astro unit 2

From what is seen, what can be said about the orbit of Earth around the Sun?
A: As viewed from above the plane of its orbit, Earth revolves in a counterclockwise direction around the Sun.
B: The Sun orbits around the Earth in a clockwise orbit.
C: Some pl

A: As viewed from above the plane of its orbit, Earth revolves in a counterclockwise direction around the Sun.

Observe this animation for a while. It shows the orbit that a planet (say Earth) has around the Sun. Based on this animation, which of the following statements is most accurate?
A: The orbit of the planet is really random.
B: The planet revolves around th

B: The planet revolves around the Sun in an elliptical orbit.

The Sun is at one focus of the elliptical orbit of the Earth around the Sun. What is at the other focus?
A: The Earth.
B: The Moon.
C: Nothing.
D: Mars.
E: Jupiter.

C: Nothing.

Observe this animation and pick from the choices the one that best describes what is shown.
A: The planet moves at a constant speed through out its orbit around the Sun.
B: The planet moves faster when it is closer to the Sun.
C: The planet revolves aroun

B: The planet moves faster when it is closer to the Sun.

What was Kepler's First Law?
A: Planets revolve around the sun in circular orbits with Sun in the center.
B: Planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits with Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
C: Not all planets revolve around the Sun.
D: The Earth

B: Planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits with Sun at one focus of the ellipse.

What best describes the orbit of the Earth around the Sun?
A: An ellipse that is close to being circular.
B: A perfect circle.
C: A very elongated ellipse.
D: An oscillation along a line.
E: None of the above.

A: An ellipse that is close to being circular.

Which of the following does Kepler's Second Law support?
A: When a planet is closer to the Sun, its speed is greater than when it is farther away.
B: When a planet is closer to the Sun, its speed is less than when it is farther away.
C: Planets move at co

A: When a planet is closer to the Sun, its speed is greater than when it is farther away.

How did Kepler himself originally state this second law?
A: The speed of a planet in its orbit is directly proportional to its distance from the Sun.
B: The speed of a planet in its orbit is inversely proportional to its distance from the Sun.
C: All plan

D: A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.

What was Kepler's Third Law?
A: The farther away a planet is from the Sun, the shorter a time it takes for it to complete one orbit around the Sun.
B: The cube of the time period of the planet's orbit is proportional to the square of its average distance

C: The square of the time period for an orbit of a planet is proportional to cube of its average distance from Sun (in other words P2 is proportional to a3).

Saturn is about 10 times as far from the Sun as Earth is (a = 10 AU, roughly). About how many times does Earth orbit the Sun in the time it takes Saturn to orbit just once?
A: About 3.
B: About 5.
C: About 10.
D: About 20.
E: About 30.

E: About 30.

From what was described, where are aurorae likely to be seen most frequently?
A: Equally likely anywhere on Earth.
B: At locations along the equator.
C: At locations near the poles.
D: They can only be seen from Earth orbit, not on the surface.

C: At locations near the poles.

The Sun formed...
A: as planets merged together in a spinning cloud of dust and ices.
B: as material fell to the center of a perfect spherical cloud of gas.
C: at the center of a spinning disk made of gas and dust.
D: when larger stars broke apart into sm

C: at the center of a spinning disk made of gas and dust.

Why do the planets orbit the Sun in close to the same plane?
A: Because they all formed in a disk around the early Sun and there was little material outside of that disk.
B: Because the other planets that formed around the Sun were pulled away by interact

A: Because they all formed in a disk around the early Sun and there was little material outside of that disk.

How long ago did the Sun and the Solar System form?
A: 100 million years = 0.1 billion years ago.
B: 4500 million years = 4.5 billion years ago.
C: 100,000 years ago.
D: 300 billion years ago.
E: 500 billion years ago.

B: 4500 million years = 4.5 billion years ago.

How can the rock layers on the outside of the Earth move?
A: Winds and ocean currents push the continents around.
B: Volcanic eruptions shake them and they crack up and move.
C: Tidal forces from the Moon pull them around.
D: They are held up by vents of

E: They are made of less dense rock, effectively floating on top of a denser fluid beneath.

Where do mountains like the Himalayas come from?
A: Rain of debris from meteorites and comets falls in some places more than others, and builds up into mountains.
B: The Earth is made of molten rock and metals, and regions with opposite electrical charges

D: In some locations, plates of rock on the planet's surface press together and the plates rise together.

