ASTR Chapter 12 – Flashcards
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1) Which of the following statements about comets and asteroids is true? A) Only asteroids collide with Earth. B) Comets are balls of ice and dust. C) Most of the trillions of comets in our solar system have tails. D) All asteroids lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. E) There are about 1 million known asteroids in the solar system.
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Answer: B
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2) What do asteroids and comets have in common? A) Most are unchanged since their formation in the solar nebula. B) They have similar densities. C) They have similar orbital radii. D) They have a similar range of orbital inclinations. E) They have nothing in common with each other.
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Answer: A
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3) A rocky leftover planetesimal orbiting the Sun is A) a comet. B) a meteor. C) an asteroid. D) a meteorite. E) possibly any of the above
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Answer: C
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4) An icy leftover planetesimal orbiting the Sun is A) a comet. B) a meteor. C) an asteroid. D) a meteorite. E) possibly any of the above
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Answer: A
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5) Why do asteroids and comets differ in composition? A) Asteroids formed inside the frost line, while comets formed outside. B) Asteroids and comets formed at different times. C) Comets formed from the jovian nebula, while asteroids did not. D) Comets are much larger than asteroids. E) Asteroids are much larger than comets.
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Answer: A
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6) What is the size of the largest asteroid? A) 1 km B) 10 km C) 100 km D) 1,000 km E) 10,000 km
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Answer: D
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7) How does the largest asteroid, Ceres, compare in size to other solar system worlds? A) It is larger than Pluto and Mercury. B) It is about the size of a large jovian moon. C) It is about the size of Pluto. D) It is about a quarter the size of the Moon. E) It is smaller than any jovian moon.
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Answer: D
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8) Which is closest to the average distance between asteroids in the asteroid belt? A) 1 thousand km B) 10 thousand km C) 100 thousand km D) 1 million km E) 10 million km
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Answer: D
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9) The combined mass of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt is A) less than that of any terrestrial planet. B) about the same as that of Earth. C) about twice that of Earth. D) about the same as that of Jupiter. E) more than that of all the planets combined.
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Answer: A
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10) Where are the Trojan asteroids located? A) surrounding Jupiter B) along Jupiter's orbit, 60° ahead of and behind Jupiter C) in the center of the asteroid belt D) on orbits that cross Earth's orbit E) on orbits that cross Mars's orbit
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Answer: B
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11) We know that there are large gaps in the average distances of asteroids from the Sun (within the asteroid belt) because we A) see the gaps through telescopes. B) see the gaps via stellar occultation. C) know they are there theoretically, although we haven't detected them. D) actually don't know whether there really are gaps or not. E) have plotted distributions of the orbital radii of the asteroids.
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Answer: E
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12) The large gaps in the asteroid belt (often called Kirkwood gaps) are caused by A) large asteroids that clear certain regions of the asteroid belt. B) tidal forces from Jupiter. C) tidal forces from the Sun. D) orbital resonances with Jupiter. E) the competing gravitational tugs of Mars and Jupiter.
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Answer: D
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13) Why do we sometimes observe asteroids at the distances of the gaps in the asteroid belt? A) A gap is located at an average orbital distance, and asteroid orbits often have large eccentricities. B) Jupiter's gravitational tugs keep them there. C) They are held in place by resonances with other asteroids. D) They are kept in place by shepherding asteroids. E) Actually, we never see asteroids in the gaps.
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Answer: A
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14) Why isn't there a planet where the asteroid belt is located? A) There was not enough material in this part of the solar nebula to form a planet. B) A planet once formed here, but it was broken apart by a catastrophic collision. C) Gravitational tugs from Jupiter prevented material from collecting together to form a planet. D) There was too much rocky material to form a terrestrial planet, but not enough gaseous material to form a jovian planet. E) The temperature in this portion of the solar nebula was just right to prevent rock from sticking together.
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Answer: C
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15) How can we determine an asteroid's reflectivity? A) by determining its mass B) by comparing its infrared thermal emission to its visible-light reflection C) by seeing how dark or light it looks in telescopic images D) by determining how far from the Sun it is E) by determining its size
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Answer: B
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16) If we know the size of an asteroid, we can determine its density by A) comparing its reflectivity to the amount of light it reflects. B) looking for brightness variations as it rotates. C) determining its mass from its gravitational pull on a spacecraft, satellite, or planet. D) radar mapping. E) spectroscopic imaging.
