Ast111 Test 2

Front 1

The following statements are all true. Which one counts as an "exception to the rule" in being unusual for our solar system?

Back 1

The diameter of Earth's Moon is about 1/4 that of Earth.

Front 2

Which planet listed below has the most extreme seasons?

Back 2

Uranus

Front 3

Which jovian planet does not have rings?

Back 3

All the jovian planets have rings.

Front 4

What is the primary basis upon which we divide the ingredients of the solar nebula into four categories (hydrogen/helium; hydrogen compound; rock; metal)?

Back 4

the temperatures at which various materials will condense from gaseous form to solid form

Front 5

No spacecraft has landed on a Jovian planet moon.

Back 5

False

Front 6

The terrestrial planets in our solar system are ________.

Back 6

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Front 7

Why is Venus so much hotter than the Earth?

Back 7

because it has much more carbon dioxide in its atmosphere

Front 8

A planet is most likely to have tectonic activity if it has

Back 8

high internal temperature.

Front 9

Titan's surface may contain lakes of liquid methane.

Back 9

True

Front 10

In essence, the nebular theory holds that ________.

Back 10

our solar system formed from the collapse of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust

Front 11

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a low-pressure storm, like a hurricane on Earth.

Back 11

False

Front 12

Which of the following statements about Titan is not true?

Back 12

It is the coldest moon in the solar system.

Front 13

Which of the following statements best explains why the planets orbit in nearly a single plane and in the same direction around the Sun?

Back 13

the planets formed from a disk of rotating gas.

Front 14

Which of the following is not a piece of evidence supporting the idea that Europa may have a subsurface ocean?

Back 14

Astronomers have detected small lakes of liquid water on Europa's surface.

Front 15

Most of the Moon's surface is densely covered with craters, but we find relatively few craters within the lunar maria. What can we conclude?

Back 15

The maria formed after the heavy bombardment ended.

Front 16

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

Back 16

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

Front 17

Which of the following statements about asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, and Oort cloud objects is true?

Back 17

Objects in the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane as the planets, but objects in the Oort cloud do not

Front 18

Jupiter and the other jovian planets are sometimes called "gas giants." In what sense is this term misleading?

Back 18

They actually contain relatively little material in a gaseous state.

Front 19

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the outer planets?

Back 19

They have very few, if any, satellites.

Front 20

What is the most abundant gas in Titan's atmosphere?

Back 20

Nitrogen

Front 21

Ganymede is larger than Mercury, but it is not classified as a planet because it orbits Jupiter as opposed to the sun.

Back 21

True

Front 22

Which internal energy source produces heat by converting gravitational potential energy into thermal energy?

Back 22

accretion

differentiation

Front 23

Where did comets that are now in the Kuiper belt originally form?

Back 23

near the radius at which they orbit today

Front 24

Meteorites can come from

Back 24

the Moon.

the crusts and mantles of asteroids.

Mars.

the cores of asteroids.

Front 25

Which two factors are most important to the existence of plate tectonics on Earth?

Back 25

mantle convection and a thin lithosphere

Front 26

Observations of young stars (as well as theory) tell us that when the Sun was young, the solar wind

Back 26

was stronger than it is today.

Front 27

A rock found on Earth that crashed down from space is called ________.

Back 27

a meteorite

Front 28

What type of stresses broke Earth's lithosphere into plates?

Back 28

the circulation of convection cells in the mantle, which dragged against the lithosphere

Front 29

Which of the following gases is not a significant ingredient of the jovian planet atmospheres?

Back 29

carbon dioxide

Front 30

Why would the weather become more severe as the greenhouse effect increased?

Back 30

Warming would increase the evaporation of the oceans, leading to more water in the atmosphere and more frequent and severe storms.

Front 31

The asteroid belt is located ________.

Back 31

between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

Front 32

Which of the following statements about the moons of the jovian planets is not true?

Back 32

Most of the moons are large enough to be spherical in shape, but a few have the more potato-like shapes of asteroids.

Front 33

Which of the following best explain what we think happened to outgassed water vapor on Venus?

Back 33

Ultraviolet light split the water molecules, and the hydrogen then escaped to space.

Front 34

Why do the jovian planet interiors differ?

Back 34

Accretion took longer further from the Sun, so the more distant planets formed their cores later and captured less gas from the solar nebula than the closer jovian planets.

Front 35

Suppose you view the solar system from high above Earth's North Pole. Which of the following statements about planetary orbits will be true?

Back 35

All the planets orbit counterclockwise around the Sun.

Front 36

In what way(s) has Pluto long been known to be different from the planets?

Back 36

It is far smaller than the terrestrial planets.

It has a highly eccentric orbit.

Its orbit is more inclined to the ecliptic plane.

It is composed primarily of ices.

Front 37

Which of the following does not have a major effect in shaping planetary surfaces?

Back 37

magnetism

Front 38

Which of the following is the most basic definition of a greenhouse gas?

Back 38

a gas that absorbs infrared light

Front 39

Which of the following statements about comets and asteroids is true?

Back 39

Comets are balls of ice and dust

Front 40

Which of the following most likely explains why Venus does not have a strong magnetic field?

Back 40

Its rotation is too slow.

Front 41

Which of the following gases absorbs ultraviolet light best?

Back 41

ozone

Front 42

Where is Jupiter's strong magnetic field generated?

Back 42

metallic hydrogen layer

Front 43

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the inner planets?

Back 43

They all have substantial atmospheres.

Front 44

Which of these is the dominant mechanism for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

Back 44

dissolving carbon dioxide in seawater

Front 45

A typical shooting star in a meteor shower is caused by a ________ entering Earth's atmosphere.

Back 45

pea-size particle from a comet

Front 46

What do we mean by the frost line when we discuss the formation of planets in the solar nebula?

Back 46

It is a circle at a particular distance from the Sun, beyond which the temperature was low enough for ices to condense.

Front 47

How do asteroids appear in long exposure images?

Back 47

as straight lines across a background of stars

Front 48

What is Pluto's moon Charon thought to have in common with our own Moon?

Back 48

It probably formed as a result of a giant impact

Front 49

According to the nebular theory, how did the Oort cloud form?

Back 49

It is made of planetesimals formed in the outer solar system that were flung into distant orbits by encounters with the jovian planets

Front 50

Where did the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium come from?

Back 50

They were produced inside stars.