Exam 2 Flashcards
How many moons in the Solar System are bigger than Mercury?
2, Titan and Ganymede
How does the diameter of mercury compare to the diameter of Earth?
1/3 of Earth’s diameter
What makes Mercury an inferior planet?
It is closer to the sun
What is the ratio of Mercury’s orbits to spins?
Spins 3 times for each of 2 trips around the Sun
How long is Mercury’s synodic day in Earth days?
176 days
How long is a Mercury sidereal day in Earth days?
58.6 days
How long is a Mercury year in Earth days?
88 days
Why does the Sun occasionally move backwards in the sky as seen from Mercury?
As mercury speeds through its closest approach to the sun, its orbital speed overtakes its rotational speed
Why does Mercury’s temperature change so dramatically?
Its closeness to the sun, slow rotation and lack of atmosphere
Why doesn’t Mercury have an atmosphere?
Its small mass, closeness to the Sun, no volcanic activity
How many transits of Mercury occur each century?
13 to 14 times per century
Why don’t transits of Mercury happen often?
Mercury’s orbit is tilted about 7 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit
Which theory can accurately describe Mercury’s orbit?
Einstein’s Theory of general relativity
What mission sent back the first images of Mercury?
Arecibo (2001)
Why don’t we have images of Mercury taken by the hubble space telescope?
It’s too close to the sun and hubble couldn’t handle it
What mission was the first to orbit Mercury?
Mariner 10
How did Mercury’s weird terrain form?
When the seismic waves from the Caloris impact converged, a process known as seismic focusing
How do scarps form on Mercury?
Wrinkles from shrinking mercury
Why are Mercury’s poles so cold?
Indirect sunlight and no atmosphere to distribute heat
Why do the images of Mercury sent by BepiColobo have parts of the spacecraft in them?
The cameras used to capture them were positioned on the spacecraft to monitor it
What are most of Mercury’s crater named after?
Deceased musicians, artist and authors
Is Venus currently visible in the morning or the evening?
evening
Why is Venus so bright in the sky?
Its nearby and has a high albedo of 0.77
How did Galileo determine that Venus orbits the Sun and not the Earth?
Venus appeared in phases
How long until the next transit of Venus?
December 10, 2117
How does the diameter of Venus compare to the diameter of the Earth?
95%
What is the atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus compared to the Earth’s?
90x of the Earth’s
What is the dominant gas in Venus’ atmosphere?
carbon dioxide
What percent of Venus atmosphere does carbon dioxide make up?
95%
What kind of high thick clouds does Venus have?
Sulfuric acid
Why do pictures of Venus’ surface all look rather orange?
Sulfuric acid
How deep in the ocean would you need to go to experience the same pressure as Venus’ atmospheric pressure at its surface?
3,000 ft of water
Why is Venus the hottest planet in the solar system?
Runaway greenhouse effect
300,00 more carbon dioxide
What does it mean that Venus’ rotation is retrograde?
It means that it rotates backwards
What was the first US mission to Venus?
Mariner 2
Why couldn’t the Mariner 2 send back images of Venus?
There was no camera, it wasnt designed to take pictures
Which mission sent the first image of Venus’ surface?
Venera 9 lander
Which US mission sent multiple probes into Venus’ atmosphere- one of which sent data from the surface for over an hour?
Pioneer Venus 2
Which mission sent the first color image of Venus’ surface?
Venera 13
Which mission used radar to make high resolution images of Venus’ surface?
Magellan
What are surface features on Venus named after?
goddesses, giantesses, famous women and common women’s names
Which mission captured the image of Earth called “the blue marble”?
Voyager 1
How far away was Voyager 1 when it took the pale blue dot image of Earth?
3.7 billion miles
How do earthquakes waves tell us what is inside of the Earth?
by analyzing how these waves are refracted, reflected and sometimes completely blocked based on the material they pass through
Before differentiation could occur what had to happen to Earth?
It would have to be liquified
Why does Earth have a solid core inside its liquid core?
The inner core’s intense pressure - the entire rest of the planet and its atmosphere - prevents the iron from melting. The pressure and density are simply too great for the iron atoms to move into a liquid state
What drives plate tectonics?
Tremendous heat and pressure within the earth cause the hot magma to flow in convection currents
How do subduction plate tectonic motions shape the Earth?
Crustal thickening, mountain building metamorphism
How does colliding plate tectonic motions shape earth?
The crust moves upward and the crustal material folds, buckles and breaks. Ex: rocky mountains
How do separating plates shape the Earth?
magma rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form a new crust on the lithosphere
How do hot spots shape the Earth?
Create submarine mountains
How do sliding plates shape the Earth?
friction, earthquakes
What deflects Earth’s winds as they travel from the poles to the equator?
The Coriolis effect
Why is the Earth’s average temperature so much warmer than the Moon’s?
The moon doesn’t have an atmosphere to absorb sunlight like the Earth so the heat escapes
How does the CO2 cycle regulate Earth’s temperature?