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Answer: C
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17) Why aren't small asteroids spherical in shape? A) The strength of gravity on small asteroids is less than the strength of the rock. B) Small asteroids have odd shapes because they were all chipped off larger objects. C) Large asteroids were once molten and therefore became spherical, but small asteroids were never molten. D) Large asteroids became spherical because many small collisions chipped off pieces until only a sphere was left this did not occur with small asteroids.
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Answer: A
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18) What is a meteorite? A) a streak of light caused by a star moving across the sky B) a streak of light caused by a small particle from space burning up in Earth's atmosphere C) a fragment of an asteroid from the solar system that has fallen to Earth's surface D) a small moon that orbits one of the giant planets E) a comet that burns up in Earth's atmosphere
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Answer: C
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19) What do we call a small piece of solar system debris found on Earth? A) solar system debris B) cometary fragment C) meteor D) meteorite E) meteoroid
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Answer: D
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20) A typical shooting star in a meteor shower is caused by a ________ entering Earth's atmosphere. A) boulder-size particle from an asteroid B) boulder-size particle from a comet C) pea-size particle from an asteroid D) pea-size particle from a comet E) microscopic particle of interstellar dust
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Answer: D
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21) What characteristic distinguishes a meteorite from a terrestrial rock? A) A meteorite is usually covered with a dark crust from burning in Earth's atmosphere. B) A meteorite usually has a high metal content. C) Meteorites have different isotope ratios of particular elements when compared to terrestrial rocks. D) Meteorites contain rare elements, such as iridium, that terrestrial rocks do not. E) All of the above are true.
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Answer: E
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22) Primitive meteorites can be distinguished from other meteorites and terrestrial rocks because they A) contain a noticeable fraction of pure metallic flakes. B) resemble the composition of Earth's core. C) contain a lot of iron and were used by humans to make iron tools. D) resemble the composition of Earth's mantle. E) resemble the composition of rocks from lava flows that occurred on asteroids very shortly after the formation of the solar system.
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Answer: A
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23) Most meteorites are A) carbon-rich and primitive. B) rocky and primitive. C) carbon-rich and processed. D) rocky and processed. E) iron-rich and processed.
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Answer: B
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24) Processed meteorites with low metal content probably are A) leftover chunks of rock from the earliest period in the formation of the solar system. B) pieces of comets rather than of asteroids. C) chunks of a larger asteroid that was shattered by a collision. D) chunks of rock chipped off the planet Mercury. E) chunks of rock chipped off the planet Mars.
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Answer: C
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25) Meteorites can come from A) the cores of asteroids. B) the Moon. C) Mars. D) comets. E) all of the above
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Answer: E
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26) Halley's comet is named after the English scientist Edmund Halley because he A) discovered it. B) was the first to see it in 1682. C) calculated its orbit and predicted that it would return in 1758. D) was the most famous astronomer in England during its appearance. E) was the first to publish pictures of it and report it to the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
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Answer: C
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27) In order to have a comet named after you, you have to A) calculate its orbit and predict when it will return. B) publish a picture of it in an astronomical journal. C) be one of the first three discoverers who report it to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). D) be a well-known astronomer. E) be and do all of the above
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Answer: C
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28) When do comets generally begin to form a tail? A) inside Mercury's orbit B) between Mercury and Earth's orbit C) beyond Jupiter's orbit D) inside of Jupiter's orbit E) They always have a tail (until they run out of material).
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Answer: D
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29) What part of a comet points most directly away from the Sun? A) the nucleus B) the coma C) the jets of gas D) the plasma tail E) the dust tail
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Answer: D
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30) Why does the plasma tail of a comet always point away from the Sun? A) The solar wind electromagnetically "blows" the ions directly away from the Sun. B) Radiation pressure from the Sun's light pushes the ions away. C) The conservation of the angular momentum of the tail keeps it always pointing away from the Sun. D) Gases from the comet, heated by the Sun, push the tail away from the Sun. E) It is allergic to sunlight.
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Answer: A
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31) Where did comets that are now in the Oort cloud originally form? A) near the jovian planets B) outside Neptune's orbit C) inside Jupiter's orbit D) within the solar nebula, but far outside the orbit of Pluto E) all of the above
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Answer: A
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32) Where did comets that are now in the Kuiper belt originally form? A) in the asteroid belt B) inside Jupiter's orbit C) between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune D) near the radius at which they orbit today E) in the Oort cloud
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Answer: D
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33) Comets with extremely elliptical orbits, like comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, A) come from the asteroid belt. B) come from the Kuiper belt. C) come from the Oort cloud. D) are Trojan comets. E) are captured by Jupiter.
