ASTR 100 Midterm #2 Review Questions(Chapters 8, 18.4, 19-22, 24)

Energy can be transported by convection, conduction, and radiation. Which of these is (or are) associated with the interior of the Sun?

Inside the Sun, energy is conducted by both radiation and convection.

Ganymede was once completely molten on the inside. True or false? How do you know?

TRUE, Interactions with the moons could have pushed Ganymede into the more eccentric orbit. Tidal forces resulting from Jupiter's gravity would have deformed the moon just like Ganymede followed its orbits varying its distance from Jupiter.

More Jovian moons are geologically active than Terrestrial planets. True or false? How would you explain this?

TRUE, Jovian moons have more amount ice relative to the terrestrial planets. Hence, these moons undergo the geological changes at lower temperatures than the rocky materials that are in the terrestrial planets. Due to the reasons, Jovian moons are geologically active than the terrestrial planets.

Lava flows today are examples of basin flooding. True or false? Explain your answer.

TRUE, basin flooding caused by radioactive decay causes heat rise up and melt in the upper mantle

Why would you include the Moon in a comparison of the Terrestrial planets?

Terrestrial planets are those planets whose surfaces are made up of rocks and metals. Moon is revolving around the sun like a planet is moving around the Solar System. It is a natural satellite, it is considered to be a planet due to its properties which is similar to the planet

How many protons are ultimately involved in the fusion to helium by the proton-proton fusion chain?

Four Protons

What is the difference between a centaur and a NEO?

A centaur is an object whose orbit is in the region of the jovian planets. A near earth object passes near the earth.

What evidence can you give that the corona has a very high temperature?

Because the gas in the chromosphere and the corona is ionized and has very low densities, it can't resist being accelerated by movements of the magnetic fields. Turbulence below the photosphere seems to flick the magnetic loops back and forth and whip the gas about, heating it.

Why might you expect that Venus's surface conditions should resemble Earth's more than they do?

Both planets are about the same size, density, and have the same chemical composition

Describe a hypothesis explaining why Jupiter emits more energy than it receives from the Sun

By the observation of the astronomers the Jupiter is hot from the inside. Jupiter is glowing strongly in infrared and radiates approximately 1.7 times more energy than it receives from the Sun. This is because of escape of residual heat

What type of asteroid is very dark and gray, and where might it be located?

C-type asteroid. Outer asteroid belt.

How does the increasing abundance of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere cause a rise in Earth's temperature?

CO2 forms a "coat" above the atmosphere which doesn't allow heat radiated by Earth into space. This heat bounces from the coat back to Earth.

What is the most significant kind of erosion that occurs on the Moon today?

Erosion by micrometeorites impacts

How do you know Earth's mantle behaves like plastic? What makes it that way?

Even though Earth's mantle obeys the properties of solid it is shattered by the application of pressure. This property makes the mantle to be considered as plastic.

Why does nuclear fusion require high temperatures and high densities?

Every nucleus has a positive charge, so they will naturally repel each other. To combine them, two nuclei have to move faster together with large force. So, high temperatures and pressure are requirements for fusion to occur.

Describe evidence of crustal movement (horizontal or vertical) on Mars.

Tharsis rise. Faults such as Valles Marineris.

What evidence can you give that granulation is caused by convection?

The centers of the granules are observed to be hotter and are moving outward from the center of the Sun, while the outer edges of a granule are cooler and moving inward toward the center of the Sun. A blob of gas that is warmer and less dense than its surroundings will rise in the gas. A cool, less dense blob of the gas should sink in the gas, the hot material moving outward from the center of the Sun, and the cooler material moving in toward the center of the Sun when convection is present.

How do island chains located in the centers of tectonic plates, such as the Hawaiian-Emperor chain, indicate ongoing plate tectonic activity?

The chains demonstrate the motion of the plate over an upwelling lava source. As the plate moves, the lava sequentially breaks through, creating a chain of islands?.

What evidence indicates that a comet's nucleus is rich in ices?

The composition of the Type I tail, as well as the vaporous coma show evidence.

Why is it not surprising that there is no evidence of plate tectonics on Mercury's surface?

