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Exam 3 Flashcards

1
Q

What is a meteor?

A

Bright trail of light created when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere

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2
Q

What is a meteorite?

A

solid remains of a meteor that falls to Earth

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3
Q

What is a meteoroid?

A

Small solid body moving within the solar system. Less than a yard in size

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4
Q

How big are the meteoroids that we see as meteors?

A

the size of a raisin or smaller

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5
Q

In which layer of Earth’s atmosphere do meteors burn up?

A

Mesosphere

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6
Q

How much meteoric material falls to Earth each day?

A

50 tons

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7
Q

What causes a meteor shower?

A

Earth passes through the trail of a comet or passes through a dense clump of material

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8
Q

What time of night is best for spotting meteors?

A

Early morning. Few meteoroids catch up with Earth at night

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9
Q

How can you tell how big an asteroid is?

A

Measure emitted infrared radiation

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10
Q

What is the total mass of the asteroids?

A

Less than the mass of the Moon or 1,100 tons

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11
Q

Where is the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft today?

A

On the surface of Eros

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12
Q

Which spacecraft visited Vesta and Ceres?

A

Dawn

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13
Q

Which spacecraft returned a sample from the asteroid Itokawa?

A

Hayabusa

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14
Q

Which spacecraft brought a 121.6 gram sample of asteroid material back?

A

OSIRIS-Rex

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15
Q

What is unique about the asteroid the Psyche mission that launched in October 2023 is headed for?

A

It might have an iron core and believed to be primarily composed of metal

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16
Q

How big was the crater found in the Tunguska event?

A

No impact crater leveled a lot of trees

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17
Q

What did the DART mission do?

A

dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact

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18
Q

What is the name of the crater believed to be the site of the impact that ended the rein of the dinosaurs?

A

Chicxulub

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19
Q

Why is Jupiter rightly called the king of the planets?

A

It’s mass and volume is greater than all the other planets combined

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20
Q

How does Jupiter’s diameter and mass compare to the Earth’s?

A

11 x Earth’s diameter and 300 x Earth’s mass

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21
Q

How long does it take Jupiter to orbit the Sun?

A

12 years

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22
Q

How many flybys, orbiters and probes have visited Jupiter?

A

7 flybys
2 orbiters
1 probe

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23
Q

What are the 7 flybys of Jupiter?

A
  1. Pioneer 10
  2. Pioneer 11
  3. Voyager 1
  4. Voyager 2
  5. Ulysses
  6. Cassini
  7. New horizons
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24
Q

What are the 2 orbiters of Jupiter?

