Astronomy After Midterm Ch5-Ch8
Which of the following provides observational evidence that Mars has weather and an atmosphere?
all of the above
What molecules dominated the Earth's primordial atmosphere?
carbon dioxide and water vapor
Compared to the Earth, Mars is about ...
half the size
If the peak wavelength of a star at rest is 830 nm, but astronomers on earth observer that is has been shifted by 3.2 nm. Then how fast is the star moving relative to the earth?
1156626.506
If the peak wavelength of a star at rest is 1375 nm, then what peak wavelength is observed when the star is traveling 975,000 m/s away from the Earth.
1379.469
The gas in the solar nebula began at a temperature of about ....
2000 K
How many asteroids (that we know of) are on a potential collision course with Earth?
300 - 500
If the peak wavelength of a star at rest is 615 nm, then what peak wavelength is observed when the star is traveling 2,500,000 m/s toward the Earth.
609.875
What is the approximate CHZ Outer Boundary for a primordial star with a mass eight times that of our sun?
71 AU
The Spirit and Opportunity rover missions continued for several years despite being designed to operate for only ...
90 days
Orange soil on the moon is believed to be caused by
ancient volcanic activity
If we could capture the spectrum of an exoplanet, we may find evidence for life on that planet in the form of ....
biosignatures
If a star is traveling toward you, its observed spectrum will be ....
blue-shifted
A respected scientist and mathematician, Carl Gauss, recommended that we build a large right triangle on the surface of the Earth in order to ...
communicate with Martians
The best time to observe the moon to see its crater is during a ....
crescent moon
A scientist hoping to find active life on Mars can only reasonably hope to find it ...
in water that exists under the Martian surface
A planet will keep a large atmosphere if it _________ or __________.
is cold .... has a ton of gravity
The surface of the moon contains geologic evidence for ___________ on the moon in the past.
volcanos
During the Tunguska Event, people were thrown 20 feet through the air, even though they were ________ away from the explosion.
40 miles
The presence of ___________ on the surface of Mars provides additional evidence for a wet Martian past.
blueberries
On Mercury and the Moon, we notice that larger craters __________ smaller craters.
came before
The astronomer Schiaparelli was convinced that he could observe __________ on Mars.
canals
You are most likely to find a landslide on Mars near which of the following?
canyon wall
The atmosphere of Venus is composed almost entirely of ...
carbon dioxide
Which of the following are you most likely to find near a volcano?
collapsed lava tube
A lunar rille is most likely formed from
the collapse of a lava tube
One example of a "Great Filter" that humanity has (so far) managed to pass through is ...
the development of nuclear weapons
The white material around an impact crater is called
the ejecta
A gas particle will escape a planet's atmosphere if it moves faster than the ...
"escape speed"
A bright line emanating outward from craters
Ray
Which of the following has the hottest surface temperatures?
Venus
The first US missions to land on Mars were the _____________ missions.
Viking
These missions were the first to successfully land on Mars.
Viking
The discovery of _________ prompted astronomers to reconsider whether Pluto should really be called a planet.
Eris
Galileo was able to observe polar caps on Mars with his first telescope observations.
False
Did you fully complete and submit the lab?
yes
The Jovian planets are composed mostly of _______ and _________.
hydrogen .... helium
In the early 1900's, it was considered common knowledge that there was intelligent life on Mars.
true
The first landers on the surface of Mars found the Martian soil to be sterile.
true
Jupiter weighs roughly ....
twice as much as all the other planets combined
The most clear evidence for the presence of water on ancient Mars is...
dry riverbeds
The one asteroid in the gamma field is found in
the middle left
According to the Kardashev Scale, what "type" of civilization does humanity represent?
(NOT: Between Type 1 and Type 2)
The Drake Equation is a tool for estimating ...
(Not: the number of intelligent civilizations capable of traveling through interstellar space)
What is the approximate width of the sun's primordial CHZ?
0.37 AU
According to National Geographic, the process of terraforming Mars would take ______ years.
1,000
Why do some astronomers object to the new definition of a planet that was adopted in 2006?
By this definition, Earth, Jupiter, and other planets should not be considered planets.
A very large impact crater on Mercury
Caloris Basin
This was the largest rover ever sent to Mars .
Curiosity
We have not yet seen strong scientific evidence for even the simplest life anywhere in the universe except the Earth.
True
Astronomers exploring Kepler Space Telescope data encountered a very unusual lightcurve, which some speculated may be caused by a partially-completed ________________ created by an advanced civilization.
Dyson Sphere
If the terraforming of Mars was successful, its new thicker atmosphere would remain permanently allowing generations of new societies to survive on the red planet.
False
The beta field includes a bright asteroid in the middle right of the field.
False
Using the Drake Equation is complete guesswork. There is no scientific basis for estimating any of the variables in the equation.
False
Which of the following parts of the formal definition of a planet does Pluto fail to meet?
It has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
Smooth dark regions on the Moon where lava once flowed
Maria
The __________ missions were the first to fly-by Mars.
Mariner
These were the first fly-by missions to Mars.
