Astronomy test 2

where are atmospheric vortices usually found on the giant planets

between oppositely directed zonal winds

approximately how much mass was there in the protoplanetary disk out of which the planets formed, compared to the mass of the sun

less than 1 percent

the major difference in the composition of the earth's atmosphere compared to the atmospheres of venus and mars is a direct consequence of

life on the earth

which type of comet is the most common

long period comets

if you were to fly to jupiter from the earth, which of these parts of jupiter would you come into contact with first

magnetosphere

what is the age of our solar system

4.6 billion years

what will eventually happen to the earth when radioactive decay in its interior cease

all of the above (earthquakes will cease, the earth's core will solidify, the strength of the earth's magnetic field will decrease, continental drift will cease)

what is the reason mercury has so little gas in its atmosphere

all of the above (its mass is small,its escape velocity is low, it has a high temperature, it is close to the sun)

aside from jupiter, which giant planets have atmospheric bands and storms

all of the above (uranus, saturn, neptune)

which of the following can be used as an indicator of the age of a moon's surface

all of these methods (color of surface, radioactive dating, crater density, volcanic activity)

the nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere primary came from

ammonia delivered by comet impacts

what is the best description of a moon

any natural satellite of a planet or asteroid

jupiter's mass is _ times more than the mass of all the other planets in our solar system combined

around two

which of the following types of solar system debris were not discovered until the age of telescopes

asteroids

which is not a reason for the large size of volcanoes on mars as compared to the earth's smaller volcanoes

lack of atmosphere, therefore no erosion

when the martian springtime arrives and the daytime temperature reaches 20 degrees Celsius, what occurs

large planet wide dust storms

which of the following statements is false

during summer in the northern hemisphere of mars, the polar ice cap melts and liquid water flows outward from it in rivers

which terrestrial planet has the strongest magnetic field

earth

which moon gives rise to the particles that make up saturn's E ring

enceladus

meteorites are

fragments of planetesimals between mars and jupiter

who first discovered moons around a planet in our solar system other than the earth

galileo

what could have caused the planets to migrate through the solar system

gravitational pull from the sun

which of the following is not a factor that helps explain earth's lack of craters compared to the moon

higher density interior

how do regular moons rotate in comparison to their planets

in the same direction

what makes carbon dioxide a highly effective greenhouse gas

it easily absorbs infrared radiation

how does the fraction of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere today compare to what it was 3 billion years ago

it has significantly increased

what happens to the kinetic energy of gas as it falls toward and eventually hits the accretion disk surrounding a protostar

it is converted into thermal energy, heating the disk

what prevented the moon from maintaining any atmosphere with which it originally formed

it is not massive enough

the lithosphere of a planet is

its solid surface

which of the following effects is not one of the predictions made by models of our solar system that include planetary migration

jupiter has four large moons, with the rest being smaller asteroid size objects

we have direct evidence for the current existence of water on the surface of which terrestrial object

mars

Mars, Venus, and earth are much less heavily cratered than mercury and the moon. this is explained by the fact that

mars, venus, and earth were geologically active for a longer period of time than mercury and the moon

which terrestrial object shows the least evidence of recent volcanic activity

mercury

what have astronomers and geologists studied to arrive at the same conclusion about the earths origins

meteorites

the giant planets are made primarily by

molecular hydrogen and helium

which property of an extrasolar planet cannot be determined using the doppler effect

radius

where do uranus's and neptune's strong magnetic fields originate

salty oceans

according to the conservation of angular momentum, if an ice skater who is spinning with her arms out wide slowly pulls them close to her body, this will cause her to

spin faster

which type of meteorite is most commonly found on the earth

stony

what is a secondary atmosphere

the atmosphere that remains after the planet has formed

the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere has been increasing over the last 50 years because of

the burning of fossil fuels

if the moon had active volcanoes

the earth might have a ring

a large meteor shower will often occur once a year because

the earth passes through the debris left behind by a specific comet

which of the following is not a characteristic of the early solar system, based on current observations

the initial composition of the solar nebula varied between its inner and outer regions

given the thickness of chemical composition of venus' atmosphere, by how would you expect its average surface temperature to change between day and night

there should be almost no change in temperature

the presence of gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapor in a planet's atmosphere is direct evidence of _ in a planet's history

there should be almost no change in temperature

how is the atmosphere of saturn similar to the atmosphere of the earth

they both have jet streams and periods of stormy and calm weather

global temperature variations on the earth driven by the milankovich cycle differ from those driven by the anthropogenic greenhouse effect in that

they occur over much longer time scale (thousands of years)

earth sized planets have been found using the _ method

transit and doppler shift

why are some of saturn's rings diffuse

unlike other things the particles in diffuse rings collide infrequently, allowing them to maintain highly elliptical and or inclined orbits and spread out;