Solar System Chapter 8

Front 1

Which of the following is not a general characteristic of the four Jovian planets in our solar system?

Back 1

They are higher in average density than are the terrestrial planets

Front 2

Which of the following best describes the internal layering of Jupiter, from center outward?

Back 2

Core of rock, metal, and hydrogen compounds; thick layer of metallic hydrogen; layer of liquid hydrogen; layer of gaseous hydrogen; cloud laye

Front 3

What three things are true of the comparison of the interiors of the Jovian planets?

Back 3

They all have cores of roughly the same mass

Deep inside them, they all have pressures far higher than that found on the bottom of the ocean on Earth

They all have cores that contain at least some rock and metal

Front 4

Overall, Jupiter’s composition is most like that of...

Back 4

The sun

Front 5

Jupiter’s colors come in part from its three layers of clouds. Which of the following is not the primary constituent of one of Jupiter’s cloud layers?

Back 5

Clouds of sulfuric acid

Front 6

How do typical wind speeds in Jupiter’s atmosphere compare to typical wind speeds on Earth?

Back 6

They are much faster than hurricane winds on Earth

Front 7

What is the Great Red Spot?

Back 7

A long-lived, high-pressure storm on Jupiter

Front 8

What atmospheric constituent is responsible for the blue color of Uranus and Neptune?

Back 8

Methane

Front 9

How does the strength of Jupiter’s magnetic field compare to that of Earth’s magnetic field?

Back 9

Jupiter’s magnetic field is about 20,000 times as strong as Earth’s

Front 10

What three statements about the moons of Jovian planets are true?

Back 10

One of the moons has a thick atmosphere

Some of the moons are big enough that we’d call them planets or dwarf planets if they orbited the Sun.

Many of the moons are made largely of ices

Front 11

What is the most volcanically active body in our solar system?

Back 11

Io

Front 12

Which moon has a thick atmosphere made mostly of nitrogen?

Back 12

Titan

Front 13

The Huygens probe took numerous pictures as it descended to Titan’s surface in 2005. What did the pictures show?

Back 13

Features of Erosion, including what appeared to be dry river valleys and lakebeds

Front 14

Which of the following moons is considered likely to have a deep, subsurface of ocean liquid water?

Back 14

Europa

Front 15

Which large Jovian moon is thought to have been captured into its present orbit?

Back 15

Triton

Front 16

Suppose you could float in space just a few meters above Saturn’s rings. What would you see as you looked down on the rings?

Back 16

Countless icy particles, ranging in size from dust grains to large boulders

Front 17

What are three true statements about planetary rings?

Back 17

Rings are always located closer to a planet’s surface than any large moons

All four Jovian planets have rings

Individual ring particles orbit their planet in accord with Kepler’s laws, so that particles closer orbit faster than particles farther out

Front 18

What three gases are significant to the Jovian planet atmosphere?

Back 18

Helium

Water

Hydrogen

Front 19

What feature of Io is most important in explaining the tremendous tidal heating that occurs on Io?

Back 19

Io orbits Jupiter on an elliptical orbit, due to orbital resonances with other satellites

Front 20

What three things support the idea that Europa may have a subsurface ocean?

Back 20

Europa has a magnetic field that appears to respond to Jupiter’s magnetic field.

Europa’s surface shows very few impact craters

Photos of Europa’s surface show regions that appear to consist of jumbled icebergs frozen in place

Front 21

What three things can be found on Titan?

Back 21

Rain or snow consisting of methane or ethane droplets or ice crystals.

Volcanic outgassing of methane and other gases

Lakes of liquid methane ethane

Front 22

Why do astronomers believe that Triton is a captured moon?

Back 22

Triton orbits Neptune in a direction opposite that of Neptune’s rotation

Front 23

Jupiter and the other Jovian planets are sometimes called “gas giants.” In what sense is this term misleading?

Back 23

They actually contain relatively little material in a gaseous state

Front 24

What would happen to Jupiter if we could somehow double its mass?

Back 24

Its density would increase but its diameter would barely change

Front 25

According to our theory of solar system formation, why did Uranus and Neptune end up to be much less massive than Jupiter and Saturn?

Back 25

Particles in the solar nebula were more spread out at greater distances, so that accretion took longer and there was less time to pull in gas before the solar wind cleared the nebula.

Front 26

Why does Jupiter have three distinct layers of clouds?

Back 26

The three layers represent clouds made of gases that condense at different temperatures

Front 27

Which of the following best describes why we see horizontal “stripes” in photographs of Jupiter and Saturn?

Back 27

The light stripes are regions of high clouds, and the dark stripes are regions where we can see down to deeper, darker clouds.

Front 28

Uranus and Neptune have methane clouds but Jupiter and Saturn do not. Which factor explains why?

Back 28

Temperatures on Jupiter and Saturn are too high for methane to condense

Front 29

Which Jovian planet should have the most extreme season changes?

Back 29

Uranus

Front 30

Why is the radiation so intense in the region that traces Io’s orbit around Jupiter (the Io torus)?

Back 30

The region is full of gases that become ionized after they are released from volcanoes on Io

Front 31

Which of the following best explains why many Jovian moons have been more geologically active than the moon or mercury?

Back 31

Jovian moons are made mostly of ice that can melt or deform at lower temperatures than can the rock and metal that make up the Moon and Mercury

Front 32

What three statements are true of Saturn’s rings?

Back 32

The rings are so thin that they essentially disappear from view when seen from the side

Some features of the rings are shaped by small moons that actually orbit within the ring system

The large gap known as the Cassini division is shaped by an orbital resonance with the moon Mimas, which orbits well outside the rings

Front 33

According to current understanding, what is required for a planet to have rings?

Back 33

The planet must have many small moons that orbit relatively close to the planet in its equatorial plane

Front 34

What is the most likely method in which Jupiter generates its internal heat?

Back 34

by contracting, changing gravitational potential energy into thermal energy

Front 35

How do the size and mass of Jupiter's core compare to the size and mass of Earth?

Back 35

Jupiter's core is about the same size but is 10 times more massive

Front 36

Why is Saturn almost as big as Jupiter, despite its smaller mass?

Back 36

Jupiter's greater mass compresses it more and increases its density

Front 37

How do the Jovian planet interiors differ from one another?

Back 37

All have cores of about the same mass, but differ in the amount of surrounding hydrogen and helium.

Front 38

Where is Jupiter's strong magnetic field generated?

Back 38

metallic hydrogen layer

Front 39

Which of the following best describes the composition of the particles forming Saturn's rings?

Back 39

Water ice

Front 40

Which of the Jovian planets have rings?

Back 40

All of them

Front 41

What is the Cassini division in Saturn's rings?

Back 41

a large gap, visible from Earth, produced by an orbital resonance with the moon Mimas

Front 42

Why are there no visible impact craters on the surface of Io?

Back 42

They have been covered up by Io's active surface geology.

Front 43

What is the primary reason an icy moon is likely to be more geologically active than a rocky moon of the same size?

Back 43

Ice has a lower melting point than rock.

Front 44

Which moon is considered likely to have a deep, subsurface ocean of liquid water?

Back 44

Europa