What is ozone?
A: A mixture of many chemical elements, including nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), carbon (C), and silicon (Si), that block ultraviolet light.
B: Single oxygen atoms in the atmosphere (O).
C: Two oxygen atoms bonded together into a single mole

D: Three oxygen atoms bonded together into a single molecule (O3).

What would happen if the ozone layer were completely destroyed?
A: X-rays and gamma rays would no longer get through the atmosphere.
B: Meteorites would be able to fall through the atmosphere and would destroy life of all types.
C: Optical and infrared li

D: Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun would get through the atmosphere and cause damage to life.

What factor is at least partly responsible for the creation of the Antarctic "ozone hole?"
A: Optical light from the Sun destroys ozone as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere.
B: Human-generated gases that rise into the stratosphere and break ozone m

B: Human-generated gases that rise into the stratosphere and break ozone molecules apart.

What kind of radiation does the Earth's surface re-radiate after it absorbs sunlight?
A: Ultraviolet.
B: X-rays.
C: Infrared.
D: Radio.
E: Microwave.

C: Infrared.

What type of radiation gets absorbed by greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide?
A: Ultraviolet and optical.
B: Ultraviolet and radio.
C: Infrared but not optical.
D: Optical but not infrared.
E: Optical but not ul

C: Infrared but not optical.

Without greenhouse gases, the Earth's surface temperature would be...
A: 33�C cooler.
B: Unchanged.
C: 33�C warmer.
D: Hotter in the winter and cooler in the summer.
E: Hotter in the summer and cooler in the winter.

A: 33�C cooler.

In the image of the Moon shown, identify which of the labeled regions correspond to maria and which ones correspond to terra, consistent with early astronomers' nomenclature.
a: A, B, C, D are maria, E and F are terra.
b: A, D, E are terra and B, C, F are

d: C, B, E are terra and A, D and F are maria.

From Armstrong's description, what do you think the lunar surface is physically like?
A: The surface is filled with water.
B: The surface is covered with fine dust.
C: The surface is crystallized and transparent.
D: The surface is black and therefore not

B: The surface is covered with fine dust.

With the help of this image, answer the following: Which type of lunar surface - the maria or the highlands - do you think is relatively young compared to the other?
A: The dark lunar maria are younger than the bright highlands.
B: The dark lunar maria ar

A: The dark lunar maria are younger than the bright highlands.

Which of the following best describes what is commonly referred to as atmospheric pressure?
A: It is the pressure with which gravity pushes Earth's atmosphere.
B: It is the force that atmospheric gases exert on surfaces below them.
C: It is the pressure t

B: It is the force that atmospheric gases exert on surfaces below them.

Which of the following is/are caused by dense atmospheres?
A: It absorbs and scatters light.
B: Atmosphere makes planetary surfaces warmer than they would be otherwise.
C: Atmosphere distributes heat around a planet.
D: All of the above.

D: All of the above.

The panoramic image gives you a sense of how the Moon and the sky appear for someone standing on the surface of the Moon. Based on what you see, do you think the Moon has an atmosphere or not?
A: Yes.
B: No.

B: No.

Based on what we see in the panoramic image, why do you think Moon is likely NOT to have an atmosphere?
A: If the Moon had an atmosphere, the light from the Sun would heat the atoms in the atmosphere and the atmosphere would start glowing.
B: If the Moon

B: If the Moon had an atmosphere, it would scatter sunlight in all directions and the lunar sky would look bright.

Why do you think astronauts walk on the surface of Moon with slow hops?
A: The Moon has no gravity to hold the astronauts to the ground.
B: The gravity on the Moon is smaller than the gravity on Earth.
C: Astronauts like hopping.
D: The video is deliberat

B: The gravity on the Moon is smaller than the gravity on Earth.

How would the inflated landing module bounce if it were dropped onto the surface of Earth from the same altitude as it was on Mars?
A: It would not bounce at all.
B: It would bounce higher and more times than it did on the surface of Mars.
C: It would bou

C: It would bounce lower and fewer times than it did on the surface of Mars.

Each chemical compound has a unique color. By looking at these samples of chemical compounds, identify the compound that permeates the surface of Mars that gives the Martian soil its distinctive color.
A: Water.
B: Iron Oxide.
C: Zinc Oxide.
D: Copper Car

B: Iron Oxide.