The crust of Mercury is thick and heat flowing outward is unable to drive plate tectonics

As viewed from from Earth, how many times does the Moon rotate during one orbit? As viewed from outside the Earth-Moon system, how many times does the Moon rotate in one orbit? How do you know?

-Moon rotates ONCE -

What evidence can you cite that the Moon had volcanism? Does the Moon have volcanism today? How do you know?

-NO, because the entire surface appears old with a lot of craters

Which has a more tightly bound nucleus, uranium or helium? How do you know?

-The binding energy of heavier nuclei is slightly less than binding energy of lighter nuclei -The energy released during fusion process to form Helium is greater than the energy released during fission process of Uranium. It implies that the binding energy of Helium is greater than the binding energy of Uranium.

What color is the photosphere as viewed from the ground on a clear, cloudless day when the Sun is highest overhead? When the Sun has sunk to just above the ocean's horizon? When the Sun has sunk to half below the ocean's horizon? Does the photosphere really change colors during this sunset? Why or why not?

-The photosphere appears more bright yellow or white as viewed from the ground on a clear cloudless day - It appears mild orange and yellow above the the oceans horizon -It appears more like red and orange color as the sun below the ocean's horizon -Instead, the path length of the sunlight traveling through Earth's atmosphere increases from midday to sunset and, therefore, the light encounters more particles in the atmosphere at sunset.

What does the spectrum of a prominence reveal? What does its shape reveal?

-The spectrum of prominence shows that an excited and low-density gas -The Sun's magnetic field produced the arched shape of the prominence's. Very huge amounts of energy are stored in arches of magnetic fields. It reveals that it is following the solar magnetic field.

List two differences between achondrite and chondrite meteorites.

Chondrites are a type of stony meteorite with chondrules, whereas achondrites are a type of stony meteorite that contain no chondrules.

Meteors in showers were once part of which type of celestial object?

Comets

Most sporadic meteors were once part of which types of celestial object?

Comets

In what ways is Earth unique among the Terrestrial worlds?

Contains large amounts of liquid water on its surface. Only known home for life.

How can planetary scientists estimate the ages of the outflow channels and valley networks on Mars?

Craters

What do the vesicular basalts tell you about the evolution of the lunar surface?

Some of the surface of the Moon was formed as molten lava spread over its surface

Does Mars's surface experience any meteorite impacts today? How do you know?

Sometimes. The atmosphere of Mars protects the surface from micrometeorites, but larger meteorites may occasionally impact the surface.

What evidence indicates that some asteroids once had geologically active surfaces?

Spectroscopically, Vesta appears to have regions of small lava flows

A fragment from the surface of a differentiated asteroid will yield which kind of meteorite?

Stony Meteorites

What kind of meteorite resembles Earth rocks?

Stony achondrites

If Jupiter had a satellite the size of our own Moon orbiting outside the orbit of Callisto, what would you predict for the satellite's density and surface features?

It should have a low density, less than 2 g/cm3.

What do chondrules tell you about the history of chondrites?

It shows that the temperatures of the chondrites do not reach a high enough temperature to melt them.

What evidence can you give that Mercury has a partially molten, metallic core?

It's relatively strong magnetic field

Why is it possible to acquire Moon rocks by traveling to Antarctica or the Sahara?

It is easy to recognize rock meteorites from the Moon there because Earth's native rocks are buried under ice or sand

From looking at images of the Moon's near side, how can you tell that Copernicus is a young crater?

It is located on a mare and has bright rays of ejecta extending from it

How can Titan keep an atmosphere when Titan is smaller than airless Ganymede?

It is twice as far from the sun as Ganymede, so the gases are slower-moving and easier to trap.

What characteristic does a Terrestrial planet's interior need for it to be a geologically active world?

It must be hot

Meteorites were once part of which type of celestial object?

Asteroids

Why do astronomers refer to carbonaceous chondrites as unmodified or "primitive" material?

They contain volatiles and have never been heated, therefor, they conserved the material of the early Solar System

What do Widmanstätten patterns indicate about the history of iron meteorites?

They formed in the cooling interiors of planetesimal-size objects, smaller than planets.

