Finals (outer planet Prac test) part 1 – Flashcards

1) Why do jovian planets bulge around the equator, that is, have a "squashed" appearance? A) They are much more massive than the terrestrial planets. B) Their large systems of moons and rings gravitationally attract the mass around the equator more. C) Their rapid rotation flings the mass near the equator outward. D) Their internal heat sources exert a pressure against the sides of the planets. E) all of the above

2) How much energy does Jupiter emit compared with how much it receives from the Sun? A) It emits 10 times as much. B) It emits twice as much. C) It emits half as much. D) It emits 10 percent as much. E) It emits 1 percent as much

3) How many more times is the atmospheric pressure in Jupiter's core greater than the atmospheric pressure at Earth's surface? A) 10 thousand B) 100 thousand C) 1 million D) 10 million E) 100 million

4) Which of the following does not yield information on jovian planet interiors? A) Earth-based observations of the mass and size of the planets B) spacecraft measurements of magnetic and gravitational fields C) laboratory studies and theoretical models D) spectroscopy of the cloud layers E) detailed observations of planetary shapes

5) How do astronomers think Jupiter generates its internal heat? A) radioactive decay B) internal friction due to its high rotation rate C) chemical processes D) nuclear fusion in the core E) by contracting, changing gravitational potential energy into thermal energy

6) How does Jupiter's core compare to Earth's? A) It is the same size and mass. B) It is about 10 times larger both in size and mass. C) It is about 10 times larger in size and the same mass. D) It is about the same size but is 10 times more massive. E) Jupiter doesn't have a core-it is made entirely from hydrogen and helium

7) Why is Jupiter denser than Saturn? A) It is made of a different composition than Saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks. B) The extra mass of Jupiter compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of Saturn. C) Its core is much larger than Saturn's. D) It has a greater proportion of helium to hydrogen compared to Saturn. E) It is unknown why this is so.

8) Why is Neptune denser than Saturn? A) It has a different composition than Saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks. B) It has a greater proportion of hydrogen than Saturn. C) The extra mass of Neptune compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of Saturn. D) Its hydrogen is molecular, whereas Saturn's hydrogen is atomic. E) It is not denser than Saturn.

9) Why is Saturn almost as big as Jupiter, despite its smaller mass? A) Jupiter's greater mass compresses it more, thus increasing its density. B) Saturn's rings make the planet look bigger. C) Saturn is further from the Sun, thus cooler, and therefore less compact. D) Saturn has a larger proportion of hydrogen and helium than Jupiter, and is therefore less dense. E) Jupiter's strong magnetic field constrains its size

10) How do astronomers think Saturn generates its internal heat? A) radioactive decay B) internal friction due to its high rotation rate C) chemical processes D) by raining dense helium droplets from higher to lower altitudes, resembling the process of differentiation E) nuclear fusion in the core

11) How do the jovian planet interiors differ? A) All have cores of about the same mass, but differ in the amount of surrounding hydrogen and helium. B) The core mass decreases with the mass of the planet. C) The composition changes from mostly ammonia in Jupiter and Saturn to mostly methane in Uranus and Neptune. D) The composition changes from mostly hydrogen in Jupiter and Saturn to mostly helium in Uranus and Neptune. E) All have about the same amount of hydrogen and helium but the proportion of rocks is greater in those planets closer to the Sun

12) Why do the jovian planet interiors differ? A) The more distant planets formed in a cooler region of the solar nebula and therefore contain a greater proportion of ices than the closer jovian planets. B) They differ due to giant impacts at the late stages of planet formation. C) Accretion took longer further from the Sun, so the more distant planets formed their cores later and captured less gas from the solar nebula than the closer jovian planets. D) The solar heating is less for the more distant planets than the closer planets. E) The more distant planets had longer to form than the closer planets, since the solar nebula lasted longer at greater distances from the Sun

13) Why does Jupiter have several distinct cloud layers? A) Different layers represent clouds made of gases that condense at different temperatures. B) Different layers represent the various regions where the temperature is cool enough for liquid water to condense. C) Different gases are present at different altitudes in Jupiter's atmosphere. D) Winds prevent clouds from forming at some altitudes, so we see clouds only at the other altitudes. E) Clouds form randomly, so on average there are always several layers

14) The belts and zones of Jupiter are A) alternating bands of rising and falling air at different latitudes. B) cyclonic and anticyclonic storms. C) names for different cloud layers on Jupiter. D) alternating regions of charged particles in Jupiter's magnetic field. E) the thermosphere and stratosphere respectively

15) What is Jupiter's Great Red Spot? A) the place where reddish particles from Io impact Jupiter's surface B) a hurricane that comes and goes on Jupiter C) a large mountain peak poking up above the clouds D) a long-lived, high-pressure storm E) the place where Jupiter's aurora is most visible

16) Why do Uranus and Neptune have blue methane clouds but Jupiter and Saturn do not? A) Methane does not condense into ice in the warmer atmospheric temperatures of Jupiter and Saturn. B) Methane did not exist in the solar nebula at the radii of Jupiter and Saturn when the planets formed. C) The greater gravitational force of Jupiter and Saturn prevents the methane from rising to the upper edges of the atmosphere. D) Methane reacts with the abundant ammonia clouds in Jupiter and Saturn. E) The relatively slow rotation of Uranus and Neptune allows methane to migrate to higher levels in the atmosphere and condense into clouds

