Exam 2

Question 1

How often would Earth transit the sun for a person watching from another star system?

Answer 1

1 year

Question 2

What is the predominant element found in the Jovian planets?

Answer 2

Hydrogen

Question 3

A new moon is found orbiting Saturn and is covered in craters. We would describe the geologic activity of this moon as

Answer 3

Dead (inactive)

Question 4

Which Moon do we believe actually has a liquid on its surface? (It is not water)

Answer 4

Titan

Question 5

A piece of rock that reaches the Earth’s surface after surviving a fiery passage through the Earth’s atmosphere is called a

Answer 5

Meteorite

Question 6

How do the varying characteristics of the asteroids, comets and TNOs fit into the solar nebula hypothesis theory for the formation of the solar system? (be specific about their characteristics and how that fits with the solar nebular hypothesis.)

Answer 6

the asteroids are made of rock and metal just like the terrestrial planets. TNOs and comets are rock and ice which makes sense considering they are found in the outer reaches of the solar system where the hydrogen compounds would be located.

Question 7

What is the largest Asteroid? (It has also been now called a dwarf planet)

Answer 7

Ceres

Question 8

Where is the Asteroid Belt located?

Answer 8

Between Mars and Jupiter

Question 9

Which of the Terrestrial Worlds is considered to be geologically active now?

Answer 9

Venus and Earth

Question 10

Of the Four Processes that affect Planetary surfaces, which of the following processes has played the greatest role in shaping the surface of the Moon as we see it today? (only one applies to the Moon)

Answer 10

cratering by interplanetary bodies of all sizes

Question 11

Olympus Mons is found on what planet?

Answer 11

Mars

Question 12

Ishtar Terra is found on what planet?

Answer 12

Venus

Question 13

Plate Tectonics are found on what planet?

Answer 13

Earth

Question 14

Caloris Basin are found on what planet?

Answer 14

Merucry

Question 15

Valles Marineris are found on what planet?

Answer 15

Mars

Question 16

Scarps are found on what planet?

Answer 16

Mercury

Question 17

At one point in Mercury’s orbit the sun in due south on the meridian, or noon. After Mercury goes through one complete orbit, what “time” as told by the sun would it be on Mercury now? (This is a very interesting feature about Mercury.) You’ll have to stop and think about this one. Look at the diagram in the lecture and remember what makes noon, midnight etc. on a planet (facing the sun, away from the sun, etc)

Answer 17

Midnight

Question 18

Which factor contributed the most to whether or not a Terrestrial planet maintained its atmosphere?
Location in the solar system, suface temperature, composition of planet, size of planet

Answer 18

Size of planet

Question 19

Which planet does not have an atmosphere?

Answer 19

Mercury

Question 20

The Greenhouse effect traps infrared light that is being given off from a planet after being heated by sunlight. Of the planets that have atmospheres, which planet will not have a strong greenhouse effect?

Answer 20

Mars

Question 21

Which element found in Earth’s atmosphere (in large amounts) is not found on any other planet?

Answer 21

Oxygen

Question 22

Which planet has the largest Greenhouse effect?

Answer 22

Venus has the largest amount of atmosphere (pressure measures amount) so it has the most greenhouse. We don’t want to become like Venus.

Question 23

What happened to the Atmosphere on Mercury?

Answer 23

Mercury has almost no atmosphere. Because the mercury is planet’s small the gravity is too weak to keep a normal atmosphere. Gases are frequently being added to Mercury’s atmosphere but are then being pushed into space by the pressure of solar wind and sunlight.

Question 24

Which of the planets are considered part of the Terrestrial Group?

Answer 24

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars

Question 25

Planets can be grouped into two groups. Which are characteristics for the Terrestrial Group?

Answer 25

Rocky Surface, High Average Density, Contains Mountains, Canyons, Volcanoes

Question 26

If I told you a new planet was discovered in our solar system and it had 15 moons, a ring system and was 8 times more massive than Earth in which of the following areas would you expect it to have been found?

Answer 26

It would be somewhere in the area of Uranus and Neptune.

Question 27

What type of small objects are found in the outer reaches of the solar system?

Answer 27

ice and rocky objects

Question 28

According to the solar nebular model given in class, where would objects have not been formed and hence there should be none in orbit at this location?

Answer 28

Inside Mercury’s orbit,
The temperature would have been too great for any type of material to have been found in solid form. Some comets come in this close during their journey, but not all the time and they didn’t form here.

Question 29

About how long does the Nebular Model take to produce a solar system from cloud to star with planets orbiting?

Answer 29

few hundred million years

Question 30

What is it about the Nebular Hypothesis that makes it the current best model to describe the formation of the solar system? What characteristics of the solar system and the objects in the solar system does it provide an explanation for or predict (be specific.)

Answer 30

The Nebular Hypothesis makes sense because of the way that everything in the solar system rotates. We see stars being formed in clouds of dust and gases in the same disks we think out solar system formed. It was rotating as it was forming and now that planets have formed they still rotate. Also the terrestrial planets (rocky) close in and the jovian (gaseous) further out