Why are no chondrules seen in achondritic meteorites?

They have been subjected to intense heat that melted the chondrules.

What should the interior composition of Titan be if its density is 1.9 g/cm3 ? How do you know?

This means Titan is composed of 60% rocks and 40% ice. The core of Titan is rocky but the mantle and the crust of Titan mainly contains huge amounts of ice.

Does Titan experience volcanism today? Impact cratering? How do you know?

Titan DOES experience occasional ice volcanoes. (NOT FULLY ANSWERED)

Where is most of Earth's carbon dioxide located?

Under the Sea

Describe four differences between asteroids and comets. Describe four similarities between asteroids and comets.

- Asteroids tend to be rockier or more metallic, but Comets tend be icier. - Comets formed farther from the sun where ices would not melt. Comets, which approach the sun, lose material with each orbit because some of their ice melts and vaporizes to form a tail. Asteroids typically remain much more solid and self-contained, even when near the sun.

Why is Jupiter more oblate than Earth? Just because a planet is a Jovian planet, would it necessarily be more oblate than Earth? Why or why not?

- Because Jupiter rotates rapidly and it rotates quickly - Yes, oblateness of a planet depends on its speed of rotation and the rigidity of its interior

How does belt-zone circulation transport energy—by radiation, conduction, or convection?

- Belt-zone circulation transports the energy by the process of CONVECTION - In the belt zone circulation the energy is being transported by the particles from one place to the other withe the movement of particles

Which of the five Terrestrial worlds have bow shocks, magnetospheres, and radiation belts? How do you know?

- Earth - (1) bow shocks are the regions where the solar wind is first deflected (2) the magnetosphere is the cavity dominated by the Earth's magnetic wind (3) Earth has a sufficient magnetic field to create radiation belts than other terrestrial worlds

What caused Earth to be differentiated? During which stage of planetary development did that happen?

- Heat from a combination of radioactive decay and energy released by infalling matter caused Earth's interior to melt and the densest material to sink to the core during the first stage of development - Differentation

How do the interiors of Jupiter and Saturn differ? How does this difference affect the magnetic fields of Jupiter and Saturn?

- Jupiter has a larger metallic hydrogen core than Saturn, and the larger this region is the stronger a magnetic field can be. - Because of the two planets' similar rotation periods, the difference in the magnetic fields must come from the differential core sizes

Why did the first Apollo missions land on the maria? Why were the other areas of more scientific interest?

- Maria are relatively smooth, so they were safe landing sites -Other areas, gsuch as highlands, represented different parts of the Moon's history

Describe and explain changes Mars's surface temperature during the planet's history. What evidence can you give that the climate on Mars has changed?

- Once, Mars was warmer. You know this because there are clear, though ancient, signs of liquid H2O on its surface. At this point (2.3 Billion years ago), Mars was still geologically active, the atmosphere was thicker, and there was a substantial greenhouse effect, probably raising the temperature at moderate latitudes, in the summer, above freezing. - Once Mars died geologically, the atmosphere got thinner, the greenhouse effect decreased, and the average temperature dropped to what it is today: 210 K

How is the root cause of earthquakes in Hawai'i different from earthquakes in Southern California?

- SC are a resultant of plate tectonics - Hawii earthquakes are resultants of rising magma in mantle

What were the canals on Mars eventually found to be? How do they differ from the outflow channels and valley networks on Mars?

- The canals were optical illusions. - The outflow channels and valley networks on Mars are not as straight and organized

Where is the ozone layer? Where are the ozone holes?

- The ozone layer is located about 10 to 20 miles above Earth's surface. - The ozone holes are located above polar regions, especially the South Pole

What evidence indicates that some asteroids have differentiated? What might have been the source or sources of their internal heat?

- The presence of more than one type of meteorites on the ground of earth indicates, they are of different compositions and temperatures of the asteroid. - They were evolved during the supernova explosion. This produced some short lived radioactive elements. These elements and the heat produced during supernova explosion are the sources of internal heat.

Why doesn't Mars have folded mountain ranges like the ones on Earth? Why doesn't Earth have large volcanoes like those on Mars?

