EAPS 105: Homework 8
8.4. In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid Belt" and answer this question: The total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately what percent of the mass of the Moon? A) 3% (1/33rd the mass of the Moon) B) 25% (1/4th the mass of the Moon) C) 100% (the same as the mass of the Moon) D) 500% (5 times the mass of the Moon)
A) 3% (1/33rd the mass of the Moon)
8.13. In Wikipedia, look up "Halley's Comet" and answer this question: What is special about Halley's comet? A) It is the only comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye that can appear twice in a human lifetime. B) It is the largest comet in the Solar System. C) It comes from another Solar System. D) It is the only comet that we have landed a spacecraft on.
A) It is the only comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye that can appear twice in a human lifetime.
8.16. In Wikipedia, look up "Meteor shower", read the intro and then scroll down to "Origin of meteoroid streams", and answer this question: What is the cause of meteor showers? A) Streams of debris from a comet. B) Streams of debris from an asteroid. C) The breakup of a comet in Earth's atmosphere. D) Random meteoroids
A) Streams of debris from a comet.
8.6. In Wikipedia, look up "Ceres (dwarf planet)" and answer this question: Which of the following is true about Ceres? A) It is large enough to be seen by the naked eye from Earth. B) Although it likely lacks an internal ocean of liquid water, brines (salty water) reach the surface, allowing cryovolcanoes. C) It has a very thick subsurface ocean of liquid water that give rise to massive water geysers viewed from Earth. D) It is the only known remaining rocky protoplanet (with a differentiated interior) of the kind that formed the terrestrial planets.
B) Although it likely lacks an internal ocean of liquid water, brines (salty water) reach the surface, allowing cryovolcanoes.
8.12. In Wikipedia, look up "Comet" and answer this question: Which type of comet originates from the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune's orbit? A) Ultra-short period comets B) Short period comets C) Long period comets D) Hills cloud comets
B) Short period comets
8.11. In Wikipedia, look up "Comet", read the intro and then scroll down to "Tails", and answer this question: Which tail points away from the Sun? A) The dust tail B) The gas tail C) The chunks of rock tail D) No comet tail points away from the Sun
B) The gas tail
8.1. In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Size distribution" and answer this question: What is the size range of asteroids? A) 1 m - 10 km B) 1 m - 100 km C) 1 m - 1,000 km D) 1 m - 10,000 km
C) 1 m - 1,000 km
8.2. In Wikipedia, look up "Regolith" and answer this question: What is regolith? A) Small asteroids resulting from a collision of a larger one. B) Large boulders often found scattered on airless surfaces C) A blanket of unconsolidated, loose deposits covering solid rock. D) Radiation that reflects off of metallic asteroids
C) A blanket of unconsolidated, loose deposits covering solid rock.
8.17. In Wikipedia, look up "Pluto", read the intro and then scroll down to "Discovery", and answer this question: How was Pluto discovered? A) By noting that the orbit of Jupiter did not follow Kepler's laws and therefore must be being perturbed by another planet. B) By the ancient Greeks with the first telescope ever created. C) By comparing pictures of the night sky taken days apart using a blink comparator. D) By an amateur astronomer looking for comets.
C) By comparing pictures of the night sky taken days apart using a blink comparator.
8.19. In Wikipedia, look up "IAU definition of a planet" and answer this question: Which of the following definition of a planet, according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), does Pluto fail? A) The object must be in orbit around the Sun. B) The object must be massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity. C) It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
C) It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
8.10. In Wikipedia, look up "Comet", read the intro and then scroll down to "Tails", and answer this question: Which of the following is not a type of comet tail? A) One made of dust released when ice sublimates (turns from solid to gas) as they get close to the Sun B) One made of gas when ice sublimates as they get close to the Sun C) One made of house-sized chunks of ice and rock when comets break up as they get close to the Sun D) All the above are types of comet tails
C) One made of house-sized chunks of ice and rock when comets break up as they get close to the Sun
8.14. In Wikipedia, look up "Kuiper belt" and answer this question: The Kuiper belt is a disc of bodies extending from the orbit of Neptune (30 AU) to at least 50 AU from the Sun (though it could extend much farther). How does it differ from the asteroid belt? A) It is 20 times as wide B) It is 20-200 times as massive C) Most Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of frozen volatiles (ices), such as methane, ammonia, and water, as opposed to the mostly rock composition of the asteroid belt. D) All the above
D) All the above
8.18. In Wikipedia, look up "Pluto", read the intro and then scroll down to "Surface", and answer this question: The New Horizons spacecraft that flew by Pluto in 2015 made a number of observations that the science team summarized as Pluto displays a surprisingly wide variety of geological landforms". What did New Horizons observe?" A) Active glaciers B) Surface-atmosphere interactions C) Possible cryovolcanism D) All the above
D) All the above
8.3. In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Distribution within the Solar System", and answer this question: Where are asteroids located? A) The asteroid belt B) Co-orbital with Jupiter C) Near Earth's orbit D) All the above
D) All the above
8.5. In Wikipedia, look up "C-type asteroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Characteristics", and answer this question: Which of the following are characteristics of C-type asteroids? A) The comprise ~75% of all asteroids. B) They are distinguished by a very low albedo (they are dark) because their composition includes a large amount of carbon. C) They have a volatile-rich (icy) composition. D) All the above
D) All the above
8.8. In Wikipedia, look up "Comet" and answer this question: Which of the following is a characteristic of comets? A) They are relatively small icy bodies. B) They release gas when the warm as they approach the Sun. C) They have highly elliptical orbits around the Sun. D) All the above
D) All the above
8.9. In Wikipedia, look up "Rubble pile" and answer this question: Most comets and small asteroids are thought to be rubble piles. Which of the following is a characteristic of a rubble pile? A) They consist of numerous pieces of rock that have coalesced under the influence of gravity. B) They have low density because there are large cavities between the various chunks that make them up. C) When they pass close to a much more massive object, tidal forces change their shape. D) All the above
D) All the above
8.7. In Wikipedia, look up "4 Vesta" and answer this question: Which of the following is true about Vesta? A) It is the largest asteroid. B) Although it likely lacks an internal ocean of liquid water, brines (salty water) reach the surface, allowing cryovolcanoes. C) It has a very thick subsurface ocean of liquid water that give rise to massive water geysers viewed from Earth. D) It is the only known remaining rocky protoplanet (with a differentiated interior) of the kind that formed the terrestrial planets.
D) It is the only known remaining rocky protoplanet (with a differentiated interior) of the kind that formed the terrestrial planets.
8.15. In Wikipedia, look up "Oort cloud" and answer this question: Which statement about the Oort cloud is correct? A) It lies just outside Neptune's orbit. B) It is observable from Earth. C) The entire Oort cloud is a disc. D) It lies more than 2000 AU from the Sun, far beyond Neptune's orbit.
D) It lies more than 2000 AU from the Sun, far beyond Neptune's orbit.
8.20. In Wikipedia, look up "IAU definition of a planet", read the intro and then scroll down to "Closing issues", and answer this question: According to Alan Stern, the lead scientist if NASA's robotic mission to Pluto, which of the following would not be considered planets because they have also not cleared their orbit? A) Earth B) Mars C) Jupiter D) Neptune E) None of the above would be considered planets D)
E) None of the above would be considered planets
