Astro Practice Exam 2

20. Which of the following statement is TRUE? a) Io, Earth, and Triton have active volcanoes. b) Mercury and the Moon have thick atmospheres. c) Mars has more moons than Neptune does. d) The Great Red Spot is a hurricane on Uranus, one hundred times the size of the Earth. e) Methane gives Jupiter its reddish/orange color.

Io, Earth, and Triton have active volcanoes.

21. Which of the following is NOT required in order to classify a Solar System object as a planet (instead of a dwarf planet)? a) It must not be a moon around another object. b) It must be massive enough to be nearly round. c) It must orbit the Sun. d) It must clear the region around its orbit. e) It must be larger than all of the moons in the Solar System?

It must be larger than all of the moons in the Solar System?

8. Which is largest? a) Saturn's moon Mimas b) Mercury c) Saturn's moon Iapetus d) Pluto e) Jupiter's moon Ganymede

Jupiter's moon Ganymede

23. Which planet looks the most like the Moon? a) Mercury b) Venus c) Neptune d) Uranus e) Mars

Mercury

9. Which planet has a temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit on the side facing the Sun and -290 degrees Fahrenheit on the side opposite the Sun? a) Mars b) Venus c) Earth d) Jupiter e) Mercury

Mercury

2. Which of the following is TRUE? a) The average surface temperature of Venus is about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. b) Mercury has a very thick atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide. c) The runaway greenhouse effect causes the present temperatures on Mars to exceed those on Earth. d) Mercury rotates exactly one and a half times for every one revolution around the Sun. e) Venus has no volcanos on its surface.

Mercury rotates exactly one and a half times for every one revolution around the Sun.

4. Of these choices, which planet has the most moons? a) Earth b) Mercury c) Saturn d) Mars e) Venus

Saturn

16. Which of the following is FALSE? a) Venus has a density of 5.2 grams per cubic centimeter b) All Terrestrial planets have densities much higher than the density of water c) Saturn has a density of 4.8 grams per cubic centimeter, similar to metals like aluminum and iron d) The density of Jupiter is 1.3 grams per cubic centimeter, similar to the density of milk. e) The density of Mercury is greater than the density of Uranus.

Saturn has a density of 4.8 grams per cubic centimeter, similar to metals like aluminum and iron

24. If you know the orbital period and the semimajor axis of the orbit of one of Saturn's moons, what could you determine? a) Saturn's radius b) Saturn's density c) the Sun's radius d) Saturn's mass e) the distance from Saturn to the Sun

Saturn's mass

17. Which of the following is the cause of aurora? a) collisions of plates on Earth that float on the surface of denser fluid below b) Greenhouse gases that trap infrared radiation inside an atmosphere c) The ozone layer that prevents UV radiation from entering an atmosphere d) Rapid spinning of a planet that mixes up its magnetic field lines e) Solar wind particles that hit the atmosphere of a planet

Solar wind particles that hit the atmosphere of a planet

3. Why do the orbits of the planets all lie in nearly the same plane? a) Collisions between planetesimals destroyed all planets that would have been elsewhere. b) The Sun's gravity forced them into these orbits. c) The early solar nebula flattened into a disk. d) The angular momentum of the solar system was kept to a minimum this way. e) This happened purely by chance.

The early solar nebula flattened into a disk.

13. Which of the following statements is TRUE? a) Neither Uranus or Neptune have ring systems. b) The planet Uranus is blue-green and virtually featureless. c) There is no evidence to suggest that either Jupiter or Saturn has a liquid metallic or rocky core beneath its gas layers. d) The Great Red Spot is a dust storm near the South polar cap of Mars. e) Jupiter's solid surface lies just below the cloud layers visible from Earth.

The planet Uranus is blue-green and virtually featureless.

22. Which of the following planets rotates the slowest? a) Jupiter b) Saturn c) Neptune d) Venus e) Uranus

Uranus

yellowish planet

Venus

15. Which of the following is moving fastest in the orbit? a) Venus at its perihelion (closest point to Sun) b) Venus at its aphelion (farthest point from Sun) c) Mars at its perihelion (closest point to Sun) d) Mars at its aphelion (farthest point from Sun) e) Neptune at its aphelion (farthest point from Sun)

Venus at its perihelion (closest point to Sun)

14. The surface of Venus is hotter than the surface of Mercury because a) Venus is closer to the Sun than Mercury. b) Mercury's atmosphere prevents radiation from penetrating through to its surface. c) of the volcanic activity that occurs on Venus. d) Venus is more massive and is able to retain a thick atmosphere. e) Venus is smaller than Mercury so it does not require so much energy to heat it

Venus is more massive and is able to retain a thick atmosphere.

1. Which statement about the rotation of the Inner planets is true? a) Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the three others. b) All rotate in the same direction. c) The rotation periods of all of them are the same, i.e. 1 Earth day. d) All have rotation periods of 365 Earth days. e) All have rotation periods about equal to their periods to orbit the Sun.

Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the three others.

11. Meteors are a) asteroids or comet debris that passes into Earth's atmosphere and burns up b) a group of rocky objects between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn c) comets that are vaporized when they pass very close to the Sun d) comets that escape the Solar System without being vaporized by the Sun e) a group of rocky objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

asteroids or comet debris that passes into Earth's atmosphere and burns up

18. Which of the following objects have a dark/black sky even in the daytime? a) both Venus and Mars b) both Mercury and Mars c) both the Moon and Earth d) both the Moon and Mercury e) both Earth and Titan

both the Moon and Mercury

7. How do most craters on moons form? a) by volcanic activity b) running water c) by seismic activity (earthquakes) d) earthquakes e) impact of asteroids

impact of asteroids

12. Which feature of Neptune is most responsible for its blue color? a) methane in its atmosphere b) auroral activity due to its strong magnetic field c) excess energy emitted by the interior d) winds blowing at speeds almost that of sound e) large oceans covering most of the surface

methane in its atmosphere

25. Which is NOT a characteristic of a comet? a) tails point away from the Sun b) tails become more prominent when comet is close to the Sun c) highly elliptical orbit d) most orbit the Sun in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter e) they move slowly across the sky

most orbit the Sun in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

5. Venus is visible to us: a) only near sunrise or sunset. b) only during the several hours around midnight. c) only in the winter. d) only in the summer. e) only during its new phase.

only near sunrise or sunset.

19. Which of the following is the largest distance? a) the distance from Jupiter to Saturn b) the distance from the Sun to the Earth c) the distance from the Earth to the Moon d) the distance from Earth to Mars e) the distance from Mercury to Venus

the distance from Jupiter to Saturn

10. How many Earth years does it take Uranus to orbit the Sun? a) 84 b)1 c) 0.48 d) 2.4 e) 0.27

84

6. A planet is in orbit around the Sun. The semimajor axis of the orbit is 5 Astronomical Units (AU). Use P^ 2 = a^3 to calculate the period of the orbit in years. a) 5 years b) 0.2 years c) 135 years d) 125 years e) 11.2 years

11.2 years