- The tectonic processes that formed mountains on earth did not occur on mars - Tectonics carry mountains away from volcanic hotspots before they grow too big

How is meridional flow related to the Sun's magnetic dynamo, the sunspot cycle, and the Maunder butterfly diagram?

- The very slow movement of currents of gas from the equator to the pole region of sun and its travels return to the center of the sun. -During Dimensional flow, a group of magnetic field lines are shipped from the active regions to the pole regions and these region s are located at lower latitude

How are today's atmospheres of Venus and Mars similar? How are they different?

- They are both composed of 95-96% CO2, with most of the rest being N2. - Venus' atmosphere has 10^4 X the pressure on the surface.

Why are Phobos and Deimos non-spherical? Why is Earth's Moon much more spherical?

- They do not have enough mass to gravitationally pull themselves into a spherical shape. - Earth's moon is massive enough to gravitationally pull itself into a spherical shape.

Where is the oxygen on Mars today? How do you know?

- Tied up in frozen water and in surface rocks. - We have examined the surface w/ rovers

What are possible fates (or end-states) for comets?

-Breakup into fragments when passing near the Sun or a massive plant -Collision with a larger body such as a planet or the Sun - Loss of vehicle material until only a trail of orbiting dust and rock remains -Complete evaporation until nothing at all is left

Describe the four stages of Terrestrial planet development.

1. Differentiation 2. Cratering 3. Basin Flooding 4. Slow Surface Evolution

Which atmospheric layer is associated with the Sun's continuous spectrum? With its absorption spectrum? With its emission spectrum?

A continuous radiation spectrum is produced by blackbody radiation at a given temperature.Absorption spectra are produced in the bottom of the chromosphere, where the temperature and density of the gasses are lower than in the photosphere. Emission spectra could be produced throughout the low-density chromospheres and corona.

What is the difference between a comet's dust tail and a comet's gas tail? What does that tell you about the composition and origin of comets?

A gas tail is ionized gas carried away by the solar wind and may show effects of the local magnetic field. A dust tail is composed of solid debris blown outward by the pressure of sunlight and may be curved because dust particles follow individual orbits.

What ingredients are needed to power a dynamo effect inside a planet?

A highly conductive liquid metallic interior that is circulated by convection and spun by the rapid rotation of the planet

Meridional is derived from meridian. Look up the definition of meridian; what is the direction of solar meridional flow? How is it detected?

A meridian is a great circle of the earth passing through the poles. Meridional flow is a common air flow from north to south in the direction of Earth's longitude lines

Why does hydrogen, which is abundant in the Sun's atmosphere, have relatively weak spectral lines, whereas calcium, which is not abundant, has very strong spectral lines?

At the temperature of the Sun, the hydrogen electrons are in the bottommost atomic orbit or energy level. Thus, they absorb at UV wavelengths in the Lyman series, not in the visual spectrum region. Despite being rarer than H on the Sun, most calcium atoms have their electrons in an energy level that absorbs light at visual wavelengths. Calcium is therefore conspicuous in the spectrum of the Sun at visual wavelengths.

What evidence can you give that Venus once had significant amounts of water? Where did that water come from? Where did it go?

Atmospheric deuterium being higher than normal implies Venus once had water. The water came from outgassing from the interior. The runaway greenhouse effect put all the water in the atmosphere. Once there, UV from the Sun dissociated it into H2 and O. The H2 escaped the O combined into surface rocks

What produced the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere?

Bacterial Life

What characteristics must Earth's core have to generate a magnetic field?

Be Fast moving and have a liquid molten core ( this causes charges to go through the Earth creating a electromagnetic field)

What surface features on Mars today indicate that there was significant water erosion in the past?

Canyons and ridges shown erosion, while harbored liquid water is hidden under the dusty surface.

Name three greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

Carbon Dioxide(CO2), Water Vapour (H2O), and Methane (CH4)

Give an example of a charged subatomic particle and a neutral subatomic particle discussed in this chapter.

Charged: Electron, proton, positron, neutron, muon, pion Neutral: Neutrino and pion

What evidence indicates that the asteroids are mostly fragments of larger bodies?

