Astronomy Chapters 13&14

Halley's Comet was given that name because Edmond Halley was a. the first person to ever see that comet b. the scientist who pointed out that the orbit of the comet was such that it should return every 76 years or so c. the chief scientist who designed the probe that flew by the comet d. the first person to be hurt by pieces falling off the comet e. prime minister of England at the time the comet was discovered

? (not a)

One of the best proofs that our theory of how the solar system formed is correct is that astronomers now observe a. Pluto's orbit, which is not in the plane (or disk) that the other planets orbit in b. disks around other stars which show evidence of gaps where planets may be forming c. planets that are called "hot Jupiters" d. no water in the inner solar system e. UFO's with alien astronomy textbooks inside, discussing the same theories

? (not a)

Which of the following statements about NEO's (Near Earth Objects) is TRUE? a. we have identified just about all NEO's with diameters greater than 1 km b. no NEO has passed closer to the Earth than the orbit of the Moon c. it is unlikely that any NEO's have hit the Earth during our planet's history d. NEO's can include both asteroids and comets that cross the Earth's orbit e. we are not able to obtain information about the shape or size of any of the NEO's at present

? (not a)

How have astronomers learned what different asteroids are made of? a. The only way is to send a spacecraft to each asteroid and bring a chunk of it home b. They measure the x-rays that all asteroids give off c. They wait until the asteroid has a tail of gas behind it and measure that tail d. They examine the spectrum of the sunlight that reflects from the asteroid e. There is no way at the present time to know what asteroids are made of

? (not b)

The typical meteor is a. about the size of a small one-family house b. made of evaporated ices c. a small solid particle, no bigger than a pea d. visible only from above the Earth's atmosphere e. the result of magnetic activity in the upper atmosphere of the Earth

? (not b)

In 2012, NASA's Spaceguard Survey concluded that astronomers had now identified 90% of the asteroids with diameters greater than 1 km. How could astronomers know that they had reached this goal? a. Asteroids larger than 1 km are so rare and so big, they have always been easy to keep track of b. NASA is now able to keep track of everything in the solar system out to Pluto with great precision; nothing remains to be discovered in that region c. Most of the near-Earth objects that big are comets, and they all have big tails which are easy to see d. The people doing the survey began to find the same objects over again, indicating they were reaching the limits of their survey e. This was fake news; in fact, we can't ever know if we have found 90% of the larger near-Earth objects

? (not c)

The first asteroid to be discovered (which is also the largest one) is called a. Ceres b. Gaspra c. Davida d. Eros e. Fraknoi

a. Ceres

In 2013, a small stony asteroid collided with the Earth above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. What was the result? a. A large earthquake was felt all over Europe and Asia b. A fireball briefly brighter than the Sun could be seen in the sky c. It broke apart and large pieces of rock fell from the sky, killing thousands of innocent people d. The Earth's orbit around the Sun changed in a measurable way e. It burned up so high in the atmosphere, absolutely nothing could be felt or seen on the ground

b. A fireball briefly brighter than the Sun could be seen in the sky

Short-period comets like Comet Halley a. return to the Oort Cloud during each of their orbits b. come back again and again at predictable intervals c. have a long tail visible during their entire orbit around the Sun d. can never be observed without a telescope e. you can't fool me, the only short-period comet we know is Halley

b. come back again and again at predictable intervals

Astronomers estimate that about 25 million meteors strike the Earth's atmosphere each day. How come we haven't run out of meteors in the long history of the Earth? a. meteors come from dust from the Earth's surface that winds have blown high into the atmosphere; the Earth is so big it has lots of dust b. meteors are pieces of dirt left over from the formation of our solar system and from old comets; there is a huge supply of small dirt particles from both sources c. meteors are caused by electrical sparking in the Earth's atmosphere and there is a lot of static electricity up there d. meteors have only been hitting the Earth's atmosphere recently; they are the result of human pollution of space e. this is an unsolved problem in astronomy that has a lot of astronomers mystified

b. meteors are pieces of dirt left over from the formation of our solar system and from old comets; there is a huge supply of small dirt particles from both sources