Mariner
The largest mountain on earth
Mauna Kea
The appearance of Earth's moon is nearly identical to ...
Mercury
Which cities would be covered with water if the Greenland Ice Sheet melted completely?
Miami and Amsterdam
The galactic habitability zone is most likely to be found...
Midway between the center and edge of a galaxy
Based on the simulation, approximately how much longer will Earth be in the CHZ?
NOT 5.4 Billion, NOT 250 million years
The first human artifact to leave the solar system was ...
NOT: The Voyager Golden Record
Which of the following is NOT a variable in the Drake Equation?
Number of radio antennas per planet
The largest mountain in the solar system is ...
Olympus Mons
This was the first rover to explore the surface of Mars.
Pathfinder
This was the first Mars mission to dig beneath the surface.
Phoenix
Where did Earth's oceans come from?
Rain from water vapor in the early atmosphere
Pulverized rock that covers the Moon as a fine dust
Regolith
Which of the following planets in our solar system have rings? (Select all that apply)
Saturn Uranus Neptune Jupiter
A raised ridge on the surface of Mercury
Scarp
Sufficient warming of Mars could be achieved by point a mirror the size of ____________ at the Martian south pole.
Texas
The hypothesis that other planets are actually worlds like the Earth is known as ...
The Rare Earth Hypothesis
What initiated the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus?
The gradual warming of the Sun
Which of the following statements best explains why a planet around a massive star (two solar masses or greater) is unlikely to evolve complex life?
The star changes too quickly
The _________ for discovering exoplanets looks for tiny dips in light as a planet passes in front of its star.
Transit Method
The epsilon field includes an asteroid that is headed toward the very center of the field.
True
Virtually every planetary scientist agrees that liquid water did flow at one time on ancient Mars.
True
Orson Well's famous radio broadcast of ________________ caused a minor panic among listeners that a real alien invasion was underway.
War of the Worlds
What features must an object in the pictures have in order to confidently say it is an asteroid? [Select all that apply]
You can see it in every picture, Moves in a straight line, Looks like a star
One of the most promising pieces of evidence supporting ancient life on Mars came from ...
a Martian meteorite found on Earth
Prior to plant life, a biosphere consisting of ____________ would need to be established on the red planet to raise atmospheric pressure.
cyanobacteria
The bright circles around impact craters are called ...
ejecta
Which of the following geological features suggest that Mars has an atmosphere. [Select all that apply.]
eroded craters wind streaks
Living creatures that thrive in environments thought to be deadly to any lifeform are known as ...
extremophiles
Mars comes closer to Earth than any other planet.
false
An explosion the size of the Tunguska Event is likely to happen every ....
few centuries
How many pictures go into each animated movie?
four
The Phoenix Lander found __________ just under the surface of Mars.
frozen water ice
Almost the entirety of Jupiter's size is made up of ...
gas
Which of the following would be considered life? [Select all that apply.]
grass cats bacteria mushrooms
What two factors influence whether gas particles stay or leave a planet's atmosphere?
gravity and heat
What factor most helps the Earth maintain a relatively constant temperature?
greenhouse gases
An advocate for terraforming Mars suggests that just ________________ would be a powerful symbol of humanity's potential for expansion.
having a single seed grow into a plant on Mars
Mercury gets incredibly hot and incredibly cold because ...
it does not have an atmosphere.
Observing Mars is difficult because...
it is so small on our night sky
The moon Titan is special because....
its surface is wet
"More money is spent on making movies about ____________ than on actually finding them." Question options:
killer asteroids
Streamlined islands on Mars were most likely formed by the flow of
liquid water
As the solar nebula cooled, which compounds were the first to condense from a gas to a solid?
metals
Anorthosite was believed to be some of the _______ material on the surface of the moon.
oldest
Where did the oxygen in our atmosphere come from?
photosynthesis of living organisms
A crater with a sharp, crisp rim would be considered a(n)
preserved crater
If you are attempting to communicate with intelligent civilizations elsewhere in the galaxy, then the _________ part of the EM spectrum is the best to use.
radio
The surface of the moon is covered with a fine powder of pulverized rock called...
regolith
The US Space Program seems to currently prefer pursuing ______________ instead of launching expensive and dangerous manned missions to Mars.
robotic Martian missions
Mercury has a network of strange wrinkles across its surface called ...
scarps
Astronomers conjecture that advanced alien civilizations could rapidly spread through the galaxy through the use of ...
self-replicating machines
The best source of evidence that our solar system was once full of much larger rocks and meteors is that the moon shows
smaller craters on top of larger ones
The planets closest to the Sun are known as the ...
terrestrial planets
In many ancient cultures, the "red planet" was named after ...
the god of war
Some early observers thought that changes in the large dark regions on the surface of Mars were caused by ...
the growth of vegetation
the planet lost its internal heat to cold space
the low air pressure lowers the boiling point
Why doesn't Mars have active volcanoes today?
the planet lost its internal heat to cold space
The hypothesis that other planets are actually worlds like the Earth is known as ...
the plurality of worlds.
