Listed following are several objects in the solar system. Rank these objects from left to right based on their distance from the Sun, from closest to farthest.
#NAME?
Listed following are several objects in the solar system. Rank these objects from left to right based on their orbital period around the Sun from shortest to longest.
#NAME?
Listed following are several objects in the solar system. Rank these objects from left to right based on the distance from the Sun at which they are presumed to have formed, from nearest to farthest.
#NAME?
About a trillion comets are thought to be located far, far beyond Pluto in the ____________
Oort Cloud
The bright spherical part of a comet observed when it is close to the Sun is the ________
coma
A comet's __________ stretches directly away from the Sun.
plasma tail
A comet's ____________ is the frozen portion of a comet.
nucleus
Particles ejected from a comet can cause a(n) __________ on Earth.
meteor shower
The _____________ extends from about beyond the orbit of Neptune to about twice the distance of Neptune from the Sun.
Kuiper belt
condensation theory
-states that the solar system formed some 4.6 billion years ago from the solar nebula, a cloud fragment of the Milky Way's interstellar medium.-The slow rotation of the solar nebula allowed for a disk of material to develop. -Protoplanets began to form in the disk and use up surrounding material. -The heat from the Sun prevented light elements from forming in the inner solar system, which left behind an abundance of heavy elements that would eventually form the inner planets. -Any leftover debris was cleared out of the solar system, some of which became the comets in the Oort cloud. Eventually, after roughly 100 million years, the solar system was formed.
Solar System Property: Smaller bodies, such as moons and planets, inherit the rotation of the object they orbit.
-The direction of planetary rotation is the same as the direction of the Sun's rotation -Satellite orbital direction is the same as its parent planet orbital direction.
Solar System Property: Solar radiation heats up to solar nebula and prevents light elements from forming in the inner solar system.
Planetary properties of the solar system are highly differentiated
Solar System Property: Forming protoplanets begin to accrete, or sweep up, surrounding debris.
Planets are comparatively isolated in space.
Solar System Property: The solar nebula has a disk-like shape and rotates in a single plane.
#NAME?
Solar System Property: Asteroids and comets originated from leftover debris from the accretion/fragmentation stage.
#NAME?
Which of the following statements is more accurate when describing the inner and outer solar system?
The inner solar system is underrepresented in light elements.
In light of modern solar system theory, why do the orbits of the planets all lie near the same plane?
The early solar nebula flattened into a disk.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of terrestrial planets?
Lower density than jovian planets
Meteorites are important because
#NAME?
The ________ is a vast, spherical array of long period comet nuclei far beyond the orbit of Neptune.
Oort Cloud
The solar system is differentiated because
only rocky and metallic particles could form close to the Sun
It is important to observe the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because
it is an important Greenhouse gas, and its increased concentration can warm the planet.
What is currently the best way to study the interior structure of the Earth?
seismic waves from earthquakes
Increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere
decreases the transparency of the atmosphere to infrared light.
Which terrestrial planet would have its surface temperature the most dramatically changed if its greenhouse gases were removed from its atmosphere?
Venus
Which of the following statements about global warming is NOT true?
The global mean temperature in the modern era is the highest is has ever been.
Rank the gravitational attraction of the moon to Earth from .greatest to least
near side, midway, far side
According to the _____________ theory, Earth and the Moon formed at about the same time out of the same pre-planetary matter.
coformation (or sister) theory
The ______________ states that the Moon formed far from Earth and later became gravitationally bound by Earth after a close encounter.
capture theory
A glancing collision between a large, Mars-sized object and a youthful, molten Earth led to formation of the Moon according to the _____________.
impact theory
Confirmation Theory
The moon and Earth should have similar compositions
Capture Theory
-The moon and Earth should have completely different compositions.-Mathematical models would need to predict that the capture of a moon-sized satellite would be likely in Earth's history
Impact Theory
#NAME?
What statements about the moon theories have been verified?
-Earth has a large iron core; the Moon does not.-The mantles of Earth and the Moon have similar compositions.-Computer simulations predict that a collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object would produce a Moon-sized satellite with a stable orbit.
What events most likely led to the formation of the moon?
1. Iron core of Earth forms.2. Mars-sized object collides with Earth.3. If the Mars-sized object has an iron core, most or all of it is left behind on Earth and merges with Earth's core.4. The Moon forms out of rockydebris ejected from Earth during the collision.
If Earth had no Moon, then tides would
occur with the same frequency, but would not be as strong.
T/F Like Earth, the Moon has a molten metal core.
FALSE
What is the primary cause of erosion on the Moon?
impact cratering
At which phase(s) of the Moon do the highest and lowest tides occur?
