Chapter 8 Astro
Based on our current knowledge of the motions of Uranus and Neptune, it is obvious that Pluto's discovery was a triumph of physics, on par with Adams and Leverrier's work in finding Neptune.
False
Because of its small size, the surface of Pluto was found by New Horizons to be old and geologically dead.
False
Because the probe came so close, Voyager 1 sent back high resolution photos of detail on the surface of Titan in 1980.
False
Both Pluto and Charon are tidally locked to always keep the same faces toward each other, rotating and revolving around their common center of mass every 14.2 hours.
False
Cassini's probe Huygen's returned images of what may have been a shoreline on Saturn.
False
Like Jupiter's other icy moons, Europa is covered with craters.
False
Like Saturn's more famous ring system, Jupiter's ring is also made of ice, just older and dirtier than bright fresh material at Saturn.
False
Like our Moon and most others, all four large Jovian satellites have one side constantly fixed toward Jupiter as they revolve and rotate.
False
Neptune has a single, broad ring that is extremely thin.
False
Of all the Galilean satellites, the surface of Europa is the youngest in age.
False
Pluto has only a single moon, Charon.
False
Pluto is visible to the naked eye on extremely dark nights.
False
Saturn's rings are extremely old, possibly older than four billion years.
False
Saturn's rings are thick, perhaps a few thousand kilometers.
False
The weak magnetic fields around Europa and Ganymede were found during flybys of
Galileo
In terms of dark, smoother maria and cratered highlands, which Jovian moon most resembles the near side of our own?
Ganymede
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
Which moon of Saturn shows the largest impact crater, relative to its size?
Mimas
Which Jovian moon shows the most diverse terrain, suggesting a violent impact broke it into many pieces, some of which reformed it as a jumbled puzzle?
Miranda
The atmosphere of Titan is composed mostly of:
Nitrogen
What best explains the darkness of the rings beyond Saturn's?
Old, sooty debris and radiation darkening.
Due to tidal stresses, it is likely most of Io is molten, with a relatively thin solid crust.
True
Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system.
True
In terms of composition and density, the atmosphere if Titan is closer to our own than any other place we have found we have found in the solar system.
True
It appears that while they are similar in size, Ganymede is much differentiated than Callisto.
True
Like Titan, Triton has a nitrogen atmosphere.
True
Methane drives the weather of Titan, for there it can be liquid, solid, or gas.
True
Pluto is no larger classified as a planet.
True
Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.
True
Pluto is smaller than many moons in the moons in the solar system.
True
Probably the next satellite to get turned into ring debris will be Neptune's backward moon, Triton.
True
Saturn's rings appear to be brighter and younger than the dirty, dark rings around Uranus and Neptune.
True
Spacecraft have imaged erupting volcanoes on lo and Triton.
True
The Cassini probe Huygens made a soft landing on Titan.
True
The F-ring is held in place around Saturn by two shepherd moons.
True
The haphazard terrain of Miranda suggests it was broken up impact after it had differentiated, then fell back together as a jumbled maze.
True
The initial prediction by Percival Lowell of Pluto's position was close to the place it was, in fact, found by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.
True
The large, dark mare on Ganymede were created by water that erupted from within the moon.
True
The particles in Saturn's E ring probably come from volcanic eruptions on Exceladus.
True
The retrograde orbit of Triton dooms it to spiral inward towards Neptune, perhaps someday to make a ring system.
True
The rings of Uranus were discovered when it passed in front of a star, and the dark rings occulted the star several times for brief intervals.
True
The rings of Uranus were discovered when it passed in front of a star, and the dark rings occulted the star several times fro brief intervals.
True
The surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus is the most reflective of any in the solar system, suggesting very fresh ice is exposed.
True
The tectonic surface features we see on Triton are similar to the grooves of Ganymede.
True
The thickness of the photosphere is about 100 times the diameter of the Earth, and large sunspots are large than our whole planet.
True
Triton and Pluto both probably originated in the Kuiper Belt.
True
Two of Galilean moons of Jupiter are the size of Mercury, and the two others are about as big as our own Moon.
True
Two sets of rings around Jovian planets were found by Earth-based observers, while two others were first imaged by the Voyagers.
True
lo's internal heat is due to tidal interactions with Jupiter and Europa.
True
Inside the Roche Limit
large moons are torn apart.
