Earth Space Final

How many potential exoplanets has NASA's Kepler space telescope spotted as of today?

1,200

How long does a star remain a main sequence?

10,000,000,000 years

How much water does it take to float an average sized car?

12 in

The sun can continue to exist in its present stable state for about another...

5.5 billion years

What is the latitude range of Polar zone?

60-90 degrees

How much of Earth's surface is covered by water?

70%

Which of the following is NOT a Jovian planet

Earth

In the Ptolemaic model of the universe....

Earth was the center of the universe

Which surface listed has the highest albedo?

fresh snow/ice

The boundary that separates different air masses is called a...

front

The universe itself emits this type of radiation...however it can also be used by doctors to see inside your body

gamma

Which type of EM radiation has the greatest energy

gamma

Where is the majority of Earth's fresh water stored?

glaciers and ice caps

The heating of the lower layer of the atmosphere from radiation absorbed by certain heat-absorbing gases is called....

greenhouse effect

What is the defining characteristic of a water cycle?

has the same starting and ending point

Main product of nuclear fusion

helium

What are the main sequence stars made up of

helium and hydrogen

Which of the following best describes the general air temperature on a cloudy night?

higher than on a clear night

A cT air mass is....

hot and dry

Transpiration

how water is carried through the plants from the roots

The sun's surface is made up mostly of....

hydrogen

These contain trapped bubbles of ancient air that can tell us about the ancient atmosphere on earth

ice cores

In space, this type of radiation helps us to see the dust in between stars. Night vision goggles also use it to pick up the heat that radiates from our skin

infrared

What is the heaviest element that can be formed inside of a star, before a supernova explosion?

iron

The proton-proton chain...

is a three step process which converts some mass to energy as helium nuclei are formed

As the solar nebula collapsed under its own gravity....

it heated and spun faster

Global warming is increasing the temperature of our lower atmosphere. How will this affect the amount of moisture in the air?

it will increase moisture

Which is true about land and water

land heats more rapidly and land reaches higher temperature than water

For most stars, higher temperature tends to go with a higher....

luminosity

What kind of star is the sun

main sequence

Stages the sun goes through in its lifetime in order...

main sequence, red giant, white dwarf

The small particles that produce a streak of light upon entering Earth's atmosphere are called....

meteors

What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere

nitrogen

Source of the sun's energy is...

nuclear fusion

Sublimation

occurs when snow/ice (considered the solid form of water) changes directly into vapor (dry ice)

Condensation

opposite of evaporation; gas to liquid

Earth's orbit is a nearly circular ellipse with the sun at one focus. How would its orbit change if Earth were twice as massive?

orbit would not change

What percentage of climate scientists agree that this rapid change is caused by human activity?

over 95%

The layer of the sun that radiates most of the light that reaches earth is the...

photosphere

Put in order of smallest to largest

planet, star, solar system, galaxy, cluster of galaxies

Runoff

precipitation travels over soil surface to nearest stream channel

Which of these phases of a star's life cycle are in proper order?

protostar, main sequence, red giant

What factors could cause location E to have the greatest annual rainfall?

proximity to water

Earth receives energy from the sun through what method of heat transfer

radiation

Second layer of the sun is the....

radiative zone

Which type of EM radiation has the least energy

radio

Which of the following is NOT one of the three major climate zones?

rainforest

Many clouds have a high albedo and therefore tend to...

reflect sunlight

The ratio of air's water-vapor content to its capacity to hold water vapor at the same temperature is the....

relative humidity

Why are sunspots dark?

relatively cool

By what three ways can we tell that there may be an El Nino

sea surface warms in eastern equatorial pacific, trade winds weaken, upwelling decreases

Which of the following is proportionally more abundant on terrestrial planets than on Jovian planets?

silicate materials

What is the ultimate energy source for most wind?

solar radiation

This layer of atmosphere contains the jet streams and is where airplanes typically fly

stratosphere

Which climate covers the largest portion of the earth?

temperate

What two properties characterize an air mass?

temperature and moisture

Which law states that each planet revolves so that an imaginary line connecting it to the sun sweeps over equal areas in equal time intervals?

the 2nd law of planetary motion

What is an astronomical unit

the Earth-sun distance

The planets in our solar system are thought to have come form...

the same cloud of gas and dust in which the sun formed

All of the following are evidence for the Big Bang Theory EXCEPT

the speed of light

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Jovian planets?

thin atmosphere

Comets with short orbital periods are located in what region?

