Exam 2

What planet has the strongest magnetic field and largest magnetosphere?

Jupiter

What planet displays the most active cloud patterns?

Jupiter has the most active cloud patterns with Neptune second

What are the outer giant planets?

Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus

What planet has the shortest day? How long is it?

Jupiter- 9 hours 56 minutes

What climate effect affected Mars? Venus?

Mars experienced the runaway refrigerator effect where Venus experienced the runaway greenhouse gas effect

How much larger than the Earth is Jupiter?

318 times

Where is the asteroid belt located?

Between Mars and Jupiter

What is the largest asteroid?

Ceres

What planet has no measurable internal heat?

Uranus

The astronomical object that most resembles the Earth in size and internal composition is:

Venus

Which of the following planets (Jupiter, Earth, Mars, and Venus) in our solar system rotates clockwise in retrograde rotation?

Venus

of the following planets (Earth, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus), which do NOT have satellites (moon)?

Venus

What planet has the longest day? How long is it?

Venus- 243 Earth days

The smaller objects in the solar system made of rock and metal (most of which orbit between Jupiter and Mars) are called:

asteroids

The smaller objects in the solar system composed mainly of ices (frozen gases) that usually orbit far from the Sun are called:

comets

What is one way that astronomers have actually gotten an idea of the age of the surfaces of terrestrial planets other than the Earth?

counting craters

differentiation

gravitational separation of materials of different density into layers in the interior of a planet or moon

What occurs during the process of differentiation?

heavier materials sink to the centers of molten planets

What characteristic distinguishes Uranus from every other planet in our solar system?

it rotates on an axis tilted almost 90 degrees to the circle of its orbit

In general, the further planets are from the Sun, the cooler they are. What other factor can have a significant influence on a planet's surface temperature?

its atmosphere (whether it has one and how thick it is)

What are m-type asteroids composed of?

metal

What is a comet?

primitive bodies left over from the formation of the outer solar system composed of gas, ice, and dust

All the planets (without exception)

revolve around the Sun in the same direction

What are s-type asteroids composed of?

stone

Oort cloud

the large spherical region around the Sun from which most "new" comets come; a reservoir of objects with aphelia at about 50,000 AU

Why does Mars have an overall reddish color when we see its surface from afar?

the material of Mars' surface contains a lot of iron oxide, the same chemistry that makes rusting metals look reddish

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

the solar nebula

What two planets were discovered after the invention of the telescope?

Neptune and Uranus

Superearths

planets with a size between terrestrial and giant planets

What is the core of the giant planets like?

Each of the giant planets have a core of "ice" and "rock" of approximately 10 Earth masses

A geological division into older highlands and younger lowlands seems to be a characteristic of all terrestrial planets except:

Mercury

What two planets do not have moons?

Mercury and Venus

What are the terrestrial planets?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the Moon

What five planets were known to the ancients?

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

What is one major difference in the chemistry of the outer giant planets and terrestrial planets?

Outer giant planets are reduced (H) whereas terrestrial planets are oxidized (O)

What are the two largest planets and what is their chemical makeup similar to?

Saturn and Jupiter which have almost the same chemical makeup as the Sun (primarily helium (~25%) and hydrogen (~75%))

Kuiper Belt

a region of space beyond Neptune that is dynamically stable (like the asteroid belt); the source region for most short-period comets

Which of the following places (Venus, Ganymede (the largest satellite in the solar system), Jupiter, a small asteroid, and Earth) is most likely NOT to be differentiated?

a small asteroid

What are c-type asteroids composed of?

carbonaceous materials

If you were to take a large sample of the four giant planets, the most common element you would find in them 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

What is at the heart of a comet?

its nucleus

Planetestesimals

objects that forms in the solar nebula as an intermediate step between tiny grains and the larger planetary objects that we see today; the comets and asteroids may be leftover planetesimals

What are the two parts of a comet tail?

the dust tail and the ion tail

In the four terrestrial planets, the densest, heaviest materials are at the center and not evenly distributed throughout the planet. Scientists interpret this observation to mean that:

the four terrestrial planets must once have been hot enough to be molten (like a liquid)

What do all four terrestrial planets have in common?

they all have solid surfaces with signs of geological activity on them