Astro 110 - The Solar System » Fall 2019 » Exam 2
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Question #1
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the terrestrial planets?
A.
craters in old surfaces
B.
orbits inside the asteroid belt
C.
small diameters
D.
very few satellites
E.
low average density
Question #2
How is the presence of space debris accounted for by solar system models?
A.
Both Space debris is left over material from the early solar system that never formed into a planet and Space debris was formed by the collision of objects after the planets formed are correct
B.
Space debris is left over material from the early solar system that never formed into a planet.
C.
Space debris was formed by the collision of objects after the planets formed.
D.
All of the above.
Question #3
The age of the solar system is believed to be approximately 4.6 billions years old based on the data from
A.
samples of lunar rocks.
B.
samples of earth rocks.
C.
samples of meteorites.
D.
none of the above
E.
all of the above
Question #4
The age of the Solar System can be determined most accurately by:
A.
carbon dating of rocks from mountains on the Earth
B.
radioactive dating of rocks retrieved from the Moon
C.
measuring the number of craters per square meter on Mercury
D.
measurement of the magnetic field variations on the sea floor
Question #5
Which one of the following objects is most like the planetesimals that formed inside the frost line in the solar nebula?
A.
Venus
B.
Pluto
C.
Saturn
D.
asteroids
E.
comets
Question #6
Which of the following was the planet that formed at the nearest location to the Sun that was at a temperature below the freezing point of water?
A.
Earth
B.
Mars
C.
Uranus
D.
Jupiter
E.
Mercury
Question #7
Which one supports the solar nebula theory of the origin of the solar system?
A.
Disks are common around young stars.
B.
The sun is the least massive object in the solar system.
C.
Planets are round.
D.
Disks are rare around young stars.
Question #8
Which one of the planets listed below initially formed at the outermost location where the temperature was high enough for water to be a liquid?
A.
Saturn
B.
Earth
C.
Mars
D.
Jupiter
E.
Neptune
Question #9
Why do outer planets like Jupiter have huge gaseous atmospheres of hydrogen and helium while the inner planets do not?
A.
Frequent early collisions by comets with the inner planets caused most of their original atmospheres to dissipate.
B.
The outer planets grew massive quickly enough to gravitationally hold on to these gases before the solar wind dispersed the accretion disk.
C.
The inner planets were too close to the Sun, and solar winds blew away their original gaseous atmospheres.
D.
These gases were more abundant in the outer regions of the accretion disk where the outer planets formed.
Question #10
No matter where you are on Earth, stars appear to rotate about a point called the:
A.
zenith
B.
equinox
C.
meridian
D.
celestial pole
Question #11
The central part of Earth's core is solid.
A.
TRUE
B.
FALSE
Question #12
The fact that Earth’s interior is differentiated suggests that:
A.
it was liquid at some point in the past
B.
only the crust is solid; the rest of Earth’s interior is liquid
C.
it has both a liquid and solid core
D.
it formed first from denser material and then afterward accreted lighter material
Question #13
Which of the following is NOT one of the geologic processes that occurs on a terrestrial planet?
A.
fusion of hydrogen to helium
B.
flooding
C.
differentiation
D.
slow surface evolution
E.
cratering
Question #14
The fact that Earth’s interior is differentiated suggests that:
A.
it formed first from denser material and then afterward accreted lighter material
B.
it was liquid at some point in the past
C.
it has both a liquid and solid core
D.
only the crust is solid; the rest of Earth’s interior is liquid
Question #15
The greenhouse effect occurs because
A.
ozone is transparent to infrared radiation and opaque to ultraviolet radiation.
B.
ozone is transparent to visible light and opaque to infrared radiation.
C.
carbon dioxide is transparent to infrared radiation and opaque to ultraviolet radiation.
D.
the sun emits more infrared radiation than ultraviolet radiation.
E.
carbon dioxide is transparent to visible light and opaque to infrared radiation.
Question #16
The amount of energy a photon carries depends on its wavelength.
A.
FALSE
B.
TRUE
Question #17
How many of the following: gamma, x-ray, UV, Visible, IR and radio, coming from space can NOT be detected on the surface of Earth at all?
A.
three
B.
four or more
C.
two
D.
None of the above.
Question #18
CCD stands for a
A.
core collapse device.
B.
spectrograph.
C.
photometer.
D.
charge-coupled device.
Question #19
Which of the following would be true about comparing gamma rays and radio waves?
A.
Gamma rays would have a shorter wavelength and a lower energy than radio waves.
B.
Gamma rays would have a lower frequency and travel the same speed as radio waves.
C.
Radio waves would have a shorter wavelength and higher energy than gamma rays.
D.
Radio waves would have a longer wavelength and travel the same speed as gamma rays
E.
Radio waves would have a lower energy and would travel slower than gamma rays.
Question #20
A telescope that suffers from chromatic aberration and has a low light gathering power is most likely
A.
a small diameter reflecting telescope.
B.
a large diameter reflecting telescope.
C.
a large diameter refracting telescope.
D.
a small diameter refracting telescope.
Question #21
____ has (have) wavelengths that are longer than visible light.
A.
Infrared radiation
B.
Ultraviolet light
C.
Gamma-rays
D.
X-rays
Question #22
The technique called ____ uses a high-speed computer to monitor atmospheric distortion and adjust the optics of a telescope to partially compensate for the seeing.
A.
adaptive optics
B.
photometry
C.
spherical aberration
D.
active optics
E.
chromatic aberration
Question #23
If the Moon is in the Waxing Gibbous phase today, approximately how long will it be until the Moon is in the Waxing Crescent phase?
A.
a month
B.
one week
C.
one day
D.
two weeks
E.
three weeks
Question #24
Approximately how many Moons would fit between the Earth and the Moon?
A.
200
B.
30
C.
50
D.
150
E.
120
Question #25
The sun's magnetic field is evident in the looped shapes of
A.
the corona.
B.
sunspots.
C.
solar prominences.
D.
granules.
E.
solar flares.
Question #26
Hydrostatic equilibrium is a balance between:
A.
core temperature and surface temperature
B.
pressure and gravity
C.
radiation and heat
D.
heat and rotation
Question #27
Most of the energy emitted by the sun is generated in the
A.
core.
B.
photosphere.
C.
corona.
D.
chromosphere.
Question #28
When two atomic nuclei come together to form a new species of atom, it is called:
A.
nuclear splitting
B.
nuclear fusion
C.
nuclear fission
D.
nuclear recombination
Question #29
High temperatures are required to get H nuclei to fuse because they ____ one another because of their ____ electric charges.
A.
repel, positive
B.
repel, negative
C.
attract, negative
D.
attract, positive
Question #30
The ____ is(are) the hot gases that are the moving extension of the sun's corona.
A.
flares
B.
prominences
C.
solar wind
D.
supergranules
E.
spicules
Question #31
Fusion is promoted in the core of the sun by the ____ there.
A.
high temperature and low density
B.
high temperature and high density
C.
low temperature and low density
D.
low temperature and high density
Question #32
Kepler's first law of planetary motion implies that
A.
planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.
B.
uniform circular motion is adequate to describe the motion of all planets.
C.
the planets move at a constant speeds at all points in their orbits.
D.
the planets all move around the Earth in elliptical orbits.
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