Astronomy 010: HW#9

The satellite whose surface is characterized by a smooth icy crust with a complex network of cracks is:

Europa

The four large moons of Jupiter were first discovered by:

Galileo with his early telescope

The largest satellite (moon) in the solar system is:

Ganymede

By far the most abundant element in the giant (jovian) planets is:

Hydrogen

The element that can act like a metal when it is under tremendous pressure and is probably responsible for Jupiter and Saturn's magnetism is:

Hydrogen

The world in the solar system that is most active volcanically is:

Io

The giant planet that has an axis that points roughly straight up, and thus has no seasons to speak of, is:

Jupiter

The largest planet in the solar system (by mass) is

Jupiter

Which of the jovian planets has the shortest period of rotation (the shortest day)?

Jupiter

The moon Triton orbits which of the planets?

Neptune

Put the giant planets in order of size (diameter), from smallest to the largest.

Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter

The largest and most massive of Saturn's rings is the

Ring B

Place each planetary characteristic into the "bucket" (or category) to which it applies. Giant planets are sometimes called jovian planets.

Terrestrial: 1. warmer, near the Sun 2. atmosphere is dominated by nitrogen and carbon dioxide 3. one two, or no moons 4. made up mostly of rock and metal Giant: 1. colder, further the Sun 2. atmosphere is dominated by methane and hydrogen 3. many moons 4. made up mostly of gases and liquids

Some words are missing form the following paragraph

The planet whose mass id larger than the mass of all the other plants combined is......Jupiter All of the giant planets rotate.....Faster than....the Earth does (has shorter days). In the terms of what the giant planets are made of, Jupiter and Saturn....gases....dominate. While Uranus and Neptune....ices..... dominate. All of the giant planets have a strong magnetic field, generated by.....spinning electron currents.....in the interiors of the planets.

Which of the following statements about Saturn's rings is TRUE?

The rings are made of billions and billions of individual "moonlets" (small chunks)

The satellite which has the thickest atmosphere (so thick that it's quite a surprise for a satellite) is:

Titan

The planet that orbits "on its side" (i.e. has its rotation axis parallel to the plane of its orbit) is:

Uranus

The rings that most resemble Saturn's narrow F ring in the solar system are:

Uranus' rings

Much of what we have learned about the jovian planets and their satellites has come from the work of two spacecraft called:

Voyager

Astronomers believe that Jupiter's strong magnetic field is caused by

a huge layer of metallic hydrogen inside Jupiter

At their centers, all the jovian planets have cores made of:

a solid mixture of rocky and icy materials under great pressure

The Red Spot of Jupiter is:

all of these

The giant planet that has an axis that points roughly straight up, and thus has no seasons to speak of, is:

all the jovians have natural satellites around them and none of the terrestrials do

The rings of the outer planets consist of

billions of chunks (of various sizes) that all orbit the equator of each planet

The primary clouds in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn are composed of:

frozen ammonia crystals

When astronomers say that Ganymede is a differentiated body, they mean that it:

has a heavier core, surrounded by a lighter, icy mantle and crust

What features are abundant on Callisto and Ganymede and almost absent on Europa and Io?

impact craters

Which of the following statements about Jupiter's magnetosphere is TRUE?

it completely covers the inner satellites of Jupiter and is one of the largest structures in the solar system

Which of the following characteristics distinguishes Uranus from every other planet in our solar system?

it rotates on an axis that is roughly parallel to the circle of its orbit

The bluish color that makes the atmosphere of Neptune so beautiful to the human eye is caused by the interaction of sunlight with what gas?

methane

The lakes found in the north polar region of Titan are filled with liquid

methane

The upper clouds in the atmosphere of Neptune are composed of:

methane

Which substance plays the same role on Titan as water does on Earth (existing as gas, liquid, and solid)?

methane

The majority of the moons orbiting the outer (jovian) planets are:

small moons orbiting in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction their planet turns and orbits) or in eccentric orbits

Our modern understanding of Pluto is that it is a member of

the Kuiper Belt (of trans-Neptunian objects)

One reason that we have such a complex system of belts/zones/storms in Jupiter's atmosphere is that:

the planet rotates very rapidly

What makes the rings of Neptune different from those of other planets we know?

they are clumpy (or bulging) in places

Which of the following statements about the geysers on the moon Triton is true?

they involve plumes of nitrogen on the sunlit side of Triton

Saturn's ring particles are composed mainly of:

water ice

Which of the jovian planets does NOT have any satellites?

you can't fool me, all the jovian planets are accompanied by satellites