Physics Astronomy Exam 2

Radioactive decay

occurs in elements, used to age things

Elements

defined by number of protons

Half life

takes this amount of time to decay half the particles. Always some source of a parent particle while going down by halve

Earth CO2 cycle 

• Out gassing CO2 from volcanoes

• Precipitation will remove CO2 from atmosphere

• CO2 absorbs into soil

• Subduction brings it back to the hot spot

Volcanoes

from plate tectonics and convection cycles

Convection cycles

cause plates to move and need a difference in temperature in order to start that cycle

The big 3 important for life

Volcanoes, Plate tectonics, Magnetic fields

Magnetic fields

protecting us from solar rays

Snow line

water condensation at this line so gas giants will condense after this line

Hydrogen and helium

can’t condense into a solid

Habitable zone

• can have liquid water on the planet 

• some region where life could exist on that planet

• Increase luminosity the habitable zone will move outward and vice versa

Luminosity

the brightness of the star

Europa

25 time less weaker sunlight and gets its internal heating from tidal heating

Tidal heating

the pushing and pulling of the planet from jupiters gravity

Io

the most volcanocly object in the solar system because of tidal heating from Jupiter

consequences for traveling to Mars

the conflicts are radiation, water/supplies, toxic dust there

Olympus mons

The tallest volcano in the solar system on mars, made from the stationary hot spot because plate tectonics were lost, Mars also has less gravity so you can build things that are taller

To increase tidal heating on a moon

• Increase eccentricity

• Decrease distance from the planet

• Increase planets mass

• Have more than one moon, if moons are in ressonace with each other

Venus

The hottest planet in the solar system because it has an extremely thick atmosphere. It doesn’t have a magnetic field because it doesn’t spin fast enough

CO2

It heats up the planet. If the luminosity of the sun were to increase, the earth would reduce the amount CO2 in the atmoshpehre

Saturn V (5)

the rocket that we used to go to the moon

Liquid water on mars

Can’t find liquid water on Mars because it has a low pressure.The stability of liquid water depends on pressure and temperature. Find water ice in craters because they never receive direct sunlight

Jupiter’s magnetic field

is caused by liquid metallic hydrogen

Tidal locking

if the orbital period and rotation of the moon and the planet are the same you only see one side of the moon

The gap in the protoplanetary disk

can be seen with Alma is caused by the formation of a planet

Transit method

the easiest way to find a planet, how much the luminosity decreases as a planet passes in front of, easier to see a larger planet close to their star

Radial velocity

measures the stars wobble, everything orbits the center of mass, easier to see a larger planet close to their star, if star is moving towards us its going to be blue shifted

Transit

can find the radius of the planet and the atmosphere

Circumbinary planet

planet that orbits 2 stars

Drake equation

rough estimant of the number of intelligent planets in the galaxy

Which of the following is NOT a critical requirement for maintaining a long-term habitability and life on Earth?

A) Volcanism

B) High surface abundance of noble gases

C) Plate Tectonics

D) Magnetic Field

B) High surface abundance of noble gases

What three basic conditions must a planet or moon meet to generate a global magnetic field?

A) A solid silicate mantle, high atmospheric pressure, and a strong gravitational pull from a nearby star

B) A completely frozen metallic core, slow axial tilt precession, and an abundance of surface iron oxide

C) An interior region of electrically conducting liquid or gas, convection in that liquid or gas, and rapid planet rotation

D) Active tectonic plate movement, a high concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere, and solar wind impact

C) An interior region of electrically conducting liquid or gas, convection in that liquid or gas, and rapid planet rotation

How do volcanoes typically form along convergent plate boundaries?

A) Two oceanic crusts pull apart from each other, leaving a rift.

B) Two continental crusts collide and push upward into mountain ranges.

C) Continental crust slides horizontally past another continental crust.

D) Oceanic crust subducts beneath a continental crust.

D) Oceanic crust subducts beneath a continental crust.

Where do scientists believe life on Earth most likely originated?

A) Near deep-sea hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor

B) In shallow tide pools exposed to intense direct sunlight

C) Deep inside frozen glaciers near the polar ice caps

D) High in the upper atmosphere attached to cloud droplets

A) Near deep-sea hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor

Which of the following is considered a primary cause of mass extinction events in Earth's history?

A) Rapid shifts in Earth's magnetic pole orientation

B) Gradual slowing of Earth's rotation speed

C) Asteroid impacts

D) Fluctuations in lunar gravitational tidal forces

C) Asteroid impacts

Which feature covers the majority of the lunar surface and is characterized by a high elevation, light color, and heavily cratered terrain?