The distribution of craters can be best described as:
A: The craters are uniformly distributed throughout the surface.
B: There are no craters on Mars.
C: The Southern Hemisphere has numerous craters and the Northern Hemisphere has few.
D: There are more

C: The Southern Hemisphere has numerous craters and the Northern Hemisphere has few.

The color-coding on this image is indicative of the elevation of the terrain around different parts of the planet. From the information presented in the image, it can be concluded that:
A: The entire surface of Mars is flat.
B: The northern hemisphere of

E: Choices B and C are true.

Consider those last two images. What general conclusion can we draw about the history of Martian geology?
A: The southern hemisphere with its highlands and craters are much older surfaces than the crater-deficient northern hemisphere with its lowlands.
B:

A: The southern hemisphere with its highlands and craters are much older surfaces than the crater-deficient northern hemisphere with its lowlands.

Which of the features labeled (using arrows) are likely to be volcanic mountains? Use the altitude scale on the bottom left of the image to translate the color-coded information given in the map.
A: The ones pointed by the white arrows.
B: The ones pointe

A: The ones pointed by the white arrows.

What is known about the formation of Valles Marineris?
A: The large valley was created from an impact with a comet or asteroid.
B: Different parts of Valles Marineris were shaped by different kinds of geological processes and NOT a single process.
C: Vall

B: Different parts of Valles Marineris were shaped by different kinds of geological processes and NOT a single process.

Several of the tributary canyons of the Valles Marineris are thought to be formed:
A: when ground water, escaping from opening cracks flowed cutting a channel through the surface beneath.
B: when water coming from the volcanoes started flowing through the

A: when ground water, escaping from opening cracks flowed cutting a channel through the surface beneath.

What evidence do we have that suggests Mars was once much wetter than it is today?
A: Outflow channels on the Martian surface and evidence for subsurface water ice.
B: Plenty of extinct volcanoes in the southern hemisphere of the planet.
C: The lack of a

A: Outflow channels on the Martian surface and evidence for subsurface water ice.

Which of the following could be the reason that Mars has only a thin atmosphere?
A: The atmosphere is spread over a very large area.
B: The gravitational pull from Earth caused Mars to lose some of its atmosphere.
C: The gravity on Mars was insufficient t

C: The gravity on Mars was insufficient to hold a thick atmosphere and hence the gases in the atmosphere escaped over time.

Venus' orbital distance from the Sun is 0.7 AU. What is the duration of a year on Venus? In other words, how long does it take for Venus to complete one orbit around the Sun (in units of Earth year)?
A: 1 Earth year (i.e. 365 days)
B: 0.62 Earth years or

B: 0.62 Earth years or 225 Earth days.

Which of these following statements can be said about Venus?
A: Venus has a very slow speed of rotation.
B: A day-night cycle is longer than a year.
C: Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth is.
D: All of the above are true.
E: Only A and C are true.

D: All of the above are true.

Which among the following two scenarios will be true for someone looking at the night sky from Venus's surface?
A: Scenario A
B: Scenario B
C: Both
D: None.

B: Scenario B

Of the total amount of sunlight that is incident on Earth, about 70% is absorbed. The remaining is reflected back to space. If we calculate the temperature of Earth from the absorption of the Sun's radiation, it will come to -18 deg centigrade. However, o

A: Green house gases in Earth's atmosphere.

Craters on Venus :
A: are about the same in size and structure to those on Earth, Moon, and Mars.
B: are much larger in size than those on Earth, Moon, and Mars.
C: are much smaller in size than those on Earth, Moon, and Mars.
D: are never apparent becaus

A: are about the same in size and structure to those on Earth, Moon, and Mars.

Volcanoes on Venus :
A: produce very large lava flows that cover at least 85% of the planet's surface.
B: were never important in the planet's geological history.
C: are not common, with only two apparent on its whole surface.
D: are much less active than

A: produce very large lava flows that cover at least 85% of the planet's surface.

Why is Venus's day so long (a day-night cycle on Venus lasts for as long as 243 Earth day and night cycles)?
A: Because Venus's year is longer than a year on Earth.
B: No one knows the reason.
C: Venus's rotation time is very short compared to the time it

D: Venus's rotation time is very long compared to the time it takes to go once around the Sun.

