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Spring 2015 > ASTR Exam 3 Our Solar System > Flashcards

ASTR Exam 3 Our Solar System Flashcards

1
Q

Name the Classical Planets in order.

A
  1. Mercury
  2. Venus
  3. Earth
  4. Mars
  5. Jupiter
  6. Saturn
  7. Uranus
  8. Neptune
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2
Q

Which test does Pluto fail that keep it from being a classical planet?

A

It has not “cleared the neighborhood” of smaller objects

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3
Q

What makes up our atmosphere?

A
  • 78% Nitrogen
  • 21% Oxygen
  • 1% Everything Else
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4
Q

Where is half of all the volume of our atmosphere located?

A

Within 5 km (about 3 mi) of the Earth’s surface

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5
Q

What is the most abundant greenhouse gas on Earth?

A

water vapor

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6
Q

What are the layers of the Earth?

A
  • Crust
  • Mantle
  • Outer Core
  • Inner Core
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7
Q

What is the Core made of?

A

iron and nickel

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8
Q

Is the Inner Core liquid or solid?

A

solid

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9
Q

Is the Outer Core liquid of solid?

A

liquid

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10
Q

Which is hotter, the Inner Core or Outer Core?

A

the Outer Core

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11
Q

What is the Mantle made of?

A

dense, rocky material

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12
Q

Why is the heavier material located in the Core?

A

Because when the Earth was young and still molten, the heavier (more dense) materials settled in the center

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13
Q

What is Plate Tectonics?

A

Earth’s crust in motion

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14
Q

What is it called when hot mantle is rising and cool mantle is sinking?

A

Convection Cell

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15
Q

What are the 3 types of plates?

A
  • Colliding plates
  • Plates that pull apart
  • Sliding Plates
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16
Q

What do Colliding plates create?

A

Mountain Ranges

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17
Q

What do plates that pull apart create?

A

Underwater Ridges

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18
Q

What do sliding plates create?

A

Earthquakes

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19
Q

What does is mean to be Earthlike?

A

Planets that are roughly the same size and mass as the Earth.

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20
Q

What 3 ingredients is needed for a planet to have a magnetosphere?

A
  1. Liquid metal core
  2. Rapid spin rate
  3. Convection cells
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21
Q

What causes the Aurora?

A

The magnetosphere is weakest at the magnetic north and south pole. It is the the Sun’s charged particles running into the Earth’s atmosphere.

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22
Q

What keeps the Sun’s harmful charged particles from reaching Earth?

A

the Magnetosphere

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23
Q

What can make it through the magnetosphere unaffected?

A

Neutral particles and electromagnetic waves

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24
Q

What happens when moving charged particles from the Sun reach the magnetosphere?

A

They are with trapped or diverted around the Earth

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25
Q

When is the Moon outside of the magnetosphere?

A

When it is a New Moon

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26
Q

What 3 types of features does the Moon’s surface have?

A
  1. Maria
  2. Highlands
  3. Craters
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27
Q

What is the Maria and what is it Latin for?

A
  • Circular dark areas

- Latin for “seas”

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28
Q

What is the Highlands and what was originally called?

A
  • lighter colored areas shaped similarly to the Earth’s continents
  • originally called terra, Latin for “land”
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29
Q

What are Craters Latin for?

A

“bowl”

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30
Q

Which side is more stressful on the Moon and why?

A
  • the side facing away from the Sun

- it’s extremely cold

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31
Q

What is the hottest temperature on the Moon?

A

about 400 K or 100 C

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32
Q

What is the coolest temperature on the Moon?

A

about 100 K or -200 C

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33
Q

Is there any atmosphere on the Moon?

A

No

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34
Q

Why is there no atmosphere on the Moon?

A

Because the Moon is so small, the gravitational field is too weak to hold on to any gas or liquid molecules

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35
Q

Is there water on the Moon?

A

yes, but only as ice

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36
Q

Where is the water (ice) located on the Moon?

A
  • at the poles
  • in the bottoms of craters
  • below the surface
  • the lunar dust may be filled with tiny ice crystals
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37
Q

Which spacecraft first observed evidence of water on the Moon?

A

Clementine

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38
Q

Which elements are most abundant in Space?

A
  • Hydrogen and Helium

- Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen

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39
Q

Which molecules are most abundant in space?

A
  • methane (H+C)
  • water (H+O)
  • ammonia (H+N)
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40
Q

How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth?

A

1 month

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41
Q

How long does it take for the Moon to spin on it’s axis?

