Solar 17 Q’s And Asteroids – Flashcards
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The search for extrasolar planets has uncovered a phenomenon astronomers call a "hot Jupiter." If our Solar System had one, where would it orbit, relative to the other planets?
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It would just be the planet closest to the sun and the rest of the planetary order in terms of distance from the sun would be the same so it would be Ranked in order from closest to Sun to furthest from Sun: Hot Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter.
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Hot Jupiters are massive gaseous planets orbiting ____-like stars with orbits _________ than Mercury's orbit around our Sun.
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Sun; smaller
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Put these objects in categories based off whether they're gaseous, rocky, or rock/ice mixtures Eris, Ceres, Neptune, Uranus, Mars, Pluto, Saturn, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury
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Gaseous: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Rocky: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres Rock/Ice mixture: Pluto, Eris
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The composition of the protoplanetary disk varies with distance from the protostar due to ___________
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temperature
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The composition of the protoplanetary disk varies with distance from the protostar due to temperature. Starting with those closest to the protostar, place these materials in order based on where they can be found predominantly in their solid states a. 1. Methane, Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide 2. Iron, silicates, carbon 3. Water b. 1. Iron, silicates, carbon 2. Water 3. Methane, Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide c. 1. Iron, silicates, carbon 2. Methane, Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide 3. Water d. 1. Water 2. Iron, silicates, carbon 3. Methane, Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide
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B. Ranked from closest to furthest: 1. Iron, silicates,carbon 2. Water 3. Methane, Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide
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Rocky materials and metals remain solid at relatively ____ temperatures, closer to the ________; these are called refractory materials. Other materials, called volatiles, remain in solid form only at ______ temperatures. _____ is an example of a _______.
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high; protostar; lower; water; volatile
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The most ______ volatile materials such as methane, ammonia, and carbon monoxide—survive in solid form only in the coldest, outermost parts of the ___________ disk.
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highly; protoplanetary
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This NASA image shows the first five planet discoveries of the Kepler mission, as well as all known exoplanets in the universe. Based on their size and orbital distance, the Kepler exoplanets are most likely which kind of planet? A. terrestrial planets B. Doppler planets C. hot Jupiters D. eccentric orbitals
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C
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The Kepler exoplanets can likely be classified as _________ ___________. These planets are as large as the gas giants but have a much shorter orbital distance. They are large enough to capture hydrogen but close enough to their parent star to be as hot as Mercury.
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hot jupiters
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What is the name of the brown disk rotating around the protostar in the following image? A. protostellar disk B. stellar disk C. protoplanetary disk D. planetary disk
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C
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What causes the protoplanetary disk to form and flatten? A. linear momentum B. angular momentum
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B
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The brown disk rotating the protostar is a _______________ disk. This flat disk _____ the protostar and contains both gas and dust. The disk remains in orbit, and it flattens because of angular momentum. Eventually this disk will give rise to planets, asteroids, and planetesimals.
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protoplanetary; orbits
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Based on the law of conservation of angular momentum, what would happen to a collapsing cloud of gas and dust--isolated in space with no external forces--as its size decreases? Choose one: A. The cloud will lose mass. B. The cloud will spin faster. C. The cloud will spin more slowly. D. The cloud will gain mass. E. The cloud will not be able to collapse at all.
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B
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To conserve angular momentum, a collapsing cloud must spin faster. The law of conservation of angular momentum affects the cloud's ability to continue its _______
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collapse
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How are asteroids distributed? Select one or more A. Asteroids are randomly distributed throughout the Solar System. B. The majority of asteroids exist in a region between Jupiter and Mars. C. Some asteroids cross Earth's orbit as they orbit around the Sun. D. All of the asteroids exist in a region between Jupiter and Mars. E. Asteroids have been discovered as far out as Pluto. F. The majority of asteroids exist inside of Mars' orbit. G. There are clumps of asteroids that exist at particular spots in Jupiter's orbit.
