Geography › Astronomy & Earth–Sun System – UPSC Prelims PYQs

27 questions · 1997–2025 · answers as per the UPSC key

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Consider the following water bodies : I. Lake Tanganyika II. Lake Tonlé Sap III. Patos Lagoon Through how many of them does the equator pass?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All the three
(d) None
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Answer: (d) None

Consider the following statements :

Statement I : Scientific studies suggest that a shift is taking place in the Earth’s rotation and axis.

Statement II : Solar flares and associated coronal mass ejections bombarded the Earth’s outermost atmosphere with tremendous amount of energy.

Statement III : As the Earth’s polar ice melts, the water tends to move towards the equator.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

(a) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement I
(b) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct but only one of them explains Statement I
(c) Only one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement I
(d) Neither Statement II nor Statement III is correct
Show answer
Answer: (b) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct but only one of them explains Statement I

Consider the following statements :

I. Anadyr in Siberia and Nome in Alaska are a few kilometers from each other, but when people are waking up and getting set for breakfast in these cities, it would be different days. II. When it is Monday in Anadyr, it is Tuesday in Nome.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) Both I and II
(d) Neither I nor II
Show answer
Answer: (a) I only

On June 21 every year, which of the following latitude(s) experience(s) a sunlight of more than 12 hours ?

  1. Equator
  2. Tropic of Cancer
  3. Tropic of Capricorn
  4. Arctic Circle

Select the correct answer using the code given below :

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 3 and 4
(d) 2 and 4
Show answer
Answer: (d) 2 and 4

In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year normally occurs in the :

(a) First half of the month of June
(b) Second half of the month of June
(c) First half of the month of July
(d) Second half of the month of July
Show answer
Answer: (b) Second half of the month of June

Consider the following statements :

  1. The Earth’s magnetic field has reversed every few hundred thousand years.
  2. When the Earth was created more than 4000 million years ago, there was 54% oxygen and no carbon dioxide.
  3. When living organisms originated, they modified the early atmosphere of the Earth.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Variations in the length of daytime and night-time from season to season are due to

(a) the earth's rotation on its axis
(b) the earth's revolution round the sun in an elliptical manner
(c) latitudinal position of the place
(d) revolution of the earth on a tilted axis
Show answer
Answer: (d) revolution of the earth on a tilted axis

A person stood alone in a desert on a dark night and wanted to reach his village which was situated 5 km east of the point where he was standing. He had no instruments to find the direction but he located the polestar. The most convenient way now to reach his village is to walk in the

(a) direction facing the polestar
(b) direction opposite to the polestar
(c) direction keeping the polestar to his left
(d) direction keeping the polestar to his right
Show answer
Answer: (c) direction keeping the polestar to his left

Consider the following countries :

  1. Australia
  2. Namibia
  3. Brazil
  4. Chile Through which of the above does the Tropic of Capricorn pass ?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Show answer
Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Which one of the following planets has largest number of natural satellites or moons?

(a) Jupiter
(b) Mars
(c) Saturn
(d) Venus
Show answer
Answer: (a) Jupiter

Consider the following statements:

  1. The albedo of an object determines its visual brightness when viewed with reflected light.
  2. The albedo of Mercury is much greater than the albedo of the Earth.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: (a) 1 only

Which one of the following straits is nearest to the International Date Line?

(a) Malacca Strait
(b) Bering Strait
(c) Strait of Florida
(d) Strait of Gibraltar
Show answer
Answer: (b) Bering Strait

What is the average distance (approximate) between the Sun and the Earth?

(a) 70 × 10^5 km
(b) 70 × 10^6 km
(c) 70 × 10^7 km
(d) 70 × 10^8 km
Show answer
Answer: (d) 70 × 10^8 km

Which one of the following cities does NOT have the same clock time as that of the other cities at any given instant?

(a) London (UK)
(b) Lisbon (Portugal)
(c) Accra (Ghana)
(d) Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
Show answer
Answer: (d) Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

Consider the following statements :

  1. The axis of the earth’s magnetic field is inclined at 23 ½° to the geographic axis of the earth.
  2. The earth’s magnetic pole in the northern hemisphere is located on a peninsula in northern Canada.
  3. Earth’s magnetic equator passes through Thumba in South India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 2 only
(d) 3 only
Show answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3

Assertion (A): The same face of the Moon is always presented to the Earth.

Reason (R): The Moon rotates about its own axis in 23½ days which is about the same time that it takes to orbit the Earth.

(a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Show answer
Answer: (c) A is true but R is false

Among the following cities, which one is nearest to the Tropic of Cancer?

(a) Delhi
(b) Kolkata
(c) Jodhpur
(d) Nagpur
Show answer
Answer: (b) Kolkata

Which one of the following statements is correct with reference to our solar system?

(a) The Earth is the densest of all the planets in our solar system
(b) The predominant element in the composition of Earth is silicon
(c) The Sun contains 75 % of the mass of the solar system
(d) The diameter of the Sun is 190 times that of the Earth
Show answer
Answer: (a) The Earth is the densest of all the planets in our solar system

Who amongst the following was the first to state that the Earth was spherical?

(a) Aristotle
(b) Copernicus
(c) Ptolemy
(d) Strabo
Show answer
Answer: (a) Aristotle

If the stars are seen to rise perpendicular to the horizon by an observer, he is located on the

(a) Equator
(b) Tropic of Cancer
(c) South Pole
(d) North Pole
Show answer
Answer: (a) Equator

Along

which one of the following meridians did India experience the first light of the sunrise of the new millennium?

(a) 2° 30′ W
(b) 82° 30′ E
(c) 92° 30′ W
(d) 92° 30′ E
Show answer
Answer: (d) 92° 30′ E

If it is 10.00 a.m. I.S.T., then what would be the local time at Shillong on 92°E longitude?

(a) 9.38 a.m.
(b) 10.38 a.m.
(c) 10.22 a.m.
(d) 9.22 a.m.
Show answer
Answer: (b) 10.38 a.m.

A ship sailing from the eastern extremity of the Aleutian Islands to Dutch Harbour crosses the 180° meridian at 23.30 hrs on January 1, 1999. What time and date will be recorded by the captain of the ship in his diary after one hour journey from the point of crossing of the meridian?

(a) January 1, 0030 hrs
(b) January 2, 0030 hrs
(c) January 3, 0030 hrs
(d) January 4, 0030 hrs
Show answer
Answer: (a) January 1, 0030 hrs

Which one of the following scholars suggests the earth’s origin from gases and dust particles?

(a) James Jeans
(b) H. Alfven
(c) F. Hoyle
(d) O. Schmidt
Show answer
Answer: (d) O. Schmidt

When there is noon at the G.M.T. meridian, people at another place of the Earth are taking their 6 o’clock morning tea. The longitude of the place is

(a) 17° 30′ E
(b) 7° 30′ W
(c) 172° 30′ E
(d) 90° W
Show answer
Answer: (d) 90° W

The group of small pieces of rock revolving round the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter are called

(a) meteors
(b) comets
(c) meteorites
(d) asteroids
Show answer
Answer: (d) asteroids

If the earth's direction of rotation is reversed, what would be the IST when it is noon at the International Date Line?

(a) 06.30 hrs
(b) 05.30 hrs
(c) 18.30 hrs
(d) 17.30 hrs
Show answer
Answer: (c) 18.30 hrs