A

1 month

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42
Q

Is Mercury the hottest planet?

A

no, it’s the 2nd hottest

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43
Q

Which other object in space is Mercury similar to?

A

the Moon

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44
Q

What is the Heavy Late Bombardment Era?

A
  • about 4 billion years ago

- cratering on planets (such as Mercury) and Moons when they were young and not yet completely solid

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45
Q

What are 3 important features on Mercury?

A
  1. Double-Ringed Crater
  2. Caloris Basin
  3. Weird Terrain
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46
Q

What causes the Double-Ringed Craters on Mercury?

A

High energy impacts from meteors

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47
Q

What is the Caloris Basin and what is it Latin for?

A
  • biggest crater on Mercury
  • has 3 rings
  • Caloris is “hot” in Latin
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48
Q

What is the Weird Terrain?

A
  • an area of random hills that represent a localized upheaval that lifted the surface and dumped it down again in a random jumble of hills and depressions
  • also called “Hilly and Lineated Terrain”
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49
Q

Where is the Weird Terrain located?

A

precisely on the other side of the planet from the Caloris Impact Basin

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50
Q

How do astronomers think the Weird Terrain and Caloris Basin was created?

A

A meteor hit Mercury with such a high impact where the Caloris Basin is located and sent seismic waves through the planet disrupted the landscaper on the other side.

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51
Q

Does Mercury have any atmosphere?

A

No

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52
Q

Why does Mercury have no atmosphere?

A
  • it has a weak gravitational field because it’s so small

- it’s too hot because it’s to close to the Sun

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53
Q

What may resemble a temporary atmosphere on Mercury?

A
  • Solar wind lingers around the surface
  • Sodium and Potassium outgassed from the rocks
  • Oxygen sublimating from the polar ice caps
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54
Q

What are the temperatures on Mercury?

A
  • the night side can be as cold as 100 K

- the sunny side can be as hot as 700 K

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55
Q

Which planet has the biggest difference in temperature?

A

Mercury

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56
Q

Why Venus the hottest planet?

A
  • because it’s atmosphere is so dense
57
Q

What are the clouds on Venus made up of?

A

sulphuric acid

58
Q

What do we use penetrate the thick clouds on Venus and what did astronomers find out?

A
  • a radar/ radio waves

- the spin rate and which way it spins

59
Q

How fast does Venus spin and which way does it spin?

A
  • 243 Earth days to spin once

- it rotates towards the West (retrograde spin)

60
Q

What land feature does Venus have a lot of?

A

Volcanos

61
Q

In what ways is Venus similar to Earth?

A
  • it is about the same size
62
Q

What is Venus’ atmosphere made up of?

A
  • about 95% CO2

- about 4% N2

63
Q

Is there any evidence of water on Venus?

A

No

64
Q

What are the clouds made up of?

A

Sulfuric acid

65
Q

How is Venus’ atmosphere different from Earth’s atmosphere?

A

It is denser and thicker

66
Q

How is Venus’ atmospheric pressure compared to the Earth’s?

A
  • The pressure on Venus’ surface is 90 atmospheres

- equal to being 1 km underwater

67
Q

What is the temperature on Venus?

A
  • it is a consistent 750K
68
Q

Why is Venus’ temperature so high?

A

extreme green house effect

69
Q

How many “continents” does Venus have and what are their names?

A
  • 2 continents
  • Ishtar Terra (in the north) (babylonian)
  • Aphrodite Terra (along the equator) (Greek)
70
Q

What does volcanism cause Venus to do under the surface?

A
  • it causes a rock cycle

- resurfaces the planet every 100 million years

71
Q

How many volcanos does Venus have?

A

about 1600

72
Q

What are shield volcanos?

A
  • built up by successive eruptions
  • caldera (crater) at the top
  • some craters arduous to meteor impacts
73
Q

What spacecraft landed on Venus and sent back photos?

A
  • Venera -13

- Venera - 14

74
Q

What does differentiated mean?

A

Denser materials settle in the middle

75
Q

Why is Mars red?

A
  • it is not differentiated

- Iron/ Iron Oxide is throughout Mars

76
Q

Why did people think Mars may have had an advanced civilization?

A
  • they saw channels (canal in Latin)
77
Q

Why are there channels on Mars?

A

From the carbon dioxide melting from the ice caps

78
Q

Why is it so easy to see Mars better through a telescope than Venus?

