Another space rock, that ranges in size from a small grain of dust to a small asteroid

The 1998 film Armageddon envisioned an asteroid being due to hit earth in a month, and NASA deploying a team of misfit deep-core drillers to save the planet. How big was the asteroid in the movie supposed to be?

United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

The size of Wales

The size of Coney Island

The size of Texas

The size of New Orleans

How big is the largest asteroid?

Half the size of Jupiter

Twice the size of Pluto

One third of the size of Earth

A quarter of the size of the moon

Planet Earth has been around for more than 4.5 billion years, so it has had its fair share of run ins with asteroids. How many times do we think it has been hit, and for a bonus, how many times has it been hit by an asteroid so big that scientists think it would have ended humanity?

170 hits, with five so big they may have ended humanity

160 hits, with two that left craters so large they could have wiped out humanity

190 hits, with three so big they could have spelled the end for us

215 hits, with one so big it would have sent us packing

What did the ancient Greeks and Romans think the appearance of comets and meteor showers in the sky meant?

That war was coming

That they heralded the birth of a great figure

That something of importance had just happened, or was about to

That the gods were giving them a warning

Answer all the questions to see your result!

You scored out of !

Galileo Galilei

You are an expert at this, go and show them that the world stayed round.

Share your result:

Share Tweet

You scored out of !

Brian Cox

You know a lot about asteroids, congrats.

Share your result:

Share Tweet

You scored out of !

An actual asteroid

You don't know a lot about asteroids, much like an asteroid, which isn't self-aware, as far as we know.

Share your result:

Share Tweet

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More