Full and new
What phenomenon causes all weather and wind on Earth?
convection
What best describes the Earth's inner core?
solid metal
How does the age of the lunar highlands compare to the age of the lunar maria?
The maria are a few hundred million years younger.
The most likely theory of the formation of the Moon is that it
ormed from a collision of Earth with a Mars-sized object
Which of the following are found on the surface of Mercury?
#NAME?
Which of the following is the best description of our knowledge of the surface of Venus?
The surface is extremely dry, with evidence of past volcanic events.
It is thought that Mars used to have running water on the surface. Which of the following are necessary consequences of that idea?
#NAME?
Assuming that features you see on Mars are similar to features found on Earth, what would a casual inspection of the interactive photo of Mars lead you to suspect about water on Mars?
Surface water only exists as frozen ice.
Which of the following Mars surface features provides dramatic evidence that volcanism has played a role in shaping the surface of Mars?
Olympus Mons
When you zoom in on the section labeled "Southern Highlands," which geologic processes are most clearly evident?
impact cratering and erosion
Rank these planets from left to right based on the total amount of infrared-absorbing greenhouse gases in their atmospheres, from greatest to least.
Venus, Earth, Mars, Mercury
What is the source is of Mars red color?
Iron oxide in the soil
What was the cause of the Caloris Basin?
Impact of a large asteroid
T/F: Evidence of lava flows is common on the surface of Venus.
TRUE
T/F Valles Marineris is comparable in size to Earth's Grand Canyon.
FALSE
Why were Martian volcanoes able to grow so large?
Mars's weaker surface gravity
Earth and Venus likely started with very similar atmospheres. What happened to make them so different?
Carbon dioxide dissolved into Earth's oceans and rocks, thinning out the atmosphere.
The most massive planet in the solar system is
Jupiter
Which of the following is true?
The deeper you dive into the atmospheres of the outer planets, the higher the temperature.
The farthest major planet from the Sun is
Neptune
Rank these planets from left to right based on their distance from the Sun, from closest to farthest.
Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Rank these planets from left to right based on their size (average equatorial radius), from smallest to largest.
Earth, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter
Rank these planets from left to right based on their mass, from lowest to highest.
Earth, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter
What atmospheric conditions are found on all four Jovian planets?
#NAME?
Jovian storms vs. Terrestrial storms
Jovian storms: associated with oppositely-directed high-speed atmospheric flows and hosted by rapidly-rotating planetTerrestrial planets: Short lived (hours or days only) and powered by solar radiationBoth: Involve upwelling gases and circulating winds
Which of the following properties does not contribute to the longevity of large jovian storms?
Atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen and helium
Compared with Uranus, the planet Neptune is
roughly the same size
Which of the following spacecraft went into orbit around Jupiter for years, and even dropped a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere?
Galileo
Which of the planets below has the greatest tilt of its rotation axis?
Uranus
According to Figure 7.9 (Jupiter's Atmosphere) in the textbook, if ammonia and ammonium hydrosulfide ice were transparent to visible light, Jupiter would appear
bluish
What substance is underabundant (compared to Jupiter) in the atmosphere of Saturn?
Helium
Compared to Earth, Saturn's core is roughly
10x more massive
A few years after Charon's discovery, astronomers were able to observe a series of eclipses as Pluto and Charon passed in front of one another. By studying how the brightness of Pluto and Charon changed as they eclipsed each other, astronomers were able to measure the masses and radii of both Pluto and its moon. What did these measurements imply about the average densities of Pluto and Charon?
Pluto and Charon have average densities that are expected for objects made mostly of water ice.
Identify which properties are characteristic of Kuiper belt objects.
-Kuiper belt objects orbit the Sun at great distances-Kuiper belt objects are small, icy objects-Kuiper belt objects have a low relative brightness level when observed from Earth-About 25% of Kuiper objects have the same orbital period as Pluto
Which of the following factors contributed to the evolution of scientific thinking that led to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet?
#NAME?
The only moon with a thick atmosphere is
Titan
Generally, you would expect that the closer a moon is to a large planet
the warmer its interior
Evidence that Triton probably did not form around Neptune is
It orbits around Neptune in retrograde (backwards), opposite to the rotation of Neptune.
What evidence suggests that Triton is a captured moon?
It has a retrograde, highly inclined orbit.
What is the source of Io's volcanic activity?
Tidal heating
What is the cause of the colors of Io's surface?
Sulfur compounds
Callisto is different from the other Galilean moons of Jupiter in that ________.
it doesn't have an iron/iron sulfide core
What makes Titan unique among the moons of the solar system?
Thick, cloudy atmosphere
How close is Charon to Pluto's Roche limit?
7.2 times farther out