The Greenhouse effect :
A: is larger on Venus than on Earth.
B: is smaller on Venus than on Earth.
C: cannot exist because Venus has no atmosphere.
D: is sometimes larger than on Earth and sometimes smaller.

A: is larger on Venus than on Earth.

Given the distance at which Mercury orbits the Sun, what could be the orbital time period of Mercury around Sun (in units of Earth years)?
A: 1 Earth year (i.e. 365 Earth days)
B: 2 Earth years.
C: 0.24 Earth years
D: Both A and C.

C: 0.24 Earth years

Imagine that planet B is revolving around star A. Which of the following scenarios describes 'tidal locking' of planet B by star A?
A: When the mutual gravitational force between the two bodies cancel out.
B: When the tides on planet B are locked by the t

C: When the time it takes for B to complete one rotation on its axis becomes equal to the time that B takes to revolve (complete one orbit) once around A.

And what is the consequence of tidal locking?
A: The same side of planet B will be facing star A at all times.
B: Planet B will stop revolving around star A.
C: The planet and star will collide after sometime.
D: None of the above.

A: The same side of planet B will be facing star A at all times.

Using the information that I have just told you, speculate on the kind of atmosphere that Mercury is likely to have:
A: An atmosphere that is thicker (denser) than Earth's atmosphere.
B: An atmosphere that is thinner than Earth's.
C: An atmosphere that is

B: An atmosphere that is thinner than Earth's.

Which of the following best describes how the sky would appear for someone standing on the surface of Mercury?
A: The sky would appear blue since Mercury's atmosphere is similar to Earth's.
B: The sky would appear black since Mercury has next to no atmosp

B: The sky would appear black since Mercury has next to no atmosphere.

Comparing Mercury to the Earth's Moon :
A: Since Mercury has so many active volcanoes, the craters on its surface have almost all been wiped away, while the Moon's craters remain.
B: Mercury is more than 100 times the mass of Earth's Moon.
C: they both ha

C: they both have little atmosphere and a similar cratered surface.

The mass of Jupiter is equivalent to approximately how many Earth masses?
A: 0.1.
B: 400.
C: 70,000 million.
D: 300.

D: 300.

Comparing the two images, what can be inferred about the relative temperature of the clouds that form zone and belt regions?
A: The zones are hotter than the belts.
B: The belts are hotter than the zones.
C: Both regions have the same temperature.
D: None

B: The belts are hotter than the zones.

Based on this movie, which of the following would be an accurate description of the Great Red Spot?
A: The red spot has formed at the interface between two adjacent bands.
B: The red spot is a solid feature on the gaseous surface of Jupiter.
C: The red sp

D: Both A and C.

In which direction does the Great Red Spot rotate?
A: Counter-clockwise.
B: Clockwise.
C: It does not rotate.
D: Both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

A: Counter-clockwise.

In the night sky, we are able to see some planets with the unaided eye because:
A: They reflect the Sun's light.
B: They reflect light from Earth.
C: They emit bright light in the visible range.
D: They emit bright light in the infrared range.

A: They reflect the Sun's light.

When charged particles in the solar wind under the magnetic field's influence interact with the atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, what observable phenomenon occurs?
A: Volcanoes.
B: Winter.
C: Gravity.
D: Aurora.

D: Aurora.

Given what we learned about the history of the solar system and the "heavy bombardment phase" that it went through, if a planet or a moon has very few craters on its surface, then which of the following is the most likely reason?
A: The planet (or moon) h

C: The planet (or moon) did have impacts with asteroids and comets from space, but the craters from those impacts were eroded over time by some natural process.

The mass of Saturn is equivalent to approximately how many Earth masses?
A: 10.
B: 50.
C: 100.
D: 500.
E: 1000.

C: 100.

The mass of Jupiter is equivalent to approximately how many Saturn masses?
A: �.
B: 1.
C: 2.
D: 3.
E: 5.

D: 3.

Which of the following phenomenon is associated with magnetic fields of planets?
A: greenhouse effect.
B: auroras.
C: retrograde motion.
D: seasons.

B: auroras.

Which of these observations was used to prove that the rings of Saturn are not a single solid sheet?
A: The orbital speed of outer part of the ring was smaller compared to the inner part.
B: The orbital speed of outer part of the ring was larger compared

A: The orbital speed of outer part of the ring was smaller compared to the inner part.