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Answer: C
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34) The number of comets in the Oort cloud is probably about A) a thousand. B) a million. C) a billion. D) a trillion. E) a quintillion.
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Answer: D
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35) What is the typical size of comets that enter the inner solar system? A) 1 km B) 10 km C) 100 km D) 1000 km E) Comet sizes are unknown because their tails obscure the nucleus.
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Answer: B
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36) When was Pluto discovered? A) about 30 years ago B) about 80 years ago C) about 200 years ago D) about 2000 years ago E) in ancient history
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Answer: B
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37) Why won't Pluto collide with Neptune? A) Pluto's orbit is completely outside Neptune's orbit. B) Pluto's orbit is completely inside Neptune's orbit. C) Pluto's orbit never comes anywhere close to Neptune's orbit. D) The two planets have an orbital resonance that prevents them from colliding. E) It could!
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Answer: D
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38) What is Charon? A) Pluto's moon B) the largest known asteroid C) the largest known comet D) one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter E) a moon of Neptune
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Answer: A
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39) Which of the following does not lend support to the idea that Pluto is a Kuiper-belt object? A) Pluto has a cometlike composition and density. B) Pluto is regarded by many to be a planet. C) Some asteroids have their own moons. D) Pluto has a more eccentric orbit than other planets. E) Some known Kuiper-belt objects are hundreds of kilometers across.
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Answer: B
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40) In the asteroid impact theory of the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs (and over half of all the other species on Earth at that time) died off largely because A) of injuries suffered from direct hits of pieces of the asteroid or comet. B) dust injected into the stratosphere from the impact absorbed visible light from the Sun, causing global temperatures to plummet. C) radiation from iridium in the asteroid caused the dinosaurs to die of cancer. D) the impact caused massive earthquakes and volcanic activity worldwide. E) dust settled on the leaves of plants, making them inedible, so the animals died of starvation.
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Answer: B
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41) Why was the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact so important to astronomers? A) It dredged up material that gave us our first direct look at Jupiter's interior composition. B) It wiped out the dinosaurs. C) It was the first direct proof that impacts really occur. D) It confirmed our theory of solar system formation. E) It was the first event in modern history that was brighter than the full moon in the sky.
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Answer: A
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42) On average, how often do impactors about 10 km in size, large enough to produce mass extinction, hit Earth? A) once every century B) once every thousand years C) once every million years D) once every hundred million years E) once in Earth's history
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Answer: D
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43) Which of the following Pluto observations did not help convince scientists to change Pluto's status from that of a planet? A) discovery of the Kuiper Belt B) discovery of seasonal atmosphere, similar to comets C) discovery of large Kuiper Belt Objects D) discovery of Pluto's 3 moons
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Answer: D
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1) A spacecraft traveling through the asteroid belt has a high risk of being destroyed through a collision.
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Answer: FALSE
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2) Falling stars and shooting stars are simply other names for meteors.
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Answer: TRUE
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3) Most meteorites collected on Earth are of the rocky primitive variety, although most asteroids are of the carbon-rich variety.
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Answer: TRUE
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4) All meteorites collected on Earth come from asteroids or comets.
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Answer: FALSE
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5) No spacecraft has ever visited an asteroid or comet.
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Answer: FALSE
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6) Comet nuclei can be darker than charcoal.
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Answer: TRUE
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7) Oort-cloud comets are so far from the Sun that the gravity of neighboring stars can alter their orbits.
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Answer: TRUE
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8) The total mass of the Kuiper belt is greater than that of the asteroid belt.
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Answer: TRUE
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9) Pluto's gravity affects the orbit of Uranus, and this fact was used to discover Pluto.
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Answer: FALSE
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10) Viewed from Pluto, the Sun would appear more than a thousand times fainter than on Earth.
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Answer: TRUE
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11) A comet that has an orbit around the Sun inclined to the ecliptic plane by 65° probably originated in the Kuiper belt.
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Answer: FALSE
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12) Process of Science: Observations of asteroids, comets, and meteorites help refine the theory of the formation of the solar system.
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Answer: TRUE
