SMT 314 - Introduction to Cosmology » Fall 2020 » Exam 2
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Question #1
What is the Great Red Spot?
A.
a volcanic eruption
B.
a hurricane
C.
a tidal instability
D.
an atmospheric disturbance where a comet landed years ago.
Question #2
At mid-northern latitudes (California), the full moon passes higher in the sky in winter than in summer.
A.
TRUE
B.
FALSE
Question #3
What causes high tides on Earth's beaches?
A.
ocean storms & weather
B.
none of these
C.
gravitational attraction to astronomical objects
D.
periodic sloshing of liquid water.
Question #4
Which part of a comet "points" away from the Sun?
A.
dust tail
B.
nucleus
C.
ion tail
D.
coma
Question #5
Most known comets do not reappear in our sky very often because:
A.
comets burn quite rapidly, using up all their fuel within a few decades
B.
comets are not gravitationally bound to our Solar System
C.
most comets only pass close to the Sun 2 or 3 times, and then they disintegrate
D.
it is impossible to tell when most comets will return close to the Sun
E.
orbits of comets are highly eccentric and their semimajor axes are large
Question #6
What is most unusual about Uranus's rotation?
A.
The rotation is counter-clockwise.
B.
The planet rotates once every 243 days, but the atmosphere rotates faster.
C.
The rotation axis is almost in line with the solar ecliptic
D.
The planet rotates once every 2/3 revolution about the Sun.
Question #7
Exoplanets can sometimes be detected by monitoring the brightness of a star, and seeing the brightness decrease as the planet blocks part of the star's light.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #8
Which one of the following statements about the greenhouse effect, Venus, and Earth is false?
A.
No greenhouse effect currently occurs on Earth, and this is a good thing for humans.
B.
An extreme, possible runaway, greenhouse effect occurred on Venus, making its planetary surface the hottest in the Solar System.
C.
Venus's atmosphere is much thicker than that of Earth - but some of Earth's gases are trapped in rocks and oceans.
D.
The greenhouse effect occurs when an atmosphere is transparent to optical or visible light but translucent to infrared light, thus trapping the heat.
E.
If we dump much more carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, Earth will become hotter because of the greenhouse effect.
Question #9
Comets are made of mostly rocky material from the asteroid belt.
A.
TRUE
B.
FALSE
Question #10
Of the four terrestrial planets, Earth is the only one that now has obvious and on going plate tectonics.
A.
TRUE
B.
FALSE
Question #11
Which celestial body has a retrograde orbit?
A.
Triton
B.
Io
C.
Venus
D.
Uranus
Question #12
Jovian planets have rings because
A.
tidal forces prevent the material in rings from forming into moons
B.
their thick gaseous atmospheres would disintegrate any small rock that enter them
C.
there is too much material to have fit into the ball of each planet
D.
tidal forces cause volcanic eruptions on some moons, and part of this material subsequently escaped the gravity of the moons, forming the rings.
E.
Jovian planets rotate very rapidly, and some material near the equator of these planets was flung outward, forming the rings
Question #13
The period Doppler-shift method (aka Doppler-Wobble or Radial Velocity Methods) is biased toward finding planets whose orbital plane is along the line of sight, rather than closer to the plane of the sky (aka the polar view).
A.
TRUE
B.
FALSE
Question #14
Which part of a comet is always present, even when it is orbiting past Neptune's orbit?
A.
dust tail
B.
ion tail
C.
coma
D.
nucleus
Question #15
Which one of the statements about lunar eclipses is false?
A.
The Moon is still visible during a total lunar eclipse because of light going through the Earth's atmosphere.
B.
At a given time, a total lunar eclipse is visible only from a small part of the Earth's surface.
C.
Total lunar eclipses last longer than total solar eclipses
D.
Lunar eclipses are predictable.
E.
Lunar eclipses don't occur monthly, because the inclination of the Moon's orbit around the Earth relative to the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
Question #16
What are plate tectonics?
A.
Earth's mantle consists of stacked rock plates
B.
lava erupts at random
C.
continents shifting over a convecting mantle
D.
earthquake map
Question #17
Asteroids are:
A.
Groupings of stars in the sky that are smaller than constellations.
B.
Objects smaller than comets; most between Mars and Jupiter.
C.
Any astronomical object.
D.
Meteorites falling on a radiant from the Perseid star cluster.
Question #18
Which one of the following statements about the Jovian planets is false?
A.
They are the largest of all planets in the Solar System, with diameters up to nearly 1/10 the diameter of the Sun.
B.
Despite their size, they rotate about their axis very rapidly, in fewer than 24 hours.
C.
They have many moons, probably due to their large gravitational fields.
D.
They are the most massive of all the planets in the Solar System since they are mainly composed of heavy elements like iron.
E.
They generally have the thickest atmospheres of all the planets in the Solar System
Question #19
Which planet's orbit is elliptical enough that the seasons are not equal in length?
A.
Mars
B.
Earth
C.
Uranus
D.
Venus
Question #20
Rocky Planets have a higher proportion of heavier elements, like iron and nickel, and minerals than the Gas Giants.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #21
Which is a large moon of Jupiter?
A.
Phobos
B.
Triton
C.
Ariel
D.
Io
E.
Luna
Question #22
What is the dominant atmospheric gas of Jupiter?
A.
ammonia
B.
helium
C.
nitrogen
D.
hydrogen
E.
methane
Question #23
Which planet has the hottest surface temperature due to the predominantly carbon dioxide atmosphere and the "greenhouse" effect?
A.
Mars
B.
Venus
C.
Jupiter
D.
Mercury
E.
Uranus
Question #24
The currently accepted theory is that Earth's Moon was formed from:
A.
