🌎W7 L2 - Properties of planets

Question 1

In a protoplanetary disk, what do instability waves do to planets?

Answer 1

Instability waves pull on the planet that is orbiting through the disk

Question 2

What does an outer spiral instability wave do to an orbiting planet?

Answer 2

Slows its orbit sending it closer to the star

Question 3

What might a very large internal spiral instability wave do to a planet?

Answer 3

Increase orbital velocity and thereby increase its orbital distance from the star

Question 4

Name 6 kinds of planetary exploration that can be performed using machines

Answer 4

1) flyby, 2) orbiter, 3) atmospheric probe, 4) lander, 5) rover, 6) sample return

Question 5

Name one famous flyby spacecraft

Answer 5

Voyager (1 & 2, outer solar system)

Question 6

Name one orbiter spacecraft and where it went

Answer 6

Messenger, to Mercury

Question 7

Name one atmospheric probe

Answer 7

Galileo descent module to Jupiter

Question 8

Name one lander spacecraft

Answer 8

Venera to Venus

Question 9

Name one rover craft that explored another planet’s surface

Answer 9

Curiosity Rover on Mars

Question 10

Name one sample return mission

Answer 10

Stardust to Comet Wild 2 (or Apollo missions to the moon)

Question 11

What two things increase as you go deeper in a gas giant’s atmosphere?

Answer 11

Temperature and pressure

Question 12

What gas is most common in the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn?

Answer 12

Hydrogen

Question 13

What are the two forms of hydrogen found in Jupiter and Saturn?

Answer 13

Molecular hydrogen and metallic hydrogen

Question 14

How is it that Jupiter is over 3 times the mass of Saturn but only slightly larger?

Answer 14

The increased gravity of its mass increases its density - fitting more stuff into less space

Question 15

How thin is Earth’s atmosphere relative to an Apple?

Answer 15

As thin as the skin

Question 16

From the inside out, what are the 4 main layers of the Earth?

Answer 16

1) Solid inner core, 2) liquid outer core, 3) mantle, 4) crust

Question 17

How big is Venus’ iron core compared with Earth?

Answer 17

Much smaller

Though NASA says the core is about the same size as Earth’s. See here: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/in-depth/)

Question 18

Does Venus have planetary magnetic fields like the Earth?

Answer 18

No

(Not generated from the core. But NASA says it has induced magnetic fields caused by the interaction of the solar wind and Venus’ atmosphere)

Question 19

Did Mars have a magnetic field in the past?

Answer 19

Yes

Question 20

Which is the only planet in the Solar System that has plate tectonics?

Answer 20

Earth

Question 21

What molecule is found as a gas on Earth, but is a liquid on Titan?

Answer 21

Methane

Question 22

What covers the surface of Europa?

Answer 22

Ice

Question 23

Besides Earth, what other body currently has basaltic volcanic activity in our Solar System?

Answer 23

Io

Question 24

Terrestrial planets have high density cores; what comprises the cores of planet-sized bodies at Jupiter and beyond?

Answer 24

Low density cores of ice

Question 25

Name 4 forces that can reshape the surface of planets

Answer 25

1) volcanism, 2)

Question 26

What body has cryovolcanism?

Answer 26

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn

Question 27

Name 4 properties that can affect a planet’s atmosphere

Answer 27

1) Mass and radius, 2) temperature, 3) volcanism, 4) lifeforms

Question 28

What does distance from the Sun allow a body’s atmosphere to become

Answer 28

Dense (because it’s cold)

Question 29

If a body has both cratered areas and non-cratered areas what does that suggest about its surface

Answer 29

That it gets recycled over time