If not a single solid sheet, then which of the following best describes what the ring system of Saturn is like:
A: The ring structure is just an illusion.
B: Rapidly expanding gas with various different chemical compositions.
C: Individually orbiting part

C: Individually orbiting particles that are clustered around certain orbits.

Observations show the dominant composition of Saturn's rings as:
A: a mix of hydrogen and helium gas.
B: burned carbon compounds and rocks .
C: liquid water.
D: chunks of dusty water ice crystals.
E: chocolate chip cookie dough.

D: chunks of dusty water ice crystals.

Huygens probe saw bright and dark regions on the surface of Titan. Based on the measurements that Huygens carried out while descending through Titan's atmosphere, what are these dark and bright regions likely to be made of?
A: the dark and bright regions

C: the dark regions are hydrocarbon mixtures and the bright areas are water-ice .

The ground on which Huygens descented was littered with rocks and smaller pebbles (like a dried up river bed on Earth). What are these rocks and smaller pebbles understood to be?
A: We have no idea what they are.
B: the rocks and pebbles were made of meth

D: The rocks are made of water-ice and the smaller pebbles were made of either water-ice or hydrocarbons or a combination of the two.

Which of the following objects of the solar system also has an icy surface?
A: Venus.
B: Earth's Moon.
C: Jupiter's Moon Io.
D: Jupiter's Moon Europa.

D: Jupiter's Moon Europa.

How would you describe the rotation of Uranus?
A: Its rotation axis is very similar to Earth's, tilted at about 23 degrees relative to perpendicular.
B: Its rotation axis is not tilted very much at all, so that its equator always faces the Sun.
C: It alte

D: Its rotation axis is tilted so that its pole almost faces the Sun.

What chemical compound(s) gives Uranus its blue color?
A: methane.
B: hydrogen and helium.
C: liquid water.
D: ozone.

A: methane.

Why are Uranus's rings darker in color (gray) than Saturn's or Jupiter's?
A: they have a lot of carbon/soot-like material in them.
B: there is more sunlight incident on Uranus's rings because of its greater distance from the Sun.
C: they do not have as mu

A: they have a lot of carbon/soot-like material in them.

How long does it take for Neptune to complete one orbit around the Sun, in terms of the time it takes for Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun (1 Earth year)?
A: 164 Earth years.
B: 365 Earth days.
C: 1/2 Earth year.
D: 227 Million Earth years.

A: 164 Earth years.

Which of the following is true about Neptune?
A: Its atmosphere's composition and rings are most like Saturn's.
B: Its atmosphere's composition is most like Saturn's, but its rings are more like those of Uranus and Jupiter.
C: Its atmosphere's composition

C: Its atmosphere's composition is most like Uranus and its rings are like those of Uranus and Jupiter.

Based on current evidences and understanding, what is the composition at the center of Neptune and in fact at the center of all the giant planets in the outer Solar System?
A: There is no core; Nepture just has an atmosphere.
B: solid, rocky core.
C: swis

B: solid, rocky core.

Based on the information that you read, which year did Halley's Comet return last?
A: 1900.
B: 1911.
C: 1986.
D: 2004.

C: 1986.

Identify, which of these are classified as short period comets and which ones are long period comets.
A: Comets Halley and Ikeya-Seki are short period comets and the other two are long period.
B: All are short period comets.
C: Comet Hale-Bopp is a longer

D: Comets Ikeya-Seki and Hale-Bopp are long period and the other two are short period.

Kuiper belt objects, some of which become short period comets, are also known as:
A: long period comets.
B: failed stars because they are not very close to the Sun.
C: proto-asteroids because they are not yet large enough to be asteroids.
D: trans-Neptuni

D: trans-Neptunian objects because they are beyond Neptune's orbit.

What causes some Kuiper belt objects to become short period comets?
A: the wind from the forming Sun exerts a pressure which pushes them out away from the Sun and then they come back in again.
B: their orbits decay due to nuclear reactions in their metall

C: the gravity of the giant planets like Uranus and Neptune throw them into orbits that take them into the inner Solar System.