Some asteroids collide, releasing fragments which are then collected by other asteroids.

What keeps Earth's interior warm today?

Differentiation

Why isn't the crust of Mars broken into mobile plates as Earth's crust is? How do you know?

Early in the history of Mars, when its crust was thin, convection in the mantle coukd have pushed up volcanic regions, BUT Mars cooled too fast and hence its crust never broke into tectonic plates as did the Earth's crust.

Which of the five Terrestrial worlds have plate tectonics? How do you know?

Earth

Earth shows few craters on its surface. What is the explanation for this?

Earth did not not avoid heavy bombardment, but its surface has been heavily reworked and processed by erosion and plate tectonics

Which is the most geologically active Terrestrial world? Why?

Earth, because it has cooled d most slowly

The Moon did not pass through all of the four stages of planetary development. True or false? Explain your answer.

FALSE, All the terrestrial planets passes all the four stages of their evolution, the earth's moon also passes through all the four evolution stages.

Life on Earth exists because of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere. True or false? Explain your answer.

FALSE. There is oxygen in Earth's atmosphere because of life; except for the minority of creatures, including utmost life forms on Earth do not need oxygen.

The greenhouse effect is only bad for Earth's climate. True or false? Explain your answer.

FALSE. Without greenhouse effect, Earth would be colder and uninhabitable for water-based life

Saturn's rings are primordial, meaning that they originated when the planet formed. True or false? How do you know?

False. Massive rings systems are unstable after a few hundred million years.

What evidence can you give that sunspots are magnetic?

First, sunspots show a magnetic field that is 100 times stronger than the Sun's average magnetic field. Additionally, sunspots usually appear in pairs with each of the spots having the opposite magnetic polarity. All spot pairs in one hemisphere have the same magnetic polarity for the leading spot in the pair, and all spots in the other hemisphere have the opposite magnetic polarity for the leading spot in a pair.

How are granules and supergranules alike? How are they different?

Granules and supergranules both appear to be the result of convection within the Sun. Rather small convection cells just below the photosphere produce the granules. The supergranules appear to be caused by convection cells deeper in the interior of the Sun.

What is understood to be the cause of ripples in ring systems?

Gravity due to moons that orbit at angles inclined to the ring plane.

Which molecules and atoms are Jupiter and Saturn able to retain in their atmospheres that can't be retained in Earth's atmosphere?

Helium and Hydrogen

How can the flow of energy out of a planet's interior affect its surface and atmosphere?

In flowing outward, heat can cause convection currents in the mantle. These drive plate motions, quakes, faults, volcanism, mountain-building , etc.

Describe four differences between the Jovian planets and the Terrestrial planets.

Jovians are much more hydrogen rich with lower clouds. The clouds are divided into layers of their own elements which could form ice particles. They also contain belts and zones which have different pressures depending on the area. They also contain large storms which can remain active for decades.

Why are magnetic phenomena such as extensive radiation belts and auroras so strong around Jupiter?

Jupiter has a powerful magnetic field that is induced by liquid metallic hydrogen in its interior

The density of Earth's Moon is 3.35. g/cm3 . Which of Jupiter's moons has a density closest to Earth's Moon? What does this tell you about that moon?

Jupiter's moon Io has the density of 3.5 g/cm3 , which is the closest density to the moon's density.

What evidence can you give that Mercury had volcanism? Does Mercury have volcanism today? How do you know?

Lava flows within Caloris Basin and the smooth plains represent lava that covered the surface after the late heavy bombardment

Why isn't the crust of Venus broken into mobile plates as Earth's crust is? How do you know?

Low-density, dryness, and pliability of Venus's crust probably prevented it from breaking into rigid plates. On Venus there are no chains of composite volcanoes that form at plate boundaries.

Why do meteor showers occur at the same time each year?

Many of them generally come from the same direction every time, and they generally leave in the same direction. Their orbits are reasonably stable.

Do either Venus or Mars have composite volcanoes? Why or why not?

Mars and Venus only have shield volcanoes. Geological processes are vertical on these planets, and plate tectonics and significant horizontal crust motion do not occur.