17) The four Galilean moons around Jupiter are A) all made of rock. B) all made of ice. C) a mixture of rock and ice. D) very similar to asteroids. E) hydrogen and helium gas

18) Why are there no impact craters on the surface of Io? A) It is too small to have been bombarded by planetesimals in the early solar system. B) Jupiter's strong gravity attracted the planetesimals more strongly than Io and thus none landed on its surface. C) Io did have impact craters but they have all been buried in lava flows. D) Any craters that existed have been eroded through the strong winds on Io's surface. E) Io's thick atmosphere obscures the view of the craters

19) The fact that most moons always show the same face to their planet is A) very surprising and a great mystery. B) a natural consequence of the fact that the entire solar nebula rotated in the same direction. C) explained by the law of conservation of angular momentum. D) a natural consequence of tidal forces acting on the moons. E) a result of the fact that the moons once had atmospheres

20) What causes synchronous rotation? A) Most jovian moons were formed out of their planet's nebula with the same rotational period as their parent planet. B) Most jovian moons were formed out of their planet's nebula with the same orbital period. C) A massive planet exerts a tidal force on a moon that causes the moon to obtain the same rotational period as its parent planet. D) A massive planet exerts a tidal force on a moon that causes the moon to align itself such that its tidal bulges always point toward and away from the planet. E) orbital resonances with other moons

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? A) Ice has a lower melting point than rock. B) Ice is less rigid than rock. C) Ice contains more radioactive elements than rock. D) Ice is affected by tidal forces to a greater extent than rock. E) Ice is less dense than rock

22) What mechanism is most responsible for generating the internal heat of Io that drives the volcanic activity? A) accretion B) radioactive decay C) differentiation D) tidal heating E) bombardment

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? A) Titan B) Ganymede C) Io D) Europa E) Mimas

25) What is the most abundant gas in Titan's atmosphere? A) methane B) nitrogen C) hydrogen compounds D) oxygen E) argon

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? A) It was formed that way in the solar nebula. B) The nitrogen comes from the breakup of ammonia (NH3) by solar radiation and subsequent thermal escape of the hydrogen. C) The nitrogen was formed from the chemical reaction of sulphuric acid with surface rocks. D) Through the impact of nitrogen rich comets during the early solar system. E) The nitrogen was created through a chain of fusion reactions in Titan's core

28) Why do astronomers think Miranda has such an unusual surface? A) It underwent an episode of tidal heating in the past. B) It was squashed by a giant impact. C) It formed from the remains of a giant impact relatively recently. D) Its surface is covered with a powdery dust from micrometeorite impacts. E) Its low temperature affects the colors of its surface ice

29) Why do astronomers believe Triton may have been a planet that was captured by Neptune? A) It orbits Neptune in the opposite direction of Neptune's rotation. B) It is too large to have been formed in the jovian nebula that formed Neptune. C) It has an atmosphere and a measurable greenhouse effect. D) It undergoes seasonal changes. E) It is colder than any other moon or planet

30) How thick are Saturn's rings from top to bottom? A) a few million kilometers B) a few tens of thousands of kilometers C) a few hundred kilometers D) a few kilometers E) a few tens of meters

31) Why are Saturn's rings so thin? A) Saturn's gravity prevents particles from migrating upwards out of the rings. B) The "gap" moons shepherd the particles and maintain its thin profile. C) Any particle in the ring with an orbital tilt would collide with other ring particles, flattening its orbit. D) Solar radiation pressure keeps particles pressed into the rings. E) The current thinness is a short-lived phenomenon that is special to this time

32) Planetary rings are A) nearer to their planet than any of the planet's large moons. B) orbiting in the equatorial plane of their planet. C) composed of a large number of individual particles that orbit their planet in accord with Kepler's third law. D) known to exist for all of the jovian planets. E) all of the above

33) What is the Cassini division of Saturn's rings? A) a dark ring, visible from Earth, composed of dark, dusty particles B) a large gap, visible from Earth C) the imaginary circle marking the halfway point of Saturn's rings D) the widest ring of Saturn, located between two large ring gaps E) the most opaque ring of Saturn, made of highly reflective ice particles

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? A) Jupiter B) Saturn C) Uranus D) Neptune E) all of the above

36) Which of the following planets cannot be seen with the naked eye? A) Venus B) Mars C) Jupiter D) Saturn E) Neptune

37) Which previously unknown planet's location was predicted from mathematical calculations of orbital motions? A) Mercury B) Uranus C) Neptune D) Pluto E) all of the above

If Jupiter were 10 times more massive, it would actually have a smaller radius. True or False

Hydrogen exists as a gas, liquid, and solid within Jupiter. True or False

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

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a low-pressure storm like a hurricane on Earth. True or False

Jupiter does not have seasons because it has no appreciable axis tilt. True or False

Jupiter is slowly shrinking through gravitational contraction today. True or False

Uranus continues to generate internal heat through gravitational contraction. True or False

Synchronous rotation is when a moon's rotation period and orbital period are the same. True or False

Some of the moons of the jovian planets have significant atmospheres. True or False

Both the existence and the location of Neptune were predicted mathematically before the planet actually was detected by telescope. True or False

Pluto exerts a noticeable gravitational influence on Uranus. True or False

Process of Science: A prediction based on Newton's theory of gravity led to the discovery of Neptune. True or False