Based on the animation, which of the following is a truthful description of the physical appearance of a comet?
A: Comets develop a tail only when they get closer to the Sun in their orbit.
B: All comets are short period comets.
C: Comets emerge from the

A: Comets develop a tail only when they get closer to the Sun in their orbit.

A comet's nucleus is composed of:
A: dust, dry ice, and water ice.
B: iron and silicates.
C: just iron
D: gases, including mostly hydrogen and helium.

A: dust, dry ice, and water ice.

Identify the ion tail, dust tail and the nucleus of Comet West?
A: 1 - Nucleus, 2 - Ion Tail, 3 - Dust Tail.
B: 1 - Dust Tail, 2 - Nucleus, 3 - Ion Tail.
C: 1 - Ion Tail, 2 - Nucleus, 3 - Dust Tail.
D: 1 and 3 - Ion Tails, 2 - Nucleus.

C: 1 - Ion Tail, 2 - Nucleus, 3 - Dust Tail.

Most meteors :
A: are visible every night at about the same time for a couple of years.
B: are very small (centimeter scale) pieces of rock burning in the Earth's atmosphere.
C: appear as streaks of light in the sky when observed from Earth because of hea

B: are very small (centimeter scale) pieces of rock burning in the Earth's atmosphere.

From what you just saw and heard, which of the following is an accurate description of the KT event?
A: The impacting asteroid hit the Earth at the region that had the maximum human population.
B: Living forms, notably the dominant ones such as the dinosa

B: Living forms, notably the dominant ones such as the dinosaurs, were driven to extinction by the aftermath of the impact more than the impact itself.

Asteroids are :
A: rare objects - only three exist in our Solar System.
B: all very small, less than a centimeter in diameter.
C: all found out beyond the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud.
D: found in high concentration in an asteroid belt between the orbits of

D: found in high concentration in an asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

A meteor shower can occur when :
A: Earth's orbit crosses a trail of debris left behind from a comet.
B: Earth passes through the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
C: many stars pass near the Sun at the same time and shoot through the sky.
D: shooti

A: Earth's orbit crosses a trail of debris left behind from a comet.

The material in a meteorite is :
A: mostly gases and vapors from the Sun.
B: unknown since scientists have never been able to collect one.
C: a few thousand years old.
D: roughly as old as the Solar System.

D: roughly as old as the Solar System.

Estimate the approximate distance to Pluto based on its orbital time period?
A: 0.5 AU
B: 200 AU
C: 12 AU
D: 40 AU

D: 40 AU

How does Pluto's mass compare with that of Earth's Moon?
A: The Moon is roughly 7 times more massive than Pluto.
B: Pluto is roughly 7 times more massive that the Moon.
C: They both have the same mass.
D: Pluto's mass is roughly 1/20th the mass of the Moo

A: The Moon is roughly 7 times more massive than Pluto.

1. Which statement about the rotation of the Inner planets is true?
a) Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the three others. b) All rotate in the same direction. c) The rotation periods of all of them are the same, i.e. 1 Earth day. d) All have r

a) Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the three others.

2. Which of the following is TRUE?
a) The average surface temperature of Venus is about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. b) Mercury has a very thick atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide. c) The runaway greenhouse effect causes the present temperatures on Mars t

d) Mercury rotates exactly one and a half times for every one revolution around the Sun.

3. How was the surface of Venus mapped?
a) with images taken in optical light by the Keck Telescope in Hawaii b) with a roving vehicle that landed on the surface of Venus c) with images taken in optical light by the Hubble Space Telescope d) with radar bo

d) with radar bounced off of it by the Magellan spacecraft

4. Why do the orbits of the planets all lie in nearly the same plane?
a) Collisions between planetesimals destroyed all planets that would have been elsewhere. b) The Sun's gravity forced them into these orbits. c) The early solar nebula flattened into a

c) The early solar nebula flattened into a disk.

5. The planets of the solar system were formed
a) as condensations/accretions of hot gases ejected from the Sun b) by the accumulation of many comets c) by a near collision between the Sun and a nearby star d) as individual condensation/accretion centers

d) as individual condensation/accretion centers in a rotating solar nebula

6. Which planet has the most moons?
a) Earth b) Mercury c) Saturn d) Mars e) Venus

c) Saturn

7. Why is Mars' surface red?
a) because little green men painted it that way b) because its surface is mostly made of lava ejected from its giant volcanoes c) because there is more ammonia than methane on the surface of Mars, unlike on the Jovian
planets

d) because the soil is iron rich and the iron reacted with oxygen in the early atmosphere
to make rust

8. Venus is visible to us:
a) only near sunrise or sunset. b) only during the several hours around midnight. c) only in the winter. d) only in the summer. e) only during its new phase.

a) only near sunrise or sunset.