A) Lunar maria

B) Rilles

C) Regolith plains

D) Lunar highlands

D) Lunar highlands

Which rocket was used to launch the Apollo astronauts to the Moon?

A) Titan II

B) Falcon Heavy

C) Saturn V

D) Space Shuttle

C) Saturn V

Why does Earth have significantly fewer visible impact craters than the Moon?

A) Earth’s stronger gravitational field deflects incoming meteoroids away from its surface.

B) Plate tectonics, surface weathering, and erosion continuously erase Earth’s impact history.

C) Earth’s thick atmosphere destroys all incoming impactors regardless of size.

D) Earth formed much later in Solar System history than the Moon.

B) Plate tectonics, surface weathering, and erosion continuously erase Earth’s impact history.

Radioactive isotope dating relies on measuring the ratio of parent isotopes to daughter isotopes in a rock sample. What remains constant throughout this decay process?

A) The half-life of the parent isotope

B) The total number of parent atoms remaining

C) The total mass of the radioactive sample

D)The decay rate per second of the overall sample

A) The half-life of the parent isotope

If you are attempting to determine the absolute age of a planetary rock sample that is several billion years old, which type of radioactive isotope system is best suited for the task?

A) An isotope with a short half-life, because it decays rapidly and provides fine-grained precision.

B) An isotope with a short half-life, because all parent atoms will have completely disappeared.

C) An isotope with a long half-life, because it does not begin producing daughter isotopes until millions of years pass.

D) An isotope with a long half-life, because measurable amounts of the parent isotope will still remain.

D) An isotope with a long half-life, because measurable amounts of the parent isotope will still remain.

Which of the following is NOT a primary reason Mercury is considered inhospitable to life?

A) Extremely wide temperature fluctuations between day and night

B) Absence of active plate tectonics to recycle nutrients

C) Lack of volcanic outgassing to maintain a substantial atmosphere

D) Total absence of water ice anywhere on or near its surface

D) Total absence of water ice anywhere on or near its surface

Why does Venus have such a thick, dense atmosphere?

A) A runaway greenhouse effect that vaporized oceans and released trapped carbon dioxide

B) High surface gravity capturing primordial hydrogen gas

C) Continuous volcanic outgassing unsupported by solar radiation

D) Strong magnetic shielding preventing atmospheric erosion by solar winds

A) A runaway greenhouse effect that vaporized oceans and released trapped carbon dioxide

Venus has a higher average surface temperature than Mercury, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.

A) True

B) False

A) True

What was the name of the Soviet Union's space exploration program that sent entry probes and landers to gather data and transmit images from Venus?

A) Mariner program

B) Sputnik program

C) Viking program

D) Venera program

D) Venera program

How did Olympus Mons on Mars form to become the largest volcano in the Solar System?

A) Tectonic plate convergence forcing crustal uplift over millions of years

B) A giant asteroid impact that fractured the Martian crust and drew magma to the surface

C) Repeated flows of lava erupting over a stationary mantle hotspot without active plate tectonics

D) Subduction of oceanic crust melting upper mantle rock and driving explosive volcanism

C) Repeated flows of lava erupting over a stationary mantle hotspot without active plate tectonics

Where is the vast majority of water ice primarily located on Mars?

A) Dissolved as vapor within the upper atmosphere

B) Liquid reservoirs beneath the equatorial volcanoes

C) Frozen in the polar ice caps

D) Deep ocean trenches along the Tharsis Bulge

C) Frozen in the polar ice caps

Why is Jezero Crater a prime target for NASA's Perseverance rover in its search for potential signs of ancient microbial life?

A) It contains active subterranean thermal vents similar to hydrothermal systems on Earth's ocean floor

B) It holds massive sheets of pure surface water ice protected from solar radiation by surrounding cliff walls

C) It features the youngest, most recent volcanic impact basin on Mars with unexposed underground aquifers

D) It preserves an ancient lakebed fed by a river delta, where flowing water deposited fine sediments capable of trapping organic molecules

D) It preserves an ancient lakebed fed by a river delta, where flowing water deposited fine sediments capable of trapping organic molecules

Why is liquid water currently unstable on the surface of Mars?

A) Extremely low atmospheric pressure causes water ice to sublimate directly into vapor.

B) Strong surface gravitational forces pull surface water into the core

C) High concentration of surface iron oxide chemically neutralizes pure water molecules

D) Constant solar wind radiation strips hydrogen atoms faster than water can form

A) Extremely low atmospheric pressure causes water ice to sublimate directly into vapor.