Why are features like the Moon's maria not observed on Mercury?

Mercury's lava plains are not significantly darker than the rest o the planet's crust, so they are not so clearly perceptible.

How is the composition of meteorites related to the formation and evolution of asteroids?

Meteorites contain a record of impacts during all stages of asteroid origin and evolution. The formation and growth of chondritic particles; the change, metamorphism and melting of asteroids; and the erosion and disruption of asteroids by hypervelocity impacts. A review of meteorite classification shows that numerous meteorites are not readily classified because they do not fit simple models for asteroid formation and evolution that assume impacts were only important during the final stage of asteroid evolution and because of inadequate understanding of a steroidal impacts. Chronological, textural, and thermal constraints allow us to identify meteorite impact breccias that formed during accretion

What is the difference between a meteoroid and an asteroid? Is there a sharp distinction?

Meteoroids are smaller than asteroids, but there is NO sharp distinction in their sizes.

Why do most short-period comets have prograde orbits near the plane of the Solar System?

Most short-period comets originate in the Kuiper Belt, where objects have prograde orbits near the plane of the Solar System. Some short-period comets are former long-period comets with orbits changed by Jupiter's gravity.

If the Moon is tidally coupled to Earth, is Earth tidally coupled to the Moon? How do you know?

NO, because Earth's rotation is not locked to the moon

If Saturn had no moons, do you think it would have rings? Why or why not?

No, there would be no rings

Does Venus's surface experience meteorite impacts today? How do you know?

Not many. Since the atmosphere of Venus is very thick, most meteorites cannot reach the surface of Venus

Why does nuclear fusion in the Sun occur only near the center?

Nuclear fusion requires high temperature and high densities (thus it happens in the more dense core)

What evidence can you give that the Atlantic Ocean is growing wider?

Oceanic currents are eroding the layers of the continents and the sea floor. It is pushing the continents apart from each other by 3cm a year.

What is understood to be the cause of gaps in ring systems?

Small moonlets embedded in the rinhghs produce gaps, waves, and scallops in the rings through their gravity.

Why are no craters seen on Io and few seen on Europa?

On Europa, the icy surface is constantly shifting and if it is struck, it just becomes water and freezes again or becomes gas. Io is very volcanic, so it is constantly being resurfaced.

How can solar flares affect Earth?

Particles from flares reach Earth hours and days later as gusts in the solar wind, which can distort Earth's magnetic field and disrupt navigation systems. Solar flares can also cause surges in electrical power lines and damage Earth satellites.

How can you determine the relative ages of the Moon's Maria and highlands?

Radioactive dating, crater density, and lava flows.

Describe evidence of crustal movement (horizontal or vertical) on Venus.

Rare folded mountain ranges. Fault and deep chasms. Coronae.

How do prominences affect Earth?

Reveals the randomness influencing on the nonlinear pollution. The shape pf the solar prominence reveals that these prominences are moving out from the solar surface in the shape of a loop.

Which type of seismic wave cannot pass through Earth's core? What does that indicate about the composition of the core?

S-waves, It indicates that the core is at least partially molten

Describe four ways Mars is similar to Earth today. Describe four ways Mars is different from Earth today.

SIMILAR Mars has moons, rotates on its axis in about one day, has lots of water on its surface (though it's frozen), has volcanoes (extinct) and canyons. DIFFERENT Mars has weak magnetic field, has a very thin atmosphere composed of CO2, is geologically dead, has lots of craters, no plate tectonics.

How are the histories of the Moon and Mercury similar? How are they different?

SIMILAR: They formed in the inner Solar System, passed through intense cratering, have orbits tidally locked into resonances, and their surface evolution is limited to micrometeorite impacts

Why are the belts and zones in the atmosphere of Saturn less distinct than those in the atmosphere of Jupiter?

Saturn is twice the distance from the Sun and Jupiter, and thus much colder. As a result, the cloud layers form deeper in Saturn's atmosphere and belts and zones are veiled by haze in the upper atmosphere.

Describe four ways Venus is similar to Earth today. Describe four ways Venus is different from Earth today.

