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

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