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Why are the inner planets made of denser materials than the outer planets?
In the inner part of the nebula only metals and rocks were able to condense because of the high temperatures, whereas hydrogen compounds, although more abundant, were only able to condense in the cooler outer regions.
Which of the following describes impact cratering?
the excavation of bowl-shaped depressions by asteroids or comets striking a planet's surface
what are trojan asteroids
They are asteroids in the 1:1 resonance with Jupiter in Jupiter's orbit.
According to the nebular theory, what are asteroids and comets?
They are leftover planetesimals that never accreted into planets
what produces meteor showers
Meteor showers are caused by the passage of Earth through the debris left by a comet in its orbit.
The Caloris Basin on Mercury covers a large region of the planet, but few smaller craters have formed on top of it. From this we conclude that
the Caloris Basin formed toward the end of the solar system's period of heavy bombardment.
According to our theory of solar system formation, why do we find some exceptions to the general rules and patterns of the planets?
Most of the exceptions are the result of giant impacts.
Which of the following scenarios correctly demonstrates the transformation of mass into energy as given by Einstein's equation, E = mc2?
When hydrogen is fused into helium, whether in the Sun or in a nuclear bomb, the mass difference is turned into energy.
On the scale of the cosmic calendar, in which the history of the universe is compressed to 1 year, how long has human civilization (i.e., since ancient Egypt) existed?
a few seconds
What is the ecliptic?
the Sun's apparent path along the celestial sphere
Which internal energy source is the most important in continuing to heat the terrestrial planets today
radioactivity
Suppose the angular separation of two stars is smaller than the angular resolution of your eyes. How will the stars appear to your eyes?
The two stars will look like a single point of light.
The constellation shaped like a W is
Cassiopeia
Where are most of the known asteroids found?
between the orbits of Mars and Jupite
What is differentiation in planetary geology?
the process by which gravity separates materials according to density
The fact that the Voyager spacecraft continue to speed out of the solar system, even though its rockets have no fuel, is an example of
Newton's first law of motion.
How big is the largest asteroid?
about 1000 km in diameter
According to our theory of solar system formation, why do all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction and in nearly the same plane?
The laws of conservation of energy and conservation of angular momentum ensure that any rotating, collapsing cloud will end up as a spinning disk.
The three principal sources of internal heat of terrestrial planets are
accretion, differentiation, and radioactivity.
Grass (that is healthy) looks green because
it reflects green light and absorbs other colors
The Muslim fast of Ramadan occurs
during the ninth month of a 12-month lunar cycle.
What is the exosphere?
the highest layer in the atmosphere
Why are most meteorites found in Antarctica?
Meteorites are dark and easy to spot against the ice in Antarctica
He discovered that Jupiter has moons
Galileo
The nebular theory of the formation of the solar system successfully predicts all but one of the following. Which one does the theory not predict?
the equal number of terrestrial and jovian planets
What is the most likely reason that there are no giant planets beyond Neptune?
By the time planetesimals grew to a large enough mass to hold onto an atmosphere, the solar nebula had been blown away
Which planet, other than Earth, has visible water ice on it?
Mars
Which of the following planets cannot be seen with the naked eye?
Neptune
What conditions are required for a solar eclipse?
The phase of the Moon must be new, and the nodes of the Moon's orbit must be nearly aligned with Earth and the Sun.
Which of the following is not evidence supporting the giant impact theory for the formation of the Moon?
Scientists have found several meteorites that appear to be the remains of the object that caused the giant impact
Sunsets are red because
sunlight must pass through more atmosphere then, and the atmosphere scatters even more light at bluer wavelengths, transmitting mostly red light
The lunar month is longer than the sidereal month because
the Moon has to complete more than one full orbit around Earth to complete the cycle of lunar phases
Earth is made mostly of metals and rocks. Where did this material come from?
It was produced by nuclear fusion in stars
He discovered that the orbits of planets are ellipses
kepler
Suppose the date is June 21 and the Sun never sets, just touching your northern horizon at midnight. Where are you?
the Arctic Circle
Which of the following has your "address" in the correct order?
you, Earth, solar system, Milky Way, Local Group, Local Supercluster
Which of the following is a principal advantage of CCDs over photographic film?
CCDs capture a much higher percentage of the incoming photons than does film
Which of the following show evidence of ancient river beds?
Mars
Which of the following statements best describes the two principal advantages of telescopes over eyes?
Telescopes can collect far more light with far better angular resolution.
In what part of the electromagnetic spectrum do the biggest telescopes on Earth operate?
radio
What is the difference in meaning between the terms weather and climate?
Weather refers to short-term variations in conditions, and climate refers to long-term variations in conditions
At extremely high temperatures (e.g., millions of degrees), which of the following best describes the phase of matter?
a plasma consisting of positively charged ions and free electrons
) Which of the following statements does not use the term light-year in an appropriate way?
It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment
Which of the following does not yield information on jovian planet interiors?
spectroscopy of the cloud layers
How many arcseconds are in 1°?
3600
What is the most important reason why an icy moon is more likely to be geologically active than a rocky moon of the same size?
Ice has a lower melting point than rock
Where did the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium come from?
They were produced inside stars.
Why did the solar nebula flatten into a disk?
it flattened as a natural consequence of collisions between particles in the spinning nebula, changing random motions into more orderly ones
Which of the following correctly describes the meaning of albedo?
