Astronomy Quiz 7

Astronomers have decided that, rather than being a planet, Pluto is really just a large member of

Kuiper Belt

All the planets (without exception)

revolve around the Sun in the same direction

Besides the Sun where is most of the mass of the solar system?

Jupiter

besides the earth which of these planets was known to ancient people

All of the above

Which of these objects have we sent a probe to land on the surface of?

All of the above Mars, Venus, The Moon

The smaller objects in the solar system made of rock and metal are called

Asteroids

How do asteroids differ from comets?

Asteroids are rocky bodies and are denser than the comets, which are made of icy material.

The smaller objects in the solar system composed mainly of ices that usually orbit far from the Sun are called

Comets

Which of these is a way to date a planetary surface?

Counting the craters

One piece of evidence that can help astronomers sort out how the planets in our solar system formed is

Finding circumstellar disks of material around nearby stars

Which of the following ways that Jovian (giant) planets differ from the terrestrial planets is NOT correct?

Jovians rotate significantly more slowly than terrestrials

If you were to look at the four giant planets the most common element you would find would be?

Hydrogen

In studying the surfaces of solid bodies in the solar system, astronomers have learned that the number of craters (per unit area):

Is roughly proportional to the age of the surface we are examining

A planet in our solar system whose competition resembles that of the Sun is:

Jupiter

Which planet, other than Earth, has visible water ice on it?

Mars

The most metal rich planet?

Mercury

Which planet is closest to the sun?

Mercury

Which planet was discovered using mathematics before it was seen in a telescope?

Neptune

What is the primary reason why a Pluto flyby mission would be cheaper than a Pluto orbiter?

The fuel needed for an orbiter to slow down when it reaches Pluto adds a lot of weight to the spacecraft.

Which planet in the solar system has not been examined by spacecraft instruments that have either flown by or orbited them?

Planet X

The first trans-Neptunian object astronomers found (in 1930) is called

Pluto

Which of the following is farthest from the Sun?

Pluto

Our best evidence and theoretical calculations indicate that the solar system began with a giant spinning system of gas and dust called:

The Solar Nebula

Which of these would be considered the coldest location?

The moons of Neptune

Which of the following observations indicates that conditions on Mars may have been suitable for life in the past?

There is liquid water as well as a significant number of dried-up riverbeds on Mars.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the outer planets?

They have very few, if any, satellites.

Of the following which do NOT have satellites?

Venus

Radioactive dating techniques have revealed that our Earth and Moon are approximately how old?

about 4.5 billion years

The inner planets are made mostly of rock and metal because

it was so hot where the inner planets formed that the lighter materials evaporated

Which of the following is not an exception to the general patterns in the solar system?

the rings of Saturn