Astronomy Chp. 11 – Flashcards

1) Why do jovian planets bulge around the equator, that is, have a "squashed" appearance?

2) How much energy does Jupiter emit compared with how much it receives from the Sun?

3) How many more times is the atmospheric pressure in Jupiter's core greater than the atmospheric pressure at Earth's surface?

4) Which of the following does not yield information on jovian planet interiors?

5) How do astronomers think Jupiter generates its internal heat?

6) How does Jupiter's core compare to Earth's?

7) Why is Jupiter denser than Saturn?

8) Why is Neptune denser than Saturn?

9) Why is Saturn almost as big as Jupiter, despite its smaller mass?

10) How do astronomers think Saturn generates its internal heat?

11) How do the jovian planet interiors differ?

12) Why do the jovian planet interiors differ?

13) Why does Jupiter have several distinct cloud layers?

14) The belts and zones of Jupiter are

15) What is Jupiter's Great Red Spot?

16) Why do Uranus and Neptune have blue methane clouds but Jupiter and Saturn do not?

17) The four Galilean moons around Jupiter are

18) Why are there no impact craters on the surface of Io?

19) The fact that most moons always show the same face to their planet is

20) What causes synchronous rotation?

21) 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?

22) What mechanism is most responsible for generating the internal heat of Io that drives the volcanic activity?

23) Which of the following is not due to tidal forces? A) the synchronous rotation of the Moon around Earth B) the volcanos on Io (a moon of Jupiter) C) the rings of Saturn D) the grooved terrain of Enceladus (a moon of Saturn) E) the backward orbit of Triton (a moon of Neptune)

24) Which moon has the most substantial atmosphere?

25) What is the most abundant gas in Titan's atmosphere?

26) Which of the following statements about Titan is not true? A) It may have an ocean of liquid ethane. B) Its atmosphere is mostly nitrogen. C) Its temperature is too cold for liquid water to exist. D) Its surface is hidden from view by its thick atmosphere. E) It is the coldest moon in the solar system.

27) Why does Titan have such a nitrogen-rich atmosphere?

28) Why do astronomers think Miranda has such an unusual surface?

29) Why do astronomers believe Triton may have been a planet that was captured by Neptune?

30) How thick are Saturn's rings from top to bottom?

31) Why are Saturn's rings so thin?

32) Planetary rings are

33) What is the Cassini division of Saturn's rings?

34) Which of the following statements about the rings of the four jovian planets is not true? A) All rings lie within their planet's Roche zone. B) All the particle orbits are fairly circular, near their planet's equatorial plane. C) All have gaps and ringlets, probably due to gap moons, shepherd moons, and orbital resonances. D) All probably look much like they did when the solar system first formed. E) All are made of individual particles of rock or ice that orbit in accord with Kepler's laws: inner ring particles orbiting faster, and outer ring particles orbiting slower.

35) Which of the jovian planets have rings?

36) Which of the following planets cannot be seen with the naked eye: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or Neptune

37) Which previously unknown planet's location was predicted from mathematical calculations of orbital motions?

1) T or F If Jupiter were 10 times more massive, it would actually have a smaller radius.

2) T or F Hydrogen exists as a gas, liquid, and solid within Jupiter.

3) T or F If Jupiter were 10 times more massive, it would generate nuclear fusion in its core and be a star instead of a planet.

4) T or F Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a low-pressure storm like a hurricane on Earth.

5) T or F Jupiter does not have seasons because it has no appreciable axis tilt.

6) T or F Jupiter is slowly shrinking through gravitational contraction today.

7) T or F Uranus continues to generate internal heat through gravitational contraction.

8) T or F Synchronous rotation is when a moon's rotation period and orbital period are the same.

9) T or F Some of the moons of the jovian planets have significant atmospheres.

10) T or F Both the existence and the location of Neptune were predicted mathematically before the planet actually was detected by telescope.

11) T or F Pluto exerts a noticeable gravitational influence on Uranus.

12) T or F Process of Science: A prediction based on Newton's theory of gravity led to the discovery of Neptune.

1) Which of the following is not a general characteristic of the four jovian planets in our solar system? A) They lack solid surfaces. B) They are composed mainly of hydrogen, helium, and hydrogen compounds. C) They are higher in average density than are the terrestrial planets. D) They are much more massive then any of the terrestrial planets.