When the solar system was forming, the building blocks from which the protoplanets gathered together were the: a. gold, iron, and nickel atoms b. planetesimals (a few km to tens of km wide) c. giant accretion grains about the size of Mars d. extremely hot clouds of gas torn out of the Sun, which was already shining brilliantly e. pure water ice crystals, about the size of a snowflake

b. planetesimals (a few km to tens of km wide)

The large reservoir of comet nuclei far beyond Pluto, from which we believe new long-period comets come into the inner solar system, is called: a. the Lowell reservoir b. the Oort Cloud c. the Kohoutek Cloud d. the Alvarez belt e. Bayonne, New Jersey

b. the Oort Cloud

The ages of stony meteorites have been measured to be roughly equal to: a. the time since the last Ice Age on Earth b. the oldest ages we have measured for any bodies in the solar system c. the time since the great impact that killed the dinosaurs d. the time that has passed since the death of Julius Ceasar e. you can't fool me, we have no way of measuring the ages of stony meteorites

b. the oldest ages we have measured for any bodies in the solar system

When a chunk of cosmic material the size of a golf ball or a baseball hits the Earth's atmosphere it makes a a. meteor shower b. radiant c. fireball d. meteorite which breaks into pieces when hitting the ground e. trail so faint, there is no chance of our seeing it on the ground

c. fireball

A main difference between asteroids and comets is that asteroids are mostly made of rock and comets are mostly made of a. metals b. carbon compounds c. ice d. vapor (gas) e. you can't fool me, astronomers don't really know what comets are made of

c. ice

One way to find a new meteorite is to: a. patrol the block on which you live carefully each night for a few years b. look for a bright comet in the sky and look where its tail is pointing c. search the area beneath or close to the point where a bright fireball was seen to burn out d. look near the Earth's equator where our planet's magnetic attraction is the greatest e. taste the meatloaf in the college cafeteria late in the week

c. search the area beneath or close to the point where a bright fireball was seen to burn out

Why were asteroids not discovered until the 19th century? a. although asteroids are the same size as the planets, they are completely covered with dark dusty material, which means they reflect almost no light b. in their long looping orbits, it was not until the 19th century that an asteroid came close enough to the Earth to be detectable c. several asteroids collided with each other in early 1801, calling them to the attention of astronomers d. asteroids are generally small compared to planets and require a good telescope and patient searching to spot them e. only after Halley's work did astronomers think to look for the tails which allow us to spot an asteroid

d. asteroids are generally small compared to planets and require a good telescope and patient searching to spot them

Which of the following pieces of observational evidence does our modern "solar nebula" theory of the formation of the solar system NOT explain directly? a. the fact that all the planets revolve around the equator of the Sun in the same direction b. the difference in the composition of the terrestrial and jovian planets c. the ages of the oldest rocks on Earth, the Moon, and meteorites d. the plane of the orbit of Pluto e. the existence of comets in the outer solar system made mainly of frozen gases

d. the plane of the orbit of Pluto

Which of the following is not a characteristic that worlds in our solar system have in common: a. that the planets all revolve around the Sun in the same direction b. that most of the planets spin in the same direction that they revolve c. that many of the larger moons go around their planets in the same direction d. that the planets' orbits lie in roughly the same plane e. that all the planets have solid surfaces on which we can see impact craters

e. that all the planets have solid surfaces on which we can see impact craters

One region on Earth that has become a rich source of new meteorites in recent decades (including the meteorite from Mars that got famous because some scientists claimed they had found evidence for the building blocks of life on Mars) is: a. the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico b. Bayonne, New Jersey c. the Great Salt Lake d. Australia e. the Antarctic

e. the Antarctic