A

It’s atmosphere is very transparent

79
Q

What is the spin rate on Mars?

A

about 24.6 hours

80
Q

Does Mars have seasonal changes?

A

yes

81
Q

What are some evidence of seasonal changes on Mars and why?

A
  • Ice caps grow and shrink
  • Dark features change size and shape
  • It has high pressure systems and low pressure systems (wind)
  • Dust storms
  • Melting of ice caps causes huge winds
82
Q

How many layers of ice does Mars have on its poles?

A
  • 2 layers
  • water on bottom
    carbon dioxide on the top
83
Q

What does rarified mean?

A

having low density

84
Q

How far is Mars’ axis tilted?

A

24 degrees

85
Q

What does a planet need to keep water in liquid form on the surface?

A

Hydrogen in the atmosphere

86
Q

What is Mars’ atmospheric pressure compared to Earth’s?

A

It is about 1/150 of what Earth has

87
Q

What is Mars’ temperature compared to Earth’s?

A
  • It is about 50 K cooler
  • It is equal to 20 miles above Earth’s surface
  • Mount Everest is about 6 mi tall
88
Q

What makes up Mars’ atmosphere?

A
  • about 95% CO2

- about 3% N2

89
Q

Is there any evidence of water on Mars?

A
  • yes but very little
  • lots of evidence that water once flowed
  • no evidence of water on surface
  • Water might be frozen below surface (Phoenix Lander may have found evidence of this)
90
Q

In which area of Mars’ surface is “younger” and why can we tell this?

A
  • Northern Hemisphere
  • Fewer Craters
  • Large volcanic plains
  • Southern Hemisphere has heavily cratered highlands
91
Q

What 3 unique features does Mars have?

A
  • Tharsis Bulge
  • Olympus Mons
  • Valles Marineris
92
Q

What is the Tharsis Bulge

A
  • continent like bulge near the equator

- fewest craters of all

93
Q

What is unique about Mars volcanoes?

A

They are the largest volcanoes in the solar system

94
Q

What is the largest volcano on Mars and our solar system called and what is it Latin for?

A
  • Olympus Mons

- “Mount Olympus”

95
Q

How big is Olympus Mons?

A
  • as large as Texas

- 25 km (15mi) tall

96
Q

Why is Olympus Mons so tall?

A
  • because of Mars’ weak gravity
97
Q

What is Valles Marineris and how was it formed?

A
  • It is a “Grand Canyon” on Mars
  • Not formed my erosion like Earth’s Grand Canyon
  • Caused by a split as Tharsis region bulged outward (became stressed and cracked)
98
Q

What are the 2 views of life on Mars?

A
  • “Kool-aid” view (optimists)

- “Buzz-kill” view (pessimists)

99
Q

How do astronomers view life on Mars?

A
  • No living systems have discovered yet

- they predict that Earth formed organisms have been carried to Mars on the solar wind

100
Q

What are Mars moons named and what are they in greek philosophy?

A
  • Phobos and Deimos
  • It means “fear” and “terror”
  • They were the horses of Aries
101
Q

What is unique about Jupiter?

A
  • It has colored bands that are parallel to the equator

- The Great Red Spot

102
Q

What are Jupiter’s bands called?

A
  • dark-colored- belts
  • light-colored - zones
  • due to convection
103
Q

What are Jupiter’s atmospheric structure?

A
  • 3 main layers
  • ammonia ice is white
  • ammonium hydrosulfide ice is yellow and brown
  • water ice is blue
104
Q

Does Jupiter have a magnetosphere?

A
  • yes, the strongest in the solar system
  • about 20,000 times that of Earth’s
  • All 4 Galilean moons lie within it
105
Q

Why does jupiter have such a strong magnetosphere?

A
  • it’s the fastest spinning planet
  • a lot of convection
  • astronomers think it might have a large magnetic core
106
Q

What is the Great Red Spot?

A
  • high pressure system
  • has persisted for 300 years
  • about 2 to 3 Earths wide
107
Q

What is Jupiter in mythology?

A
  • king of the gods/ ruler of Mount Olympus
  • the child of Saturn and the youngest of his siblings (12 children)
  • known for his erotic escapades
108
Q

What are the Galilean moons in order?

A
  • Io
  • Europa
  • Gannymede
  • Callisto
109
Q

Which Galilean moon is the largest and which is the smallest?

A
  • largest - Gannymede (slightly larger than Mercury)

- smallest - Europa (smaller than our own moon)

110
Q

What is unique about Io?