Similar - Venus has an atmosphere, is geologically active, has volcanos, and has continents Different - Venus does not have a moon, does not have a strong magnetic field, does not have oxygen in its atmosphere, and it rotates backwards

You stayed a little too long outside in the sunshine, and now you have a sunburn. From which atmospheric layer of the Sun did the photons originate that resulted in your sunburn? How do you know?

Sunburns are caused by ultraviolet B (UVB, 280-315 nm). According to Wien's Law, this corresponds to a solar temperature of ~10,000K, corresponding to temperatures observed for the chromosphere (Figure 8-3).

If you piloted a spacecraft to visit Saturn's moons and wanted to land on a geologically old surface, what moon would you choose? Why?

Tethys and Phoebe would be good candidates. They are dark and heavily cratered moons and such a surface has not been restructured for a long time.

Describe and explain changes in Venus's surface temperature during the planet's history.

The CO2 in the atmosphere along with water vapor caused a runaway greenhouse effect. This led to a significant increase in the surface temperature. Eventually, the water vapor dissociated from UV light from the sun.

How can astronomers detect neutrinos from the Sun?

The Daves neutrino experiment(water deep below the Earth)(think back to Japan)

How did neutrino oscillation affect the detection of solar neutrinos by the Davis experiment?

The Davis neutrino experiment created a huge controversy. It was expected to detect one neutrino a day, but it actually counted one-third as many: Only one solar neutrino was captured in that 100,000-gallon tank every three days.

What are the Kirkwood gaps, and what causes them?

The Kirkwood gaps are certain orbital periods in the asteroid belt that have fewer asteroids than usual. They are the result of these orbital periods being in resonance with the orbit of Jupiter.

What are the hypotheses for how the bodies in the Kuiper Belt and the bodies in the Oort Cloud formed?

The Kuiper Belt is formed from the outer remnants of the solar Nebula, as were the bodies in the Oort cloud. As a result, much of their materials are the same (basically they are comprised of icy planetesimals of varying sizes). Our understanding is that Uranus and Neptune formed closer to the Sun and migragted outward. As they did, they ejected many of the bodies in the Oort cloud to current position billions of years ago. Objects in the Kuiper Belt formed where the are, and have either entered into a resonance with Neptune or have not yet interacted with it.

Which Terrestrial worlds have thin or no atmospheres?

The Moon, Mars, and Mercury

Explain the natural carbon dioxide cycle on Earth. Start by explaining how carbon dioxide is removed from Earth's atmosphere and end with how carbon dioxide is returned to Earth's atmosphere

The carbon cycle is nature's way of refusing carbon atoms, which travel from the atmosphere into organisms in the Earth and then back into the atmosphere over and over again. Carbon is released back into tge atmosphere when organism die

How is the composition of meteoroids related to the formation and evolution of comets and comet nuclei?

The composition studies of meteorites, the reflected brightness data collected from asteroids and their spectroscopic studies conformed that the most meteorites were originally asteroids. Thus, the formation and evolution of the asteroids influences the composition of meteorites. HENCE, the formation and evolution of asteroids can be studied by studying the compositions of meteorites

How are the inferred properties of Earth's original atmosphere related to the location and timescale of Earth's formation from the solar nebula?

The early Earth atmoshpere contained only little amount of gases like hydrogen, helium, and hydrogen compounds from the solar nebula. The remaining is mainly nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and sulfur gases.

Why do planetary scientists hypothesize that the Moon formed with a molten surface?

The evidence that Apollo mission shows the rock samples are "igneous". This means the moon was formed in the molten state and it's formed by the cooling /solidification of molten rock.

Why should you expect Io to suffer more impacts per square kilometer than Callisto?

The gravitational force of Jupiter and Io is much more ...

How does the force of gravity cause tidal coupling between celestial objects?

The gravity of the more massive object raises tidal bulges on the smaller object. Friction in the bulges slows the smaller object until it rotates once per each orbital period.

What heats the chromosphere and corona to maintain such high temperatures?

The heating of the chromosphere and corona of the Sun is not well understood. Recent SOHO observations indicate that strong magnetic fields are responsible for much of the heating as they whip and twist around and accelerate charged particles. This mechanism is not completely understood.