Greenhouse effect, controlling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Describe the mesosphere and what features are found there
Coldest temperature in the atmosphere, meteors burn up, noctilucent clouds
Describe the Stratosphere and what features are found there
nacreous clouds and ozone layer
Describe the thermosphere and what features are found there
auroras occur, 1/2 the mass of the atmosphere, contains the ISS, satellites, temperature increases with altitude
Describe the Troposphere and what features are found there
where weather happens
What are the Van allen belts?
two belts of radiation surrounded the earth like donuts
How does the moon cause earth’s tide?
differential gravitational force
What causes spring tides?
When the sun, moon and earth are all lined up the sun’s tidal force works with the moon’s tidal force. The combined pull can cause the highest and lowest tides
What causes neap tides?
Between the two spring tide the moon faces the Earth at a right angle to the sun. When this happens the pull of the sun and the moon are weak. This causes tides that are lower than usual
How big are Earth’s land tides?
20 inches, the earth is somewhat plastic and rises
How is tidal breaking affecting the orbit o f the Moon and the rotation rate of the Earth?
Drags tidal bulge slightly ahead of the point directly below the moon, the moon’s gravitational attraction pulls earth’s tidal bulge “backward” slowing Earth’s rotation. Moon pulled forward, earth slowed down
What causes seasons on Earth?
obliquity: the tilt of the earth’s rotational axis (23.5)
When it is winter in Cache Valley what season is it in Australia?
Summer
IF the shape of the Earth’s orbit were unaltered but its rotation axis was shifted so it had no tilt with respect to its orbit how would season be altered?
It would be the same
What is the period of Earth’s ais precession?
25,772 years. Makes seasonal contrasts more extreme in one hemisphere and less extreme in the other
How fast do satellites travel in low Earth orbit (LEO)?
17,500 MPH
About how long does it take for a satellite to make an orbit in medium Earth orbit (MEO)?
12 hours
About how long does it take for a satellite to make an orbit in lower Earth orbit (LEO)?
90 minutes
Why do satellites require shielding in MEO?
in the middle of the van allen radiation belt
How long does it take for satellite to make an orbit in geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO)?
One day
What satellites orbit in LEO?
Starlink, ISS, Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
What satellites orbit in MEO?
Global positioning system (GPS)
What satellites orbit in GEO?
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), Satellite TV
What satellites orbit in L1?
Solar Heliosphere Observatory (SOHO), Deep Space Climate Observer (DSCOVR)
What satellites orbit in L2?
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
How many satellites orbit in L3, L4 and L5?
0 satellites
How does the diameter of Mars compare the the diameter of the Earth?
1/2 the diameter of the the earth and 1/10 mass of the earth
How are the season on Mars different than season on Earth?
The season are more extreme on Mars and last twice as long as Earth’s
What causes the wind on Mars to blow from the summer pole to the winter pole?
Temperature differences between one area and another cause air to flow between them producing winds
How often are mission sent to Mars?
Once ever 26 months. Earth and Mars are aligned in a way that minimizes travel times and expense
What spacecraft sent the first pictures of Mars?
Mariner 4
What mission sent the first color images from the surface of Mars?
NASA’s perseverance Mars Rover
What was the first rover on Mars?
Sojourner
Which rovers landed on mars with the aid of air bags?
Spirit and opportunity
Which Mars rover holds the record for the longest space drive?
Perseverance
Which orbiter has given us beautiful high resolution images of Mars?
Mars Odyssey Orbiter
How did Opportunity’s solar panels get cleaner?
Strong winds blowing over the rim of Endeavor Crater
Which mission landed closets to Mars’ north pole?
Phoenix spacecraft
Which rovers used sky cranes to land on mars?
Curiosity and persverance
Which Mars lander had a seismometer that detected a large meteoroid impact (490 foot crater)
Insight Lander
Which rover had a companion helicopter?
Perseverance
What is the name of the helicopter companion of perseverance?
Ingenuity
What mission gave us a global topographical map of Mars?
Mars global surveyor
What is the name of the enormous canyon on Mars that dwarfs the Grand Canyon on Earth?
Valles Marineris
What is the name of the largest volcano in the Solar System?
Olympus Mons
What makes Mars’ atmosphere pink?
Rocks on Mars are full of iron and they rust, then the dust gets kicked into the atmosphere
What are the names of Mars’ moons?
Phobos and Deimos
What is mars largest moon?
Phobos
Which of Mars’ moons rises in the west?
Phobos
Which lander found ice exposed by its rockets on Mars?
Phoenix Mars Lander
Why did Mars lose its protective magnetic field?
Chemical changes inside Mar’s core
Which mission has shown that Mars is still losing its atmosphere?
MAVEN
Will Mars ever be warm and wet again?
It is very unlikely
What evidence of life on Mars can not be explained by something other than life?
Impactite is shown to preserve sign of life on Earth
