Astronomy

Pluto was discovered in

1930

Titan's surface has been mapped using Earth based visual telescopes.

False

Titan's surface is obscured by thick clouds of ammonia ice.

False

The largest moon in the solar system is

Ganymede

The two names most associated with the discovery of Pluto are

Lowell and Tombaugh

If Saturn's rings consisted only of chunks of coal, they would appear ___________.

darker

What is thought to be the cause of lo's volcanoes?

gravitational tidal stresses from both Jupiter and Europa

Ganymede

heavily cratered terrain adjacent to much younger terrain, largest moon in the solar system

lo

hot, glowing lava visible in some photos, volcanoes currently erupting, source of ionized gas in the donut shaped charged particle belt around Jupiter.

Europa

ice covered surface with few impact craters, surface features provide evidence of a subsurface liquid ocean

The fact that Europa orbits Jupiter twice for every one orbit of Ganymede is an example of a(n) ___

orbital resonance

In size and density, both Io and Europa resemble

our moon

Kepler's third law tells us that __________.

planet's nearer to the Sun orbit at higher speed than planets farther from the Sun and particles in the inner rings orbit Saturn at a faster speed than particles in the outer rings.

The mare on Ganymede were formed by

water erupting and spreading over the surface

orbital resonance

A situation in which one object's orbital period is a simple ratio of another object's period, such as 1/2, 1/4, or 5/3. In such cases, the two objects periodically line up with each other, and the extra gravitational attractions at these times can affect the objects' orbits.

tidal heating

A source of internal heating created by tidal friction. It is particularly important for satellites with eccentric orbits such as Io and Europa.

Of the Jovian satellites, which shows the oldest, most cratered surface?

Callisto

__________ is the most distant of Jupiter's four Galilean moons.

Callisto

At Titan, the oceans are made of liquid

Ethane

Strong evidence of both from surface features and magnetic field data support the existence of a subsurface ocean on

Europa

Of all the Galilean satellites, the surface of Europa is the youngest in age.

False

Pluto is visible to the naked eye on extremely dark nights.

False

The surface of lo looks most like the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean of Earth

False

Europa

Galilean moon second closest orbit to Jupiter

lo

Galilean moon with the closest orbit around Jupiter

Callisto

Galilean moon with the farthest orbit around Jupiter

Ganymede

Galilean moon with the third closest orbit to Jupiter

The largest moon in the solar system, bigger but not as massive as Mercury, is

Ganymede

Which are the four Galilean moons of Jupiter?

Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto

What is so unusual about Pluto's orbit?

It is more inclined to the ecliptic than any of the eight planets.

What is true of Titan's atmosphere?

It is similar to Earth's in composition and density.

The atmosphere of Titan is composed mostly of

Nitrogen

Which statement about Jupiter's rings is true?

They lie inside Jupiter's Roche Limit.

__________ is responsible for the tremendous volcanic activity on lo.

Tidal heating

Only moon with a thick atmosphere

Titan

Which of these moons has the densest atmosphere?

Titan

Pluto is most similar to

Triton

Alone among all the large moons, Triton orbits Neptune retrograde, and also at a 20 degree inclination to Neptune's equator.

True

Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system.

True

Like Titan, Triton has a nitrogen atmosphere.

True

Lo's internal heat is due to tidal interactions with Jupiter and Europa

True

Methane drives the weather of Titan, for there it can be liquid, solid, or gas.

True

Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.

True

Pluto is smaller than many moons in the solar system.

True

Pluto's classification as a planet has been called into question.

True

Probably the next satellite to get turned into ring debris will be Neptune's backward moon, Triton.

True

Saturn's rings exist because they lie within the planet's Roche limit.

True

The composition of Saturn's ring particles is predominantly water ice

True

Triton and Pluto both probably originated in the Kuiper Belt.

True

Triton's orbit is unusual because it is retrograde.

True

Two small shepherd satellites are responsible for the unusually complex form of Saturn's F ring.

True

The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Titan is

about one and a half times greater than the atmospheric pressure at Earth's surface.

The erupting geysers of nitrogen gas on Triton

are caused by a not yet determined internal energy source.

Charon's orbit

is highly inclined to Pluto's orbital plane.

Evidence that Triton probably did not form around Neptune is

it orbits around Neptune in retrograde (backwards), opposite to the rotation of Neptune.

Inside the Roche Limit

large moons are torn apart.

Saturn's rings look bright because __________.

light from the Sun reflects off the material in the rings

The jovian moon with the most geologically active surface is

lo

The moon that experiences the most tidal heating is

lo

Which of the Galilean moons is the densest and most geologically active?

lo

Saturn's rings are composed of

lots of individual particles of ice and rock

Pluto's density is most similar to

moons of the jovian planets.

Generally, you would expect that the closer a moon is to a large planet

the warmer its interior