Describe the types of geological activity observed on the moons of Saturn.

The icy surface of Enceladus is moving, and dissipates heat and ice particles.

How does the large-impact hypothesis explain the Moon's lack of iron?

The ironcore of the impacting object could have fallen into the larger body.

How does the Babcock model explain the sunspot cycle?

The magnetic cycle of the sun is a constant tangling/untangling of the suns magnetic field. Sunspots occur when this concentrated energy breaks the suns's surface. As ionized gas moves, the magnetic field does too and becomes more tangled. Weak north/south polarity regions change to align with stronger neighbors. This then rearranges the entire field and ends the cycle.

How do you know that Earth is differentiated?

The mean density of the Earth is greaterr than the density of its surface. Seismic data indicate that the density decreases from the center to the surface. The magnetic field suggest an iron-nickel core.

When in the cycle does the maximum number of sunspots occur? Is it at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sunspot cycle? Is this time in the cycle reflected in the Maunder butterfly diagram? Why or why not?

The number of sunspots visible on the Sun follow an 11 -year cycle, becoming more numerous, reaching a maximum, and then becoming much less numerous. The Maunder butterfly diagram shows changes in the location of sunspots during a cycle, with sunspots appearing at higher latitudes earlier and closer to the equator later in the 11-year cycle.

Why are so many lunar samples classified as breccias?

The numerous impact event fragments produced a lot of brecciate rock

Why would a decrease in the density of the ozone layer in Earth's atmosphere cause public health problems?

The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet light from the sun, and ultraviolet light causes skin cancer.

How can you be certain that Jupiter's rings do not date from the formation of the planet? Where do the ring particles come from?

The particles gradually spiral into the atmosphere of Jupiter due to the powerful magnetic field of Jupiter AND the pressure from the sunlight. This proves that the formation of the planet.

Why can't you see deeper into the Sun than the photosphere?

The photosphere is the layer in the Sun's atmosphere that is dense enough to emit plenty of light but not so dense that light can't escape. Light cannot escape,because it is blocked by the outer layers of gas.

What is the shape of the heliopause? What determines that shape?

The shape of the heliopause is a sphere.

How can astronomers detect structure in the chromosphere?

The structure of the chromosphere is studied primarily using filtergrams. Filtergrams are images of the Sun taken through a filter that lets in a very narrow wavelength band of light, such as light emitted by the hydrogen-alpha transition.

Why do astronomers conclude that asteroids were never part of a full-sized planet?

Their current total mass is not enough to form a planet; moreover, they are under the gravitational influence of Jupiter that prevented planet formation.

What property of the Moon and Mercury has resulted in almost complete cessation of surface evolution on both those worlds, whereas Earth's surface evolution continues?

Their small size allowed them to cool rapids, produce thick crust and shut down surface geologic activity. Earth called slower.

What evidence shows that Venus has been resurfaced within the past half-billion years?

There are a relatively small number of craters on the surface, and the craters appear to be randomly distributed. This implies that the entire surface has the same relatively young apparent age.

If you were able to stand on the surface of Titan in the daytime, what would you see? For example, would it be raining? Would there be high winds? Would there be lots of sunlight? What color would the sky be?

There would be little wind due to the thick atmosphere, possible methane rains, and little light. The sky would be orange.

What evidence would you expect to find on the Moon if the Moon had been subjected to plate tectonics? Is there such evidence?

There would be volcanos and mountains

Describe sources and "sinks" of CO2, if any, on Venus today.

Venus out gassed a great amount of carbon dioxide from rocks while it was fairly hot. As Venus is fairly close to the Sun. The oceans act as "sinks" , but Venus never formed liquid water oceans. The carbon dioxide remained in its pure form in the atmosphere.

How are a weather radar map and an image of a highland on Venus related?

Weather radar reveals information that cannot be obtained using visible wavelengths. An image of a highland on Venus is also made by radar because its surface is hidden by thick clouds.

Describe three forms of erosion that cause slow evolution of Earth's surface.

Wind, Water, and Gravity