A
  • most geologically active object in our solar system
  • more than 80 volcanoes
  • plumes rises 150 km above surface
  • color comes from sulfur compounds
111
Q

What is Europa like?

A
  • craterless surface of ice
  • many ice filled cracks due to shifting “icebergs”
  • ice several km thick
  • 100 km deep water oceans lies below ice
  • the presence of water lead to speculations about life on Europa
112
Q

What is Gannymede like?

A
  • largest moon in solar system
  • larger than Pluto and Mercury
  • dark regions are old, dust covered, ice
  • light regions are newly frozen ice
113
Q

What is Callisto like?

A
  • dark regions are old, dust covered ice
  • light regions are newly frozen ice
  • not as many cracks and many more craters than Ganymede
  • Valhalla Basin is a noteworthy feature
114
Q

What is the Valhalla Basin?

A
  • A crater on Callisto with many rings
  • “Palace of Thor”
  • Nordic
115
Q

Why is Jupiter more colorful than Saturn?

A
  • Jupiter’s atmosphere is more compacted
116
Q

How is Saturn’s atmosphere different from Jupiter’s?

A
  • not as colorful

- made up of less dense material

117
Q

Who was Saturn in mythology?

A
  • the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, descendants of Gaia (Earth), and Uranus (the Sky)
  • overthrew his father (Uranus) and ruled during the mythologicalGolden Age, until he was overthrown by his sons, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto
118
Q

What are Saturn’s moon named and who is he in mythology?

A
  • Titan
  • race of powerful deities that ruled during the Golden Age
  • 12 Titans ruled by the youngest, Saturn
  • The Titans overthrew their father, Uranus, at the urgings of their mother, Gaia
  • Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians, in what is referred to as the War of Titans
119
Q

What is Titan like?

A
  • similar to Ganymede and Callisto in terms of size
  • has it’s own atmosphere
  • the atmosphere is thicker and denser than Earth’s
  • it is 90% nitrogen
  • photo dissociated ammonia - sunlight causes molecules to break apart - nitrogen comes from ammonia
120
Q

What is Titan’s surface temperature?

A
  • about 94 K
  • colder which is why it has a thick atmosphere
  • Surface conditions are near triple point of methane
121
Q

What spacecraft visited Titan?

A

Cassini/Huygens

122
Q

What are Saturn’s rings like?

A
  • 2 divisions (blakc gap)- Cassini and Encke
  • very thin - disappear when when they appear edge on
  • Made up of ice particles
  • millimeters to 10’s of meters across
123
Q

Why are Neptune and Uranus blue?

A

methane

124
Q

Which 2 planets resemble each other?

A

Jupiter and Neptune (looks like a blue Jupiter)

125
Q

Why can’t you see as many features on Uranus?

A

it has a thicker atmospheric haze

126
Q

Who was Neptune in mythology?

A
  • the god of the sea
  • brother of Jupiter and Pluto
  • the three of them overthrew the Titans
127
Q

What is Neptune’s moon’s name?

A

Triton

128
Q

Who is Triton is mythology?

A
  • a god, messenger of the deep
  • son of Neptune
  • usually represented as a merman
129
Q

What is Triton like?

A
  • smallest of the “large” moons
  • smaller than our moon and Europa
  • very thin nitrogen atmosphere
  • retrograde orbit
    probably a captured Kuiper Belt object
130
Q

Who is Pluto in mythology?

A
  • god of the underworld

- he and his brothers defeated the Titans

131
Q

What spacecraft will be the first to study Pluto up close?

A

New Horizons

132
Q

What are the moons of Pluto and when were they discovered?

A
  • Charon, 1978
  • Nix
  • Hydra
  • Styx
  • Kerberos
133
Q

What do astronomers speculate about Pluto?

A
  • it was a Kuiper Belt object
134
Q

Who was Charon in mythology?

A
  • ferryman of Hades

- carried souls across the river Styx that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead

135
Q

What is Nix in mythology?

A
  • the Greek goddess of darkness and night

- the mother of Charon

136
Q

What is Hydra in mythology?

A
  • the 9 headed serpent which battled hercules in Greek mythology
  • the 9 heads of hydra are a reference to Pluto’s tenure as the ninth planet
137
Q

What is Styx in mythology?

A
  • the goddess of the River of the underworld
138
Q

What is Kerberos in mythology?

A

the 3 headed dog that guards pluto’s underworld

Spring 2015 (4 decks)

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