When Saturn is at Equinox, its ring will
lie in the plane of the ecliptic.
To explain its magnetic field, Europe must have an ocean of
liquid water.
Which of the Galilean moons is denset and most geologically active?
lo
At Titan, the lakes are made mostly of liquid
methane
Which element if critical to the formation of the volcanic surface of lo?
sulfur
Alone of all Galilean moons, Callisto shows no sign of plate tectonics.
False
At its equinoxes, Saturn's rings are most open and double the planet's brightness.
False
Pluto was discovered in
1930.
For a moon the same density as its planet, the Roche limit lies at _______ times the radius of its planet.
2.5
If Saturn takes about 30 years to orbit the Sun, and its rings were seen edge-on in 1995, when did they next appear most open at solstice?
2002
If Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the Sun, and Voyager 2 found its rings wide open at solstice in 1989, when will or did they next appear edge on, as seen from Earth?
2010
The surface of Europa is most like the Earth's
Arctic Ocean
Of the Jovian satellites, which shows the oldest, most cratered surface?
Callisto
Which moon orbits a body only twice as big as it is?
Charon
The brightest and probably youngest surface of any moon of Saturn belongs to
Enceladus.
The tidal stresses that create lo's volcanism come from Jupiter and
Europa
Which of these moons are most interesting to exobiologists?
Europa and Enceladus
The Galilean moon of most interest to exobiologists is
Europa.
All four of Jupiter's big moons, like most moons in the solar system, revolve clockwise (retrograde) around their planet's equator.
False
All four ring systems orbit the equators of Jovian planets outside their Roche limits.
False
The Sun's radius is one astronomical unit by definition.
False
The Sun's structure is uniform throughout its interior, with no evidence of different layers.
False
The processes which produced Ganymede's groove terrain are on-going, according to the latest Galileo images.
False
The solar constant refers to that fact that the Sun's interior, with no evidence of different layers.
False
The surface of lo looks most like the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean of Earth.
False
The weak magnetic field of Europa may originate from a rapidly rotating liquid iron core.
False
Titan's surface has been mapped using Earth based visual telescopes.
False
While Ganymede and Callisto are about the same size, the surface of Callisto is much younger, with considerable tectonic reformation.
False
lo's surface volcanism is driven by phase changes of sulfur and its compounds.
False
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 roughly similar to Earth's in composition and density.
The two names most associated with the discovery of Pluto are
Lowell and Tombaugh
Besides Mars, exobiologists find Europa also a good candidate for life.
True
Which was NOT a Voyager discovery about the rings of Saturn?
There are hundreds of smaller moons imbedded in them, creating the gaps.
Why are the rings of Saturn so bright?
They are made of young, fresh water ice.
Which statement about Jupiter's rings is true?
They lie inside Jupiter's Roche Limit.
The Huygens probe of the ESA made a successful landing on
Titan
Which of these moons has the densest atmosphere?
Titan
The Saturnian moons of most interest to exobiologists are
Titan and Enceladus
Pluto is most similar to
Triton
The next moon likely to be broken up into a ring is
Triton.
A resonance with Mimas clears out the ring particles from Cassini's Divison.
True
Alone among all the large moons, Triton orbits Neptune retrograde, and also at a 20 degree inclination to Neptune's equator.
True
The erupting geysers of nitrogen gas on Triton
are caused by a not yet determined internal energy source.
The grooves and ridges on Ganymede are thought to:
be due to crustal tectonics moon (plate tectonics).
The Cassini Division is a gap in Saturn's rings cause by
gravitational interaction with Mimas.
What is thought to be the cause of lo's volcanoes?
gravitational tidal stresses from both Jupiter and Europa
Charon's orbit
is highly inclined to Pluto's orbital plane.
The atmosphere of Titan is chiefly
nitrogen
Voyager 1 was unable to image Titan's surface because
of "smog" in Titan's atmosphere
In size and density, both lo and Europa resemble
our Moon
Which of the following rings of Saturn lies closest to the planet?
the C ring
Pluto's density is most similar to
the moons of the jovian planets.
What statistic below has changed the most in the last decade?
the number of known Jovian moons
A moon with a smooth, uncratered surface would imply
the surface is very young.
The maria on Ganymede were formed by
water erupting and spreading over the surface.
Ganymede and Callisto have densities suggesting they are made of rocky cores and mantles of
water or ice.
