wawa

Which of the following was the first planet discovered with the aid of a telescope?

uranus

Which of the following terrestrial planets has oxygen in its atmosphere?

only earth

On which of the following planets have scientists landed a space probe?

both Venus and Mars

According to the nebula theory, which of the following statements is true?

the formation of planets is a natural by-product of star formation

Where in the solar system does the asteroid belt lie?

between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

Of the planets in the solar system, which one's orbit has the largest tilt with respect to the ecliptic plane?

Mercury at 7 degrees

Which of the major planets listed below has the highest mass?

Saturn

Which of the following is the only spacecraft to have visited four planets in the solar system (so far)?

Voyager 2

How many major planets are there in the solar system?

8

If Mercury is the first planet and Neptune the eighth, which planet is the sixth?

Saturn

Which of the following is not a jovian planet?

Pluto

Which of the following is not a property of a terrestrial planet?

high mass

Which of the following objects are composed of material mostly unchanged since the formation of the solar system?

Comets and asteroids

What is the composition of comets?

Icy with dust

What is the significance of the star Beta Pictoris with regard to solar system formation?

it was discovered to have a disk similar to the solar nebula surrounding it

If there were significantly more greenhouse gases, such as CO2, in Earth's atmosphere, then

Earth's average temperature would change

At what phase are the tides least noticeable?

third quarter

In what part of our atmosphere do we live?

Troposphere

The critical part of the atmosphere for protecting life on the ground from excessive ultraviolet radiation is the:

ozone layer.

Which statement about seismic waves is true?

P waves travel faster, and thus arrive sooner than do the S waves.

Which of the following layers of the earth is unique among the terrestrial planets?

hydrosphere

The Greenhouse Effect works by trapping

outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth.

What gas is the primary constituent of our atmosphere?

nitrogen

What is true of spring tides?

The difference between low and high tides would be greatest.

We determine the structure of the Earth's core using:

seismic wave data

The region around Earth where the magnetic field traps charged particles is the:

Van Allen Radiation Belts

Assuming that other planetary systems form in the same way as our solar system formed, where would you expect to find terrestrial planets?

Terrestrial planets will likely be located nearer the planetary system's star than any jovian planets.

Compared to terrestrial planets, jovian planets are __________.

more massive and lower in average density

Which planet is approximately halfway between Pluto's orbit and the Sun?

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun

The dwarf planet Eris was discovered in 2005, orbiting the Sun at an average distance about twice that of Pluto. In which of the following ways do Pluto and Eris differ from the terrestrial and jovian planets in our solar system?

Both Pluto and Eris are smaller than any of the terrestrial planets.

Both Pluto and Eris travel in more elliptical orbits than any of the terrestrial or jovian planets.

Both Pluto and Eris are less massive than any of the terrestrial or jovian planets.

What substances were found within the inner 0.3 AU of the solar system before planets began to form?

rocks, metals, hydrogen compounds, hydrogen, and helium, all in gaseous form

What substances existed as solid flakes within the inner 0.3 AU of the solar system before planets began to form?

none

Where would you expect terrestrial planets to form in the solar nebula?

anywhere between 0.3 AU and the frost line

The jovian planets are thought to have formed as gravity drew hydrogen and helium gas around planetesimals made of __________.

rocks, metals, and ices

All planets have moons.

false

The inner planets tend to have

fewer moons

The planets that have rings also tend to have

many moons

In the leading theory of solar system formation, the planets

formed from the same flattened, swirling gas cloud that formed the Sun.

The solar system is differentiated because

only rocky and metallic particles could form close to the Sun.

The asteroids are mostly

found between Mars and Jupiter.

Planetary orbits

are almost circular, with low eccentricities

Which of the characteristics below describes the terrestrial planets?

possessing weak magnetic fields

The smallest sort of interplanetary matter is called

interplanetary dust

The tail of a comet always points

away from the Sun and becomes longest and brightest at perihelion

The "Grand Tour" of all four jovians was conducted by:

Voyager 2

As the solar nebula contracts due to gravitation, the cloud

spins faster

On a cloudless day, what happens to most of the visible light headed toward Earth?

It reaches Earth's surface, where some is reflected and some is absorbed.

On a day with complete cloud cover, what happens to the visible light headed toward Earth?

The clouds reflect much of it back to space, though some still reaches the surface.

