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