General Astronomy Quiz 8

Question 1

How is Mercury similar to the Moon?

Answer 1

-Heavily cratered
-Airless surface
-Geologically inactive

Question 1

How is Mercury different from the Moon?

Answer 1

-Moon is a natural satellite that orbits earth
-Mercury is a planet that orbits the Sun
-Mercury is larger, more metallic, and has a magnetic field

Question 2

What is the dark, smooth area of the Moon called?

Answer 2

Seas (maria in Latin)

Question 3

Is much of the Moon’s surface covered with craters?

Answer 3

Yes

Question 4

Do we always see the same side of the Moon?

Answer 4

Yes

Question 5

How does the Moon rotate?

Answer 5

Around its axis in the same time that it takes to orbit around the Earth–tidally coupled

Question 6

Does the Moon have an atmosphere?

Answer 6

No

Question 7

How are the shadows near the terminator of the Moon described?

Answer 7

Sharp and black

Question 8

What happens to stars behind the Moon’s limb?

Answer 8

They disappear

Question 9

What is the temperature of the moon during the day?

Answer 9

About 100 degrees Celsius

Question 10

What is the temperature of the Moon during the night?

Answer 10

About -173 degrees Celsius

Question 11

What types of terrains are on the Moon?

Answer 11

-Highlands: mountains and craters
-Lowlands: sinus rilles and seas

Question 12

What are the distinguishing characteristics of impact craters’?

Answer 12

-Shape
-Ejecta
-Rays
-Secondary craters that form around impact craters

Question 13

Describe the size of lunar impact craters.

Answer 13

Range from tiny pits formed by micrometeorites to giant multiringed basins

Question 14

When did most of the Moon’s craters form?

Answer 14

When the Solar System was young (about 4.56 billion years ago)

Question 15

What does the age of the Moon rocks provide evidence of?

Answer 15

A late heavy bombardment that was 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago

Question 16

How common are cratering events in the inner Solar System?

Answer 16

A million times less common than they were when the Solar System was young

Question 17

What is the goal of science?

Answer 17

To explain details with a unifying hypothesis, not just memorize them

Question 18

What was the difficult part of the Apollo missions?

Answer 18

Landing and returning to Earth

Question 19

What was the solution for the issues with the Apollo Mission?

Answer 19

To design two vehicles
-Command module for the round trip
-Landing module to land on the moon

Question 20

When did the first successful human-piloted lunar landing occur?

Answer 20

July 20, 1969

Question 21

Are lunar rocks igneous?

Answer 21

Yes

Question 22

Does the moon have sedimentary rocks?

Answer 22

No

Question 23

Is there water on the Moon?

Answer 23

Yes, but only a little and mainly in the form of ice

Question 24

What is the lunar maria composed of?

Answer 24

Dark, dense basalts

Question 25

Some basalts are...

Answer 25

Vesicular

Question 26

What type of rocks do highlands contain?

Answer 26

Anathorsite rocks

Question 27

What are highlands and lowlands covered in?

Answer 27

Regolith

Question 28

Is the Moon small?

Answer 28

Yes

Question 29

What are some characteristics of the Moon?

Answer 29

– Low mass caused rapid cooling off – Small escape velocity – Lack of atmosphere could not protect surface from meteorite impacts

Question 30

In what state is it presumed the Moon formed in?

Answer 30

The molten state

Question 31

What is the molten state?

Answer 31

When heavy rocks sink to bottom; lighter rocks are at the surface

Question 32

The Moon does not have a...

Answer 32

Magnetic field

Question 33

What is the large impact hypothesis?

Answer 33

When a large planetismal smashed into the proto-Earth, ejecting a disk of debris that formed into the Moon

Question 34

Is Mercury tidally locked with the Sun?

Answer 34

Yes

Question 35

How often does Mercury rotate?

Answer 35

Three times for every two revolutions around the Sun

Question 36

What is orbit resonance?

Answer 36

When orbiting bodies exert regular, gravitational influence on each other

Question 37

What are fixed stars?

Answer 37

Stars that do not appear to move relative to one another

Question 38

Does Mercury have a natural satellite?

Answer 38

No

Question 39

What is a natural satellite?

Answer 39

An astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body

Question 40

Mercury is more than ___ denser than the Moon

Answer 40

60%

Question 41

Do we know why Mercury contains so much sulfur despite being so close to the Sun?

Answer 41

No

Question 42

How strong is Mercury's magnetic field?

Answer 42

1.1 as strong as Earth's

Question 43

What is Mercury's mystery?

Answer 43

Contains a large core of dense liquid metals, mostly iron

Question 44

What did the bombardment that occurred on Mercury remove?

Answer 44

Lighter rocks from the surface

Question 45

What happened to Mercury's cooling interior and what broke?

Answer 45

-Cooling interior contracted -Crust broke to form lobate scarps (lava flooding ended)

Question 46

What caused Mercury's slow surface evolution?

Answer 46

Micrometeorites