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B, C, G
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The majority of asteroids exist in very _________ regions of the Solar System.
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specific
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Which asteroid types would be more common if they were the result of a shattered planet? A. M-type B. All types would be equally common. C. S-type D. C-type
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A and C
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Select all of the observed planetary properties that do not describe Pluto. Choose one or more: A. Planets in the inner Solar System are small and rocky, while planets in the outer Solar System are giants made mostly of hydrogen and helium. B. Planets all orbit around the Sun. C. Planets all have elliptical orbits that are nearly circular and lie close to the same plane. D. Planets are all large enough to be round.
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A and C
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______'s orbit is very elliptical, it is tilted with respect to the Solar System, and it sometimes crosses inside Neptune's orbit. ______ is also small and rocky, unlike other planets in the outer Solar System.
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Pluto
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Which statement is correct? A. Both comet types come from random directions in a spherical distribution around the Sun, but the long-period comets come from farther away. B. Short-period comets come from some location near the ecliptic plane of the Solar System, and long-period comets come from farther away, with random directions in a spherical distribution around the Sun. C. Both comet types come from some location near the ecliptic plane of the Solar System, but the long-period comets come from farther away. D. Short-period comets come from a random direction in a spherical distribution around the Sun, and long-period comets come from farther away, in some location near the ecliptic plane of the Solar System.
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B
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Could Pluto be just a large Kuiper Belt comet nucleus? Which of the following properties of Pluto would best help answer this question? Choose one: A. color B. orbital period C. surface temperature D. composition E. apparent brightness
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D
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If Pluto has the same _________ as another object gives us a good clue to where Pluto comes from.
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composition
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Considering these discoveries in a scientific manner, what does this imply about our classification of Pluto as a planet? Choose one: A. All objects that orbit the Sun should be reclassified as planets. B. Pluto and Eris should be classified as planets because they are the largest, but none of the other objects should be classified as such. C. Pluto, but not the other objects, should be classified as a planet because it is closer to the Sun than they are. D. Pluto, but not the other objects, should be classified as a planet because that is the way it was classically defined. E. There is no scientifically satisfying way to answer this question: we need a better definition of a planet that has some physical meaning behind it.
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E
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Problems arise when we begin to define planets based on objects meeting certain cutoffs for _____ or ________ to the Sun; this opens the door for many other things to be considered planets, which would cause the designation to lose its meaning.
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size; proximity
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Sort the objects below according to how they are classified under the new definitions for planets. The three catagories to sort the following objects are Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Not planet or dwarf Saturn, Io, Eros, Ceres, Pluto, Eres, Earth
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Planets: Earth, Saturn Dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Eres Not planet or dwarf: Eros, Io
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A. A single isolated clump inside the nebula gravitationally collapses into a planet. B. All of the gas in the nebula collapses to the center to form the Sun, which then expels a piece of itself in a violent solar flare that is blown outward and becomes a planet. C. Individual particles in the nebula stick together to form larger pieces which later collide with and stick to other pieces to gradually form larger objects, which eventually grow to the size of a planet.
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C; The mottled appearance of meteorite interiors suggests that planets were formed by smaller pieces that stuck together to form larger ones.
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Remnants of volcanic activity on the asteroid Vesta indicate that members of the asteroid belt Choose one: A. were once part of a single protoplanet that was shattered by collisions. B. have all undergone significant chemical evolution since formation. C. used to be volcanic moons orbiting other planets. D. occasionally grow large enough to become differentiated and geologically active.
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D The members of the asteroid belt were never part of one larger body. Instead, they formed by the same process of accretion that formed the rest of the planets. Several of these asteroids accreted enough mass to cause internal heat, thus differentiating the body and allowing some volcanically altered rock to accumulate on their surfaces.