A

Galileo and Juno

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25
What was the probe sent to Jupiter?
Galileo Jupiter Atmospheric Probe
26
How did the five space crafts currently leaving the Solar System achieve escape velocity? Name them
By utilizing gravity assist 1. Pioneer 10 2. Pioneer 11 3. Voyager 1 4. Voyager 2 5. New horizons
27
What spacecraft was enroute to Jupiter when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter?
Galileo Orbiter
28
What has Juno told us about the interior of Jupiter?
Jupiter has a dilute core
29
Which spacecraft launched during this semester and is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2030?
NASA's Europa Clipper
30
Jupiter's atmospheric winds are deflected into bands by the Coriolis effect. What causes this Coriolis effect?
Its large size and rapid rotation
31
What kind of winds cause Jupiter's atmospheric vortices to form?
Sheer Winds
32
When was Jupiter's Great Red Spot discovered?
1600s
33
How is Jupiter's powerful magnetic field generated?
Convection with metallic hydrogen, rapid rotation
34
What are Jupiter's rings made of?
Rock dust, radiation from the sun
35
How does Saturn's diameter and mass compare to the Earth's?
The diameter is 9.6 x Earth's The mass is 95 x Earth's
36
How does Saturn's density compare to the density of the other planets?
Its the least dense
37
How long does it take for Saturn to orbit the Sun?
29.4 Earth years
38
How many flybys, orbiters and probes have visited Saturn? Name them
3 flybys Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 & 2
39
Why doesn't Saturn have cloud bands like Jupiter?
Cloaked by clouds formed from frozen ammonia gas. Smog or haze that cannot be seen through
40
What is the overall diameter of Saturn's rings?
240,000 km
41
How does the diameter of Saturn's rings compare to the distance between the Earth and the Moon?
Saturn and it's rings would just in the distance between Earth and the Moon
42
How thick are Saturn's rings?
Less than a 1/4 of a mile
43
In what year will Saturn's rings next appear edge on and be difficult to see as viewed from Earth?
2025
44
What causes the gaps in Saturn's rings?
Resonance with moons (Enceladus 1-3, Mimas 1-2) Shepherding moons (moonlets)
45
What happens to an object that is held together by gravity if it crosses a planet's Roche limit
If something gets that close the tidal forces will tear it apart if its held together by gravity
46
How does Uranus' diameter and mass compare to the Earth's?
Diameter: 4 x earth's Mass: 15 x earth's mass
47
How long does it take Uranus to orbit the Sun?
84 Earth years
48
Why are seasons extreme on Uranus?
The equator is nearly at a right angle to its orbit with a tilt of 97.77 degrees
49
How many mission have visited Uranus?
Just Voyager 2
50
What gives Uranus its blue-green color?
Light from the sun, the red light is absorbed by methane and the blue light is scattered and reflected
51
Which astronomer first observed Neptune?
Johann Gottfried Galle
52
How does Neptune's diameter and mass compare to the Earth's?
Diameter: 3.9 x Earth's Mass: 17 x Earth's
53
How long does it take Neptune to orbit the Sun?
165 Earth years
54
How many mission have visited Neptune?
Just Voyager 2
55
Is the Great Dark Spot a permanent feature on Neptune like the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?
Not a permanent feature, may come back, may not
56
What did the Hubble Space Telescope see when it looked for the Great Dark Spot in 1994?
That the southern dark spot had disappeared
57
What gas giant planets and ice giant planets in our Solar System have rings?
Jupiter & Saturn (gas), Uranus & Neptune (ice)
58
Which spacecraft is currently the farthest from Earth?
Voyager 1
59
How long would it take Pioneer 10 to reach Alpha Centauri (the closest star system to the Earth) if it were headed that way?
40,000 years
60
Who was the US president when the two Voyager mission launched in August and September of 1977?
Jimmy Carter
61
Who was the president when on of the Voyager mission flew by Uranus in January of 1986?
Ronald Reagan
62
Who was the president when Neptune was reached by one of the Voyager missions in August of 1989?
George H. W. Bush
63
Who discovered the first moons in the Solar System other than our Moon?
Galileo Galilei
64
How many large moons are there?
7
65
How many medium moons are there?
13
66
How many moon have been discovered around Jupiter?
95
67
How many moon have been discovered around Saturn?
146
68
How many moon have been discovered around Uranus?
28
69
How many moon have been discovered around Neptune?
16
70
How can you tell if a moon is a captured asteroid or a comet?
If its non-spherical or looks like a potato
71
Is synchronous rotation common for regular moons?
All the solar system's large moon are tidally locked with their planets
72
Which moon is the most volcanically active world in the Solar System?
Jupiter's moon Io
73
Which 3 things cause Io to be so hot?
1. Tidal heating 2. Radiogenic Heating 3. Lack of atmosphere
74
Which moon is the smoothest known object in the Solar System?
Europa
75
What evidence indicates that Europa has a subsurface ocean?
Few impact craters, surface features, induced magnetic field, tidal heating and radioactive decay
76
Which moon is the largest in the Solar System?
Ganymede
77
Which is the only moon that currently generates its own magnetic field?
Ganymede
78
Which moon has a substantial atmosphere?
Titan
79
Which mission carried a probe to explore Titan?
Cassini-Huygens
80
What liquids are found on Titan?
liquid ethane & methane
81
What are the tumbled rocks imaged by the Huygens probe made of?
water ice frozen?
82
Which moon is the only large irregular moon?
Triton
83
Which is the only moon in the Solar System to have a ring?
Rhea
84
Which two-faced moon is much darker on its leading hemisphere than on its trailing hemisphere?
Iapetus
85
Which moon as smaller moon in both its L4 and L5 Lagrange points?
Telesto and Calypso
86
Which moon is the smallest known geologically active moon in the Solar System?
Enceladus
87
Which relatively small moon is a prime candidate for life?
Mimas
88
Which moon has the greatest variation in topography anywhere in the Solar System?
Miranda
89
Which moon is called the Death Star moon?
Mimas
90
Which moon's temperature map gave it the nickname Pac Man Moon?
Mimas
91
Which small moon is the reddest Solar System object
Amalthea
92
Which two co-orbital moons trade orbital location every four years?
Janus and Epimetheus
93
Which moon is the only regular moon that is not tidally locked to its planet?
Hyperion
94
Which moon gave a passing spacecraft a 200 V shock?
Hyperion shocked Cassini
95
What are the three ravioli moons?
Pan, Atlas and Daphnis
96
What gives Ravioli Moons their shape?
Ring material accumulates along their equators
97
What planet does Ariel orbit?
Uranus
98
What planet does Callisto orbit?
Jupiter
99
What planet does Dione orbit?
Saturn
100
What planet does Enceladus robit?
Saturn
101
What planet does Europa orbit?
Jupiter
102
What planet does Ganymede orbit?
Jupiter
103
What planet does Io orbit?
Jupiter
104
What planet does Oberon orbit?
Uranus
105
What planet does Proteus orbit?
Neptune
106
What planet does Titan orbit?
Saturn
107
What planet does triton orbit?
Neptune
108
What planet does Umbriel orbit?
Uranus
109
What large moons orbit Jupiter?
Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto
110
What large moons orbit Saturn?
Titan
111
What large moon orbit Neptune?
Triton
112
What medium moons orbit Saturn?
Rhea, Iapetus, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas
113
What medium moons orbit Uranus?
Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda
114
What medium moons orbit Neptune?
Proteus
115
What planet does Amalthea orbit?
Jupiter
116
What small moon discussed in class orbit Saturn?
Telesto, Calypso, Janus, Epimetheus, Hyperion, Pan, Atlas and Daphnia
117
What small moons discussed in class orbit Neptune?
Naiad and Thalassa

Space Exploration (6 decks)

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