2) Which of the following best describes the internal layering of Jupiter, from the center outward?

3) The energy in the atmospheres of most of the jovian planets comes

4) Which of the following statements comparing the jovian interiors is not thought to be true? A) They all have cores of roughly the same mass. B) They all have the same exact set of internal layers, though these layers differ in size. C) They all have cores that contain at least some rock and metal. D) Deep inside them, they all have pressures far higher than that found on the bottom of the ocean on Earth.

5) Overall, Jupiter's composition is most like that of

6) Jupiter's colors come in part from its three layers of clouds. Which of the following is not the primary constituent of one of Jupiter's cloud layers? A) clouds of sulfuric acid B) clouds of water C) clouds of ammonium hydrosulfide D) clouds of ammonia

7) How do typical wind speeds in Jupiter's atmosphere compare to typical wind speeds on Earth?

8) What is the Great Red Spot?

9) What atmospheric constituent is responsible for the blue color of Uranus and Neptune?

10) How does the strength of Jupiter's magnetic field compare to that of Earth's magnetic field?

11) Which of the following statements about the moons of the jovian planets is not true? A) Some of the moons are big enough that we'd call them planets (or dwarf planets) if they orbited the Sun. B) One of the moons has a thick atmosphere. C) Many of the moons are made largely of ices. D) Most of the moons are large enough to be spherical in shape, but a few have the more potato-like shapes of asteroids.

12) Which statement about Io is true?

13) Which moon has a thick atmosphere made mostly of nitrogen?

14) The Huygens probe took numerous pictures as it descended to Titan's surface in 2005. What did the pictures show?

15) Which moon is considered likely to have a deep, subsurface ocean of liquid water?

16) Which large jovian moon is thought to have been captured into its present orbit?

17) Suppose you could float in space just a few meters above Saturn's rings. What would you see as you looked down on the rings?

18) Which statement about planetary rings is not true? A) All four jovian planets have rings. B) Individual ring particles orbit their planet in accord with Kepler's laws, so that particles closer in orbit faster than particles farther out. C) Rings are always located closer to a planet's surface than any large moons. D) Saturn's rings formed along with its moons 4.6 billion years ago.

1) Which of the following gases is not a significant ingredient of the jovian planet atmospheres? A) carbon dioxide B) hydrogen C) helium D) water

2) Jupiter and the other jovian planets are sometimes called "gas giants." In what sense is this term misleading?

3) According to our theory of solar system formation, why did Uranus and Neptune end up to be much less massive than Jupiter and Saturn?

4) Which of the following most likely explains why Jupiter's interior releases so much heat?

5) What would happen to Jupiter if we could somehow double its mass?

6) Which planet may have helium rain in its interior, and what does this rain do?

7) Why does Jupiter have three distinct layers of clouds?

8) Which of the following best why we see horizontal "stripes" in photographs of Jupiter and Saturn?

9) Uranus and Neptune have methane clouds but Jupiter and Saturn do not. Which factor explains why?

10) Which jovian planet should have the most extreme seasonal changes?

11) Why is the radiation so intense in the region that traces Io's orbit around Jupiter (the Io torus)?

12) Which of the following best explains why many jovian moons have been more geologically active than the Moon or Mercury?

13) All the following statements are true. Which one is most important in explaining the tremendous tidal heating that occurs on Io?

14) Which of the following is not a piece of evidence supporting the idea that Europa may have a subsurface ocean? A) Europa has a magnetic field that appears to be induced by Jupiter's magnetic field. B) Photos of Europa's surface show regions that appear to consist of jumbled icebergs frozen in place. C) Europa's surface shows very few impact craters. D) Astronomers have detected small lakes of liquid water on Europa's surface.

15) Which of the following is most unlikely to be found on Titan? A) lakes of liquid methane or ethane B) rain or snow consisting of methane or ethane droplets or ice crystals C) lakes of liquid water in the warmer equatorial regions D) volcanic outgassing of methane and other gases

16) Why do astronomers believe that Triton is a captured moon?

17) Which statement about Saturn's rings is not true? A) The large gap known as the Cassini Division is shaped by an orbital resonance with the moon Mimas, which orbits well outside the rings. B) Some features of the rings are shaped by small moons that actually orbit within the ring system. C) The rings are so thin that they essentially disappear from view when seen edge-on. D) The rings must look much the same today as they did shortly after Saturn formed.