Astronomy Ch. 7 Practice Quiz – Flashcards
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Which of the following is not a major pattern of motion in the solar system?
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Nearly all comets orbit the Sun in same direction and roughly the same plane.
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Which of the following is not a major difference between the terrestrial and jovian planets in our solar system?
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Terrestrial planets contain large quantities of ice and jovian planets do not.
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Consider the following statement: "Rocky asteroids are found primarily in the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt while icy comets are found primarily in the Oort cloud." What's wrong with this statement?
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The Kuiper belt contains icy comets, not rocky asteroids.
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Which of the following is not a real difference between asteroids and comets?
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Asteroids orbit the Sun while comets just float randomly around in the Oort cloud.
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The following statements are all true. Which one counts as an "exception to the rule" in being unusual for our solar system?
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The diameter of Earth's Moon is about 1/4 that of Earth.
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Compared to the distance between Earth and Mars, the distance between Jupiter and Saturn is ______.
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much larger
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How is Einstein's famous equation, E=mc2, important in understanding the Sun?
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It explains the fact that the Sun generates energy to shine by losing some 4 million tons of mass each day.
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Venus has a higher average surface temperature than Mercury. Why?
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Because its surface is heated by an extreme greenhouse effect.
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In what way is Venus most similar to Earth?
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Both planets are nearly the same size.
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Which of the following statements about the object called Eris is not true?
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It is thought to be the first example of a new class of object.
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Mars has two moons that are most similar in character to:
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small asteroids
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Imagine that an alien spaceship crashed onto Earth. Which statement would most likely be true?
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It would crash in the ocean.
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Which planet listed below has the most extreme seasons?
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Uranus
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In what way is Pluto more like a comet than a planet?
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It is made mostly of rock and ice.
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Why was it advantageous for the Voyager mission to consist of flybys rather than orbiters?
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Each individual spacecraft was able to visit more than one planet.
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Why has NASA sent recent orbiters to Mars (such as Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) on trajectories that required them to skim through Mars's atmosphere before settling into their final orbits?
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It saves money because the spacecraft uses atmospheric drag to slow down rather than needing to carry enough fuel to slow by firing rocket engines.
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Suppose you view the solar system from high above Earth's North Pole. Which of the following statements about planetary orbits will be true?
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All the planets orbit counterclockwise around the Sun.
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The terrestrial planets in our solar system are:
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
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The jovian planets in our solar system are:
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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
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When we say that jovian planets contain significant amounts of hydrogen compounds, we mean all the following chemicals except ______.
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carbon dioxide
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Which of the following most clearly distinguishes asteroids and comets from planets?
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Asteroids and comets are much smaller than planets.
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What is the Kuiper belt?
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A region of the solar system beginning just beyond the orbit of Neptune that contains many icy comets.
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What is the Oort cloud?
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It's not really a cloud at all, but rather refers to the trillion or so comets thought to orbit the Sun at great distances.
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Which of the following statements about our Sun is not true?
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The Sun's diameter is about 5 times that of Earth.
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Which of the following is not true of Mercury?
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It has been studied closely by more than a dozen NASA spacecraft.
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Which of the following statements about Mars is not true?
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We could survive on Mars without spacesuits, as long as we brought oxygen in scuba tanks.
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The planet in our solar system with the highest average surface temperature is
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Venus.
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Which jovian planet does not have rings?
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All the jovian planets have rings
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Which moons are sometimes called the Galilean moons?
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The four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
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Which of the following statements about Pluto is not true?
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It is the largest and most massive object that is considered to be a dwarf planet.
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The Cassini mission to Saturn consists of:
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An orbiter that orbits Saturn and a probe that descended to the surface of Titan.
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The spacecraft called Curiosity is _____.
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a rover on Mars