What happens to the energy that the ground absorbs in the form of visible sunlight?

It is returned upward in the form of infrared light.

The greenhouse effect raises Earth's surface temperature (from what it would be otherwise) because the infrared light radiated by Earth's surface __________.

is temporarily absorbed by greenhouse gases and then reemitted in random directions

What phenomenon causes all weather and wind on Earth?

Convection

What are the two main constituents of Earth's atmosphere?

O2 and N2

Which of the following is plate tectonics not responsible for?

Erosion

In which layer of Earth's atmosphere do weather and convection occur?

Troposphere

How much hotter is Earth because of the greenhouse effect?

40 K

What have seismic studies discovered about Earth's core?

The outer core is liquid; the inner core is solid.

Which of the following is not involved in the production of Earth's magnetic field?

Oceans

What is the primary cause of the aurorae (Northern and Southern Lights)?

Charged particles interacting with the atmosphere

What are the Van Allen belts?

Zones of high-energy particles in the magnetosphere

What natural phenomenon on Earth provides information on the structure of Earth's core?

Earthquakes

What is the cause of tectonic plate motion?

Convection in the upper mantle

Which of the following is a list of the primary layers of Earth's atmosphere in order of increasing altitude above Earth's surface?

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere

At which phase(s) of the Moon do the highest and lowest tides occur?

Full and new

From Earth, due to their motions and the fact that the Sun lights only a portion of each surface, both Mercury and the Moon:

appear to go through phases.

What is true of the Moon's orbital and rotational periods?

They are equal.

Which statement about the rotations of the Moon and Mercury is FALSE?

Like our Moon, Mercury does not rotate at all, keeping the same side facing the Sun.

Both the Moon and Mercury are geologically inactive and have been that way for most of the history of the solar system. However, about 4 billion years ago, it is thought that

Mercury had more common volcanic activity than the Moon.

Which of these theories seems to best explain the Moon's origin?

Impact Theory

The scarps on Mercury were probably caused by

the interior cooling and shrinking.

What is the likely source of lunar ice?

impacts of meteoroids and comets

The average rate of erosion on the Moon is far less than on Earth because

the Moon lacks wind, water and an atmosphere.

What is true of the lunar highlands?

They are the oldest part of the lunar surface.

The composition of Mercury's crust is:

similar to the crust of the other terrestrial planets.

Mercury's surface most resembles that of which other body?

Moon

Mercury experiences extreme high and low temperatures between night and day because:

it has no atmosphere to moderate temperatures over the globe.

Comparing the densities of the Moon and Mercury, we find:

the Moon's is similar to Earth's crust, while Mercury's is similar to the entire Earth.

The rate of cratering:

shows that most interplanetary debris was swept up soon after the formation of the solar system.

The chief erosive agent now on the Moon is:

the rain of micrometeorites chewing up the regolith.

The lunar mare are found:

almost entirely on Earth side, where the crust was thinner.

What caused the scarps found on Mercury?

Cooling of the planet and shrinking of the crust

What was the cause of the Caloris Basin?

Impact of a large asteroid

What is the current leading theory for the Moon's formation?

Impact of a large object with the early Earth, followed by coalescence and capture of the resulting fragments

Relative to the size of the planet, how does the core of Mercury compare to that of Earth?

Larger

Why was Mercury's evolution different from that of the Moon?

Mercury's core cooled and the planet shrank, causing its crust to compress and wrinkle.

What is the average distance from Earth to the Moon?

384,000 km

For how long has Mercury been geologically inactive?

4 billion years

Of what material is the lunar highland composed?

Lunar crust

The Moon is locked in synchronous orbit with the Earth. How many times does the Moon rotate every time it completes one revolution?

one

The wide variation in the lunar surface temperature is due to its lack of which of the following?

An atmosphere

Why is the Moon's crust thicker on the far side?

Earth's gravity pulled the Moon's mantle downward toward Earth.

Which of the following statements is true?

The rate of cratering today decreases as crater size increases.

Which of the following is not true of both the Moon and Mercury?

Both have extensive maria.

Mercury presents the same side to the Sun once every how often?

2 years

How does the diameter of a crater compare to the diameter of the impactor?

The crater is 10 times as large as the impactor.

Coformation theory:

-The Moon and Earth should have very similar compositions.

-The Moon and Earth should have similar densities.