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Meteorites contain clues to which of the following? Choose one or more: A. the temperature in the early solar nebula B. the age of the Solar System C. the physical processes that controlled the formation of the Solar System D. changes in the rate of cratering in the early Solar System E. changes in the composition of the primitive Solar System
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A, B, C, E Meteorites are generally from rocks that have been orbiting the Sun with little change since their formation. Their structure and composition thus tell us not only about the age, but also temperature, composition, and the processes that brought the material together. Since meteorites are fragmented when they reach Earth's surface, they cannot show changes in the rate of cratering in the early Solar System. Instead, intact bodies such as moons and asteroids reveal changes in rates of cratering.
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At the center of the head of a comet is the ________, which is immediately surrounded by the ______. The ion tail extends in a straight line away from the head of the comet, whereas the dust tail also extends out from the head but with a gentle curve.
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nucleus; coma
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The ion tail points directly away from the Sun, while the dust tail curves along the comet's orbit. Therefore, the comet is moving _____________ in the figure. Additionally, the conservation of angular momentum states the comet will move __________ as it gets closer and will move ________ as it gets farther away.
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counterclockwise; faster; slower
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Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are actually comet nuclei. Why do they not display comas and tails? Choose one: A. Most of the material has already been stripped from the objects. B. They are too far from the Sun. C. The comas and tails are pointing away from Earth. D. They are too close to the Sun.
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B Even comets only show tails when they are in the inner Solar System where the heat from the Sun begins to thaw the frozen material of the nucleus. KBOs never come close enough to the Sun for that to happen.
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The process by which planets "grow" is called _______. It begins with small solid particles that condense from the solar nebula gas; particles stick together when they collide and the overall body grows in mass. a. gravity b. accretion c. planetesimalization d. aggregation
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B
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The theory of how our solar system formed is called the Solar Nebula Theory. It must explain: 1) Patterns of motion for all objects in the system 2) Why compositions vary (terrestrial vs jovian planets, etc.) 3) How there can be so much debris left over (asteroids and comets) 4) How exceptions to the rules are possible (tilted planets, abnormal size moons, etc.) Regarding motions, which of these IS supported by the Nebular Theory? Select ALL that apply. a. The majority of the solar system is flat b. Planets orbit in the same direction c. We observe disks of gas and dust around other stars
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A, B, C
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The planets in the inner part of the Solar System are made primarily of refractory materials (rock and metal); the planets in the outer Solar System are made primarily of volatiles (ices). The difference occurred because a. there were no volatiles in the inner part of the accretion disk. b. the volatiles on the inner planets were lost soon after the planet formed. c. the outer Solar System has gained more volatiles from space since formation.
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A
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Match the following planet detection methods with the correct description: 1. measures precise changes in a star's position in the sky to look for slight motion caused by a planet's orbit 2. looks for back and forth motion of a star caused by a planet's gravitational influence; allows us to measure the mass of the planet 3. looks for very slight, periodic dimming of a star; allows us to measure a planet's size
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1. Astrometric 2. Doppler 3. Transit
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Comets always have a coma and tail. a. True b. False
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B
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As a comet leaves the inner Solar System, the ion tail points a. toward the Sun b. behind the comet- on the path it took c. ahead of the comet - on its path d. away from the Sun
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D
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An iron meteorite most likely came from a. an undifferentiated asteroid. b. a comet. c. a differentiated asteroid. d. a planet.
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C
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Match the following objects with the place they can be found: (In space, Passing through the atmosphere or on the ground) 1. Asteroid or Meteoroid 2. Meteor 3. Meteorite
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1. In space 2. Passing through the atmosphere 3. on the ground
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We study meteorites because they can provide clues to all of the following EXCEPT: a. the age of the Solar System b. the temperature of the early Solar System c. changes in the composition of the primitive Solar System d. changes in the rates of impacts in the early Solar System e. the physical processes that controlled the formation of the Solar System
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D
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We have retrieved samples of both asteroid and comet material directly from the source using spacecraft. a. True b. False
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A