Kuiper belt

What effects climate?

Latitude

Which planet shows evidence of water erosion?

Mars

Which planet, when viewed through a telescope, appears as a reddish ball interrupted by some permanent dark regions that change intensity

Mars

Smallest planet is....

Mercury

The planet with the greatest temperature extremes is

Mercury

The scientist credited with discovering the law of gravity was...

Newton

Which surface has the lowest albedo

asphalt

A comet's tail always points...

away from the sun

What factor caused location F to have a colder yearly climate than any other location

elevation

What is the shape of a planet's orbit?

elliptical

This is where the space shuttle and other manmade satellites orbit the earth

exosphere

What characteristic distinguishes Neptune from the other planets?

extremely windy

What human activity uses the most water worldwide?

Agriculture

Which of the following is a characteristic of Jupiter?

All; huge rotating storms, dense atmosphere, thin ring system

The first early astronomer to propose a sun-centered solar system was

Copernicus

The first accurate measurement of the size of Earth was made by

Eratosthenes

When are hurricanes and tropical storms most likely to happen?

June 1--Nov. 30

Which of the following is NOT a terrestrial planet?

Jupiter

Which planet has greater mass than the combined mass of all remaining planets and their moons

Jupiter

What are some differences between El Nino and La Nina?

In La Nina, trade winds strengthen, and in El Nino they slacken/reverse; the warm pod is shifted to the west during La Nina

Their layer gets warmer as it goes higher. Explain why this occurs

It contains o-zone which absorbs energy from the sun to heat the air

Using Tycho Brahe's data, which scientist proposed three laws of planetary motion?

Kepler

Which planet might best be described as a large, dirty iceball

Pluto

What is the nearest star and how far away is it?

Proxima Centauri; 4.2 light years away

Which ancient astronomer developed a geocentric model of the universe explaining the observable motions of the planets?

Ptolemy

Which life cycle will our sun enter next?

Red Giant

One of the planets known to have rings is...

Uranus

Which planet has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere and high surface temperatures

Venus

If Earth did not rotate, how would air at the equator move?

air would rise and move toward the poles

The outer planets are mostly large and gaseous because....

beyond frost-line, gravity of large, ice-rich planetesimals captured the abundant light gases

What is the average star lifespan?

billions of years

Which type of air mass originates in northern Canada?

cP

Which part of the sun lies directly above the visible "surface" of the sun?

chromosphere

In the southern hemisphere, winds associated with a low pressure system blow...

clockwise toward center

The glowing head of a comet is known as the....

coma

Most meteor showers are associate with the orbits of....

comets

What is true about warm, saturated air?

contains more water vapor than cold air

List the parts of the sun in order

core, radiative zone, convective zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona, sunspot, granules, prominence

Which of the following techniques are commonly used by planet hunters to detect extrasolar planets?

detecting dips in a star's brightness that occurs when planets cross its face and noticing wobbles in a star's motion caused by the tugs of orbiting planets

Which of the following refers to the temperature to which air would have to be cooled to reach saturation?

dew point

According to the third law of planetary motion, the period of revolution of a planet is related to the planet's....

distance to the sun

Until 2006, Pluto was considered to be one of the nine planets. Now Pluto is considered to be a(n)....

dwarf planet

Which climate has the heaviest precipitation?

tropical

The most important weather phenomena occur in the...

troposphere

This is the layer in which hot air balloons fly

troposphere

Atmosphere layers in order (lowest to highest)

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere

Which layer is closest to Earth's surface?

troposphere; warmest because water vapor cannot go higher because it changes to ice and is trapped

Stars, fireflies, and lightbulbs all emit this type of light

visible

An mT air mass is best described as...

warm and wet

Along a front, which type of air is always forced upwards?

warmer, less dense air

The two most important heat-absorbing gases in the lower atmosphere are...

water vapor and carbon dioxide

The force that gravity exerts on an object is called....

weight

How do white dwarfs compare with supergiants, in terms of temperature and luminosity?

white dwarfs are warmer and have lower luminosity than supergiants

Variations in air pressure from place to place are the principal cause of....

wind

The Coriolis effect influences....

wind direction

Hot gases in the universe emit this type of radiation. Can also be used by a dentist to image your teeth, or airport security to see through your bags

x-ray