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Astronomy > Moons > Flashcards

Moons Flashcards

1
Q

How many moons does Mercury have?

A

0

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2
Q

How many moons does Venus have?

A

0

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3
Q

How many moons does Earth have?

A

1

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4
Q

How many moons does Mars have?

A

2

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5
Q

How many moons does Jupiter have?

A

80

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6
Q

How many moons does Saturn have?

A

83

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7
Q

How many moons does Uranus have?

A

27

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8
Q

How many moons does Neptune have?

A

14

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9
Q

What is the name of the largest impact crater on the Moon?

A

The South Pole-Aitken basin

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10
Q

What is the name of the edge of the shadow between night and day on the Moon

A

Terminator

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11
Q

What is the name for the dark areas on the Moon’s surface and what are they made from?

A

Lunar maria (seas), made of flood basalts

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12
Q

What is the name for the layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering the surface of the Moon?

A

Lunar regolith

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13
Q

What is the name of the largest lunar mare, located on the western edge of the near side of the Moon and the only one to be designated an ‘ocean’ due to its size?

A

Oceanus Procellarum

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14
Q

What is responsible for the fact that the Moon always has the same hemisphere facing Earth?

A

Tidal locking (tidal forces have slowed its rotation so its rotation and orbital periods are both just under 4 weeks)

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15
Q

Which lunar mare is known as the ‘sea of clouds’?

A

Mare Nubium

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16
Q

What is the dominant theory for the formation of the Moon?

A

The giant impact hypothesis (published in Icarus, Hartmann and Davis, 1975)

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17
Q

What is the name given to the Mars-sized body that collided with Earth over 4.5 billion years ago and formed the Moon?

A

Theia (as Theia gave birth to the Moon goddess Selene in Greek mythology)

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18
Q

What is the name for the study of the Moon’s surface?

A

Selenography

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19
Q

What is the sequence of Moon phases?

A

New, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescent

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20
Q

When two full moons occur in the same month, what is the name for the second of those moons?

A

Blue moon

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21
Q

What is the name for the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox?

A

Harvest moon

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22
Q

What is the name for the moon that follows the harvest moon, in November?

A

Hunter’s moon

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23
Q

What are the names of the two moons of Mars?

A

Phobos and Deimos (named after sons of Ares and Aphrodite). Phobos is the god of fear and panic and Deimos is the god of dread and terror

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24
Q

Which is the larger of the two moons of Mars?

A

Phobos

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25
Q

Who discovered the moons of Mars in 1877?

A

Asaph Hall

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26
Q

Who are the moons of Jupiter named after?

A

Figures in the life of Zeus. The Galilean moons are all named after Zeus’ lovers

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27
Q

Who discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610?

A

Galileo Galilei

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28
Q

What is the largest moon in the solar system?

A

Ganymede (Jupiter)

29
Q

What is the second largest moon in the solar system?

A

Titan (Saturn)

30
Q

What are the ten largest moons in the solar system in order?

A
  1. Ganymede (Jupiter), 2. Titan (Saturn), 3. Castillo (Jupiter), 4. Io (Jupiter), 5. Moon (Earth), 6. Europa (Jupiter), 7. Triton (Neptune), 8. Titania (Uranus), 9. Rhea (Saturn), 10. Oberon (Uranus)
31
Q

Which moon is the only one known to have a magnetic field and auroras?

A

Ganymede (Jupiter)

32
Q

Which moon is thought to have the oldest surface in the solar system?

A

Callisto (Jupiter)

33
Q

What is the name of the largest multi-ring impact crater on Callisto and in the solar system?

A

Valhalla

34
Q

Io is named after a goddess of what?

A

Fire

35
Q

Which moon is the most active volcanic moon in the solar system?

A

Io (its surface may be melted by Jupiter’s gravitational pull)

36
Q

What name is given to the volcanic depressions which dot the surface of Io?

A

Paterae

37
Q

Which is the innermost of the Galilean moons?

A

Io

38
Q

Which Danish astronomer made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light by studying eclipses of Io in 1676?

A

Ole Romer

39
Q

Which moon has the smoothest surface of any known solid object in the solar system?

A

Europa

40
Q

Which is the smallest of the Galilean moons?

A

Europa

41
Q

Which Galilean moons is thought to have liquid water beneath its frozen surface?

A

Europa

42
Q

Which moon is the largest of Jupiter’s inner satellites? It was the last satellite to be discovered by visual observation.

A

Amalthea

43
Q

What are the five largest moons of Saturn?

A
  1. Titan, 2. Rhea, 3. Iapetus, 4. Dione, 5. Tethys
44
Q

What are the moons of Saturn named after?

A

Greek titans and giants from Inuit, Norse and Gallic mythology

45
Q

What gas makes up the majority of Titan’s atmosphere?

A

Nitrogen (98%)

46
Q

Which moon is the only object other than Earth which has clear evidence for the presence of stable bodies of surface liquid?

A

Titan (Saturn)

47
Q

Which moon of Saturn is known as the ‘yin and yang’ moon, due to its half clean ice, half black deposits appearance?

A

Iapetus

48
Q

Which moon was the first non-round moon to be discovered (1848)? It is distinguished by its irregular shape, chaotic rotation and sponge-like appearance.

A

Hyperion (Saturn)

49
Q

Which moon of Saturn (its sixth-largest) is covered by ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies in the solar system? It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel and is named after a child of Gaia. It also has distinctive ‘tiger stripes’.

A

Enceladus

50
Q

Which moon of Saturn is named after a naiad (nymph) in Greek mythology? It is a trojan moon.

A

Calypso

51
Q

Which moon closely resembles the Death Star from Star Wars? It was discovered by William Herschel in 1789 and is also designated Saturn I.

A

Mimas

52
Q

Which is the only moon of Saturn that revolves in the opposite direction to the rest? It was the last moon to be discovered photographically, by William Pickering in 1899.

A

Phoebe

53
Q

Which planet has the only known trojan satellites?

A

Saturn - Tethys has two (Telesto and Calypso) and Dione has two (Helene and Polydeuces)

54
Q

What are the five largest moons of Uranus?

A
  1. Titania, 2. Oberon, 3. Umbriel, 4. Ariel and 5. Miranda
55
Q

What are the moons of Uranus named after?

A

Characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope

56
Q

Which is the largest moon of Uranus?

A

Titania

57
Q

Who discovered Titania in 1787?

A

William Herschel

58
Q

Characters from which epic poem give their names to the moons of Uranus Belinda, Umbriel and Ariel?

A

The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope

59
Q

On which moon is Verona Rupes, the highest cliff in the solar system?

A

Miranda (Uranus)

60
Q

What are the three largest moons of Neptune?

A
  1. Triton, 2. Proteus and 3. Nereid
61
Q

What are all the moons of Neptune named after?

A

Water nymphs

62
Q

Who discovered Triton?

A

William Lassell

63
Q

Which is the only large moon in the solar system which has a retrograde orbit around its planet?

A

Triton (Neptune)

64
Q

First observed on Triton, what is the name for a volcano which erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane?

A

Cryovolcano

65
Q

How many known moons are there in the solar system?

A

207

66
Q

What is the name for a moon which orbits on the edges or within gaps of planetary rings? They help give a defined edge to the ring?

A

Shepherd moon

67
Q

What is the name for a moon which shares an orbit of another, larger planet or moon without colliding with it?

A

Trojan moon

68
Q

What is the name given to the period between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago during which a large number of impact craters formed on the Moon? It is inferred that all the rocky planets where affected by this.

A

Late Heavy Bombardment

69
Q
A

Astronomy (9 decks)

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