The higher the albedo, the more light the surface reflects, and the less it absorbs.
What is the meaning of the word cosmos?
the sum total of all matter and energy, that is, everything within and between all galaxies
What would happen if the Space Shuttle were launched with a speed greater than Earth's escape velocity
It would travel away from Earth into the solar system.
According to our theory of solar system formation, why does the Sun rotate slowly today?
The Sun once rotated much faster, but it transferred angular momentum to charged particles caught in its magnetic field and then blew the particles away with its strong solar wind.
How does the Sun's mass compare with that of the planets?
It is a thousand times more massive than all the planets combined.
The belts and zones of Jupiter are
alternating bands of rising and falling air at different latitudes
What does temperature measure?
the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance
What do we mean by the diffraction limit of a telescope?
It is the best angular resolution the telescope could achieve with perfect optical quality and in the absence of atmospheric distortion.
Radio communication between distant places on Earth is possible because the
ionosphere reflects radio signals.
What is aerobraking?
the technique of using a planetary atmosphere to change the orbit of a spacecraft
Suppose you heat up an oven and boil a pot of water. Which of the following explains why you would be burned by sticking your hand briefly in the pot but not by sticking your hand briefly in the oven?
The water has a higher heat content than the oven.
The core, mantle, and crust of a planet are defined by differences in their
composition
Why isn't Earth's atmosphere mostly hydrogen?
Light gases such as hydrogen move faster than heavier gases and escape from Earth's gravitational field
What are oxidation reactions?
reactions that remove oxygen from the atmosphere, such as fire and rust
The amount of time between successive passes of the star Sirius across the meridian is
23 hours 56 minutes.
Heat escapes from a planet's surface into space by thermal radiation. Planets radiate almost entirely in the wavelength range of the
infrared
Planetary rings are
all of the above
What are greenhouse gases?
gases that absorb infrared light
What happened during the accretion phase of the early solar system?
Particles grew by colliding and sticking together
What are the most common types of meteorites?
stony primative meteorites
Historians trace the origins of a 24-hour day to
the ancient Egyptians
Which of the following objects is not a close approximation of a thermal emitter?
you
Why do we have seasons on Earth?
As Earth goes around the Sun and Earth's axis remains pointed toward Polaris, the Northern and Southern hemispheres alternately receive more and less direct sunlight.
Why is Neptune denser than Saturn?
It has a different composition than Saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks.
Why do astronomers need different telescope designs to observe across the electromagnetic spectrum?
Photons of different energy behave differently and require different collection strategies
He was the first to prove that comets lie beyond Earth's atmosphere
Tycho Brahe
Kepler's second law, which states that as a planet moves around its orbit it sweeps out equal areas in equal times, means that
a planet travels faster when it is nearer to the Sun and slower when it is farther from the Sun
The Sun is rising in the east and will be on your meridian in 2 hours. What time is it?
10 A.M.
Which of the following best describes the modern definition of a constellation?
a region of the celestial sphere
What do astronomers mean by light pollution?
Light pollution refers to light used for human activities that brightens the sky and hinders astronomical observations.
What is the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9)?
It is a comet that was seen crashing into Jupiter.
Patterns of stars in constellations hardly change in appearance over times of even a few thousand years. Why?
The stars in our sky actually move rapidly relative to us–thousands of kilometers per hour–but are so far away that it takes a long time for this motion to make a noticeable change in the patterns in the sky
At which lunar phase(s) are tides least pronounced (e.g., the lowest high tides)?
both first and third quarters
Which two properties are most important in determining the surface temperature of a planet?
distance from the Sun and atmosphere
The sky is blue because
molecules scatter blue light more effectively than red light.
Why are there no impact craters on the surface of Io?
Io did have impact craters but they have all been buried in lava flows.
Which of the following planets has the least substantial atmosphere?
Mercury
How are wavelength, frequency, and energy related for photons of light?
Longer wavelength means lower frequency and lower energy.
How long would it take to count all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy at a rate of one star per second?
several thousand years
How would the impact history on Earth have been different if Jupiter didn't exist
There would be more impacts from comets and fewer from asteroids.
Suppose you live at latitude 40°N. Which of the following describes the conditions that make a star circumpolar?
Stars are circumpolar if they have declination > +50°
Which of the following is not an advantage of the Hubble Space Telescope over ground-based telescopes?
It is closer to the stars.
Which of the following statements about light focusing is not true?
The focal plane of a reflecting telescope is always located within a few inches of the primary mirror.
The age of our solar system is approximately
4.6 billion years.
When light reflects off an object, what is the relation between the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection?
angle of incidence = angle of reflection
Which of the following is farthest from the Sun?
a comet in the Oort cloud
Volcanism is more likely on a planet that
has high internal temperatures
Which of the following is the reason for the leap years?
Earth year being a non-integer number of Earth days
How often does an impactor large enough to cause tsunamis and widespread devastation strike Earth?
about once in a million years
Which moon has the most substantial atmosphere?
Titan
Why does Earth have the strongest magnetic field among the terrestrial worlds?
It is the only one that has both a partially molten metallic core and reasonably rapid rotation
The relatively few craters that we see within the lunar maria
were formed by impacts that occurred after those that formed most of the craters in the lunar highlands.
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