Sun ejecta
B.
a collision with a rogue planet
C.
early solar system gas & dust
D.
a captured comet
E.
a chunk broke off of the Earth
Question #25
Place celestial objects in order of increasing orbital period
A.
Mercury,Asteroid Belt,Venus,Earth,Mars,Kuiper Belt,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,
B.
Neptune,Saturn,Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Uranus,Kuiper Belt,Asteroid Belt
C.
Kuiper Belt,Mercury,Earth,MarsVenus,Jupiter,Uranus,Neptune,Saturn,Asteroid Belt
D.
Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Asteroid Belt,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,Kuiper Belt
Question #26
Place in order, from earliest to latest (oldest to youngest):
A.
Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Formation of the protosun,Ignition of the Sun,Late Heavy Bombardment
B.
Formation of the protosun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Ignition of the Sun,Late Heavy Bombardment
C.
Formation of the protosun,Ignition of the Sun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Late Heavy Bombardment
D.
Ignition of the Sun,Formation of the protosun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Late Heavy Bombardment
Question #27
The retrograde motion of Pluto can be attributed to the relatively high eccentricity of its orbit around the Sun, as compared normal planets.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #28
Which one of the following statements about the Earth-Moon system is true?
A.
The same half of the Moon's surface is perpetually dark (craters on that side never see sunlight), leading us to call it the "dark side of the Moon."
B.
At any given location on Earth, there are two high tides each day - one caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun, and the other by the gravitational pull of the Moon.
C.
By observing the Moon long enough from Earth, night after night, we are able to draw a map of its entire surface.
D.
The orbital period of the Moon around the Earth and the rotation period of the Moon around its axis are equal.
E.
High tide occurs on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon, while low tide occurs on the opposite side of the Earth.
Question #29
Astronomers have observed that the Moon is more heavily cratered than the Earth. This is primarily because:
A.
the Moon is more distant than the Earth, causing incoming rocks to hit it first.
B.
the Moon has been around longer than the Earth and has been exposed to more periods of meteor bombardment.
C.
the Moon experiences frequent volcanic eruptions that cause craters.
D.
the Moon experiences almost no erosion compared to the Earth, causing craters to remain much longer.
E.
the Moon is much more deficient in iron relative to the Earth, causing craters to form more easily.
Question #30
What moon has a higher air pressure than Earth?
A.
Titan
B.
Io
C.
Callisto
D.
Europa
Question #31
At the present time, most of the known exoplanets or exoplanet candidates have been found by using
A.
the Doppler-wobble method
B.
direct imaging
C.
the transit method
D.
gravitational microlensing
E.
astrometric measurements
Question #32
Where are most asteroids located?
A.
randomly distributed throughout the solar system.
B.
between the Sun and Mars.
C.
tidally-disrupted icy rock debris between Mars and Jupiter.
D.
among comets in the Oort cloud, beyond Neptune.
Question #33
Why is Pluto no longer classified as a planet like the eight closer planets?
A.
It's orbit is not clear of other orbiting objects.
B.
If it was a distant planet, it would be a gas giant planet.
C.
It fell into Neptune when their orbits crossed.
D.
It doesn't revolve about the Sun like planets.
Question #34
Which terrestrial planet(s) has(have) substantial magnetic field(s).
A.
Earth
B.
Mars
C.
Venus
D.
Mercury
Question #35
Which celestial body has a retrograde rotation?
A.
Triton
B.
Venus
C.
Io
D.
Uranus
Question #36
Suppose exoplanets Luke and Leia both orbit the same star. The orbital period of exoplanet Luke is five times longer than that of exoplanet Leia. Compared with exoplanet Luke, exoplanet Leia is _________ to its star.
A.
now way to tell with available data
B.
the same distance
C.
closer
D.
farther
Question #37
Which one of the following statements about the giant planets in our Solar System is true?
A.
Jupiter's volume is roughly 10 times Earth's volume
B.
The giant planets consist mostly of hydrogen and helium,
C.
Neptune and Uranus appear greenish blue because they are covered by a liquid water ocean
D.
Of the four giant planets, only Saturn and Uranus have rings.
E.
Saturn's rings rotate as a solid body, like a bicycle wheel and its spokes; all particles have the same orbital period.
Question #38
Rings can only form on the outside of the Roche limit.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #39
From Earth, Mercury and Venus are only visible around dawn and dusk.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #40
Earth's Moon is _____________ Earth.
A.
older than
B.
the same age as
C.
younger than
Question #41
What are Goldilocks planets?
A.
planets 1 AU from their star
B.
planets with a rocky surface
C.
all of these choices
D.
planets that could have liquid water
E.
planets with an oxygen atmosphere
F.
none of these choices
Question #42
The rotation periods of the giant planets are all:
A.
less than an Earth day
B.
longer than an Earth day
C.
many Earth days
D.
less than an hour
Question #43
Through a telescope on Earth, we can sometimes see Jupiter and Saturn in their crescent phases, just as the Moon is sometimes a crescent.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #44
Which two planets have enough methane in their atmospheres to change the color of their atmospheres to a bluish/greenish color?,,
A.
Uranus
B.
Jupiter
C.
Neptune
D.
Saturn
Question #45
The retrograde motion of Venus across the sky:
A.
Is caused by the "backward" rotation of Venus about its own axis
B.
Is caused by the gravitational tug of other planets on Venus
C.
Was used by Galileo to explain the complete set of phases of Venus that he observed through his telescope
D.
Is caused by the motion of Venus along an epicycle whose center orbits the Sun
E.
Is caused by the change in perspective as Venus catches up with, and passes, Earth while both planets orbit the Sun
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