SMT 314 - Introduction to Cosmology » Fall 2020 » HW8

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Question #1
A meteoroid that has landed on the surface of a planet or moon is called a ______________.
A.   meteor
B.   meteorite
C.   asteroid
Question #2
It is now generally thought that billions, or even trillions, of tail-less comets surround the Solar System in a spherical shell nearly one light-year in radius called the [a].
A.   Great Comet
B.   Halley's Comet
C.   Oort Cloud
Question #3
Pluto is a large member of the _________ , and thus is no longer considered to be a genuine planet. 
A.   terrestrial planets
B.   dwarf planets
C.   trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)
Question #4
Which part of a comet has the most mass?
A.   Coma
B.   Tail
C.   Nucleus
Question #5
A big rock, over 1,000 km across, orbiting the Sun would be called a _________________.
A.   Planetesimal
B.   Asteriod
C.   Comet
D.   Blackhole
Question #6
When Earth passes through the orbit of an old, disintegrated comet, a [a] can occur.
A.   shooing stars
B.   meteor shower
C.   eclipse
Question #7
If an asteroid with a diameter of 30 km were to collide with the Earth, it would probably
A.   burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground
B.   only crush a car, if one happened to be at the point of impact
C.   bring an end to human civilization, or at least destroy much of the human race
D.   devastate an area no larger than 30 km in diameter
E.   create a crater more than 300 km in diameter, but have little or no effect on the rest of Earth and its inhabitants
Question #8
Which of the following statements is true?
A.   All asteroids appear to be quite solid objects, rather than collections of smaller rock held together by gravity.
B.   The main asteroid belt if probably debris that would have formed a planet had Jupiter not prevented it.
C.   The mass of all the asteroids together is roughly that of the Earth.
D.   There is no evidence that the material from which asteroids formed was ever part of one or more larger bodies that could have experienced differentiation.
E.   The iron/nickel asteroids are the most common kind.
Question #9
Which statement about Pluto is true?
A.   Has a nearly circular orbit around the Sun, due to its interactions with other objects in the vicinity
B.   Is massive enough to substantially affect the orbit of Uranus, which led to its discovery
C.   Has no moons
D.   Has a density intermediate between that of the terrestrial planets and the giant planets
E.   Is about as large as the planet Mercury
Question #10
What is a comet dust tail?
A.   Gas, dust & gravel left behind in the comet's orbital path.
B.   A protrusion out of one end of the potato-like comet nucleus.
C.   It is ions blown out by the Sun's solar wind.
D.   A bright gas cloud released by sublimation on the Sun side of the comet.
Question #11
Most known comets do not reappear in our sky very often because:
A.   it is impossible to tell when most comets will return close to the Sun
B.   most comets only pass close to the Sun 2 or 3 times, and then they disintegrate
C.   comets burn quite rapidly, using up all their fuel within a few decades
D.   comets are not gravitationally bound to our Solar System
E.   orbits of comets are highly eccentric and their semimajor axes are large

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