9. A planet is in orbit around the Sun. The semimajor axis of the orbit is 5 Astronomical Units (AU). Use P 2 = a3 to calculate the period of the orbit in years.
a) 5 years b) 0.2 years c) 135 years d) 125 years e) 11.2 years

e) 11.2 years

10. Which planet is very hot because of an extreme greenhouse effect?
a) Mars b) Earth c) Venus d) Mercury e) Jupiter

c) Venus

11. Which is a consequence of the synchronous orbit of the Earth's Moon (equal period of rotation and revolution) ?
a) lunar eclipses b) phases of the Moon c) same side of the Moon always faces the Earth d) solar eclipses e) craters on the Moon

c) same side of the Moon always faces the Earth d) solar eclipses

12. The Great Red Spot is:
a) a hotter spot on the Sun's surface b) a tornado on Neptune c) an anticyclone on Jupiter d) a lake on the surface of Titan
e) a lava flow on Io

c) an anticyclone on Jupiter

13. Jupiter emits about two times as much energy as it receives from the Sun because
a) nuclear fusion b) its magnetosphere catches particles that collisionally c) volcanoes on the rocky core make the heat d) it is still radiating heat from its collapse e

d) it is still radiating heat from its collapse

14. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
a) Io has a noticeable lack of impact craters on its surface. b) All of the Jovian planets have a ring system. c) The surface of Europa is completely covered by water ice. d) Saturn has small and medium-size

d) Saturn has small and medium-sized moons, but no large ones.

15. How do most craters on moons form?
a) by volcanic activity b) running water c) by seismic activity (earthquakes) d) earthquakes e) impact of asteroids

e) impact of asteroids

16. Which planet is able to retain the largest (by radius and by volume) atmosphere?
a) Mercury b) Earth c) Jupiter d) Mars
e) Venus

c) Jupiter

17. The escape velocity needed for an atom in the atmosphere of a planet to escape the gravitational pull of the planet is larger if
a) the planet is closer to the Sun b) the mass of the planet is larger c) the temperature of the gas in the atmosphere is

b) the mass of the planet is larger

18. Which is largest?
a) Saturn's moon Mimas b) Mercury c) Saturn's moon Iapetus d) Pluto
e) Jupiter's moon Ganymede

e) Jupiter's moon Ganymede

19. Which planet has a temperature of 400 degrees Centigrade on the side facing the Sun and -180 degrees Centigrade on the side opposite the Sun?
a) Mars b) Venus c) Earth d) Jupiter e) Mercury

e) Mercury

20. How many Earth years does it take Uranus to orbit the Sun?
a) 84 b) 1 c) 0.48 d) 2.4 e) 0.27

a) 84

21. Which Terrestrial planet has the lowest density atmosphere (i.e. none)?
a) Venus b) Mercury c) Mars d) Jupiter e) Earth

b) Mercury

22. Meteors are
a) asteroids or comet debris that passes into Earth's atmosphere and burns up b) a group of rocky objects between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn c) comets that are vaporized when they pass very close to the Sun d) comets that escape the

a) asteroids or comet debris that passes into Earth's atmosphere and burns up

23. Which feature of Neptune is most responsible for its blue color?
a) methane in its atmosphere b) auroral activity due to its strong magnetic field c) excess energy emitted by the interior d) winds blowing at speeds almost that of sound e) large oceans

a) methane in its atmosphere

24. The surface of Venus is hotter than the surface of Mercury because
a) Venus is closer to the Sun than Mercury. b) Mercury's atmosphere prevents radiation from penetrating through to its surface. c) of the volcanic activity that occurs on Venus. d) Ven

d) Venus is more massive and is able to retain a thick atmosphere.

25. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
a) Neither Uranus or Neptune have ring systems. b) The planet Uranus is blue-green and virtually featureless. c) There is no evidence to suggest that either Jupiter or Saturn has a rocky core. d) The Great Re

b) The planet Uranus is blue-green and virtually featureless.