Which of the following is NOT a major challenge for sending a human crew to Mars?

A) Navigating through dense, impenetrable asteroid belts during the transit phase

B) Protection from high-energy cosmic radiation during the long interplanetary transit

C) Carrying or producing the massive volume of food, water, and oxygen needed for the mission duration

D) Managing the roughly 7-month journey

A) Navigating through dense, impenetrable asteroid belts during the transit phase

Jupiter and Saturn have similar compositions, yet Saturn's average density is lower than that of water. Why?

A) Saturn has a hollow core

B) Saturn has less mass, so its interior is less compressed by gravity

C) Saturn contains much more helium than Jupiter

D) Saturn is hotter inside, so it has expanded

B) Saturn has less mass, so its interior is less compressed by gravity

Jupiter's powerful magnetic field is generated in a layer of:

A) liquid water

B) molten iron-nickel rock

C) liquid metallic hydrogen

D) ammonia ice

C) liquid metallic hydrogen

A B C D

Which spacecraft dropped a probe directly into Jupiter's atmosphere?

A) Voyager 1

B) Cassini

C) Juno

D) Galileo

D) Galileo

Which spacecraft is the only one to have visited both Uranus and Neptune?

A)Pioneer 11

B) Voyager 1

C) Voyager 2

D) Cassini

C) Voyager 2

A B C D

Which giant planet as an extreme axis tilt of 98 degrees?

A) Jupiter

B) Saturn

C) Uranus

D) Neptune

C) Uranus

A B C D

Why do Uranus and Neptune appear blue?

A) Their surfaces are covered by liquid-water oceans.

B) Their ammonia clouds reflect mostly blue light

C) Helium scatters blue light, like Earth's sky

D) Methane in their atmospheres absorbs red light

D) Methane in their atmospheres absorbs red light

Which process is primarily responsible for making Jupiter's moon Io the most volcanically active body in the solar system?

A) Radioactive decay of heavy elements in its iron-nickel core

B) Residual internal heat left over from its initial gravitational collapse

C) Continuous tidal heating caused by gravitational friction from Jupiter and neighboring moons

D) Intense solar radiation and magnetospheric particle bombardment heating its surface

C) Continuous tidal heating caused by gravitational friction from Jupiter and neighboring moons

What term describes a moon when its orbital period and rotation rate are equal?

A) Tidal locking

B) Differential rotation

C) Orbital resonance

D) Precession

A) Tidal locking

What is the main cause of the heat that maintains Europa's liquid subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust?

A) Solar energy absorbed by the surface

B) Continuous tidal heating from gravitational interactions with Jupiter and nearby moons

C) Heat generated exclusively by nuclear fusion in Europa's core

D) Frictional heat created by high-speed atmospheric drag

B) Continuous tidal heating from gravitational interactions with Jupiter and nearby moons

What liquid primarily fills the rivers and lakes on Saturn's moon Titan?

A) Liquid water

B) Liquid nitrogen

C) Liquid ammonia

D) Liquid hydrocarbons (methane and ethane)

D) Liquid hydrocarbons (methane and ethane)

What do the icy plumes venting from Saturn's moon Enceladus primarily create over a long period of time?

A) Saturn's bright main A and B rings

B) Saturn's diffuse, outer E ring

C) A thick greenhouse atmosphere surrounding Enceladus

D) Dense hydrocarbon clouds around Titan

B) Saturn's diffuse, outer E ring

What is the primary reason that Pluto was reclassified from a major planet to a dwarf planet?

A) It lacks a solid metallic core and is composed entirely of water ice

B) Its orbit is locked in a synchronous tidal resonance with the Sun

C) It has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit of other objects

D) Its gravity is too weak to pull itself into a nearly round shape

C) It has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit of other objects

Why didn't the material in the asteroid belt form a planet?

A) It was too far from the Sun to stay solid

B) Jupiter's gravity stirred up speeds, so collisions shattered bodies

C) The Sun's radiation blew the material apart

D) A planet formed there but later exploded

B) Jupiter's gravity stirred up speeds, so collisions shattered bodies

Why is finding a dangerous asteroid decades in advance so valuable?

A) A very small push, applied early, adds up to a miss

B) Asteroids slow down and become harmless over time

C) Building a telescope to track it takes decades

D) Impact energy decreases the longer we wait

A) A very small push, applied early, adds up to a miss

Where do most long-period comets come from?

A) The asteroid belt

B) The Kuiper belt

C) The Oort cloud

D) Other star systems

C) The Oort cloud