Astronomy quiz

Why is the Moon's surface cratered but the Earth's is not

Earth's impact craters have been mostly obliterated by erosion and plate tectonics

Why doesn't the Moon have an atmosphere

It had very few volcanoes and the gravity is too weak to hold a substantial atmosphere

what is NOT a kind of geological feature found on the Moon?

Scarp

How were the maria formed?

Successive volcanic eruptions flooded huge basins formed by large impacts

what statement about the Moon's orbit is true

The Moon is in synchronous rotation as it orbits the Earth

What does the Moon's lack of magnetic field suggest about its internal structure

The Moon's core is smaller and cooler than the Earth's

What does the Moon's lower density suggest about its internal structure

The Moon's iron core is smaller relative to the Earth's

How is the Moon's crust similar to the Earth's

The lunar crust is mostly silicate rock

How is the Moon's mantle different from the Earth's

The lunar mantle is too cold to form convection cells

Why do the lunar maria have a darker color than the highland regions

The maria are composed of different materials than the highlands

Why is the regolith light-colored in the highlands, while darker in the maria

The regolith in the maria has a different mineral composition

scientists recently confirmed the presence of water ice at the poles of the Moon. Where did this water come from

Water was deposited on the Moon by cemetary impacts, and it condensed in deep polar craters

Rilles on the lunar surface were formed by

ancient lava flows

The lunar highlands are composed primarily of

anorthosite

What is the composition of the lunar regolith

anorthosite and basalt

The lunar maria are primarily composed of

basalt

Like the near side of the Moon, the far side has the same general features, a mix of maria and highlands

false

Heavily cratered, low-density regions of the lunar surface are called

highlands

Comparing the near and far side sides of the Moon, we find that the far side

is more heavily cratered than the near side

What are rays?

long, light streaks of pulverized rock radiating outward from craters

the lunar escape velocity is ________ the Earth's

lower than

Basalt, a dense congealed lava rock rich in iron, is the primary material in the Moon's are called what?

maria

The large dark areas on the Moon that form the face of the "Man in the Moon" are called what?

maria

How many times does the Moom rotate on its axis in one orbital period

only once

One result of bombardment of the Moon's surface is a layer of broken, pulverized, and powdered rock called

regolith

What we call the Moon's surface layer

regolith

Long canyons on the lunar surface are called

rilles

What is the source for the lava that covers the maria

rock melted by radioactive heating

The majority of lunar craters formed when

solid bodies such as asteroids impacted the Moon's surface

The primary reason the Moon lacks an atmosphere is because

the Moon lacks sufficient gravity to retain an atmosphere

Differences between the near and far sides of the moon is that

the far side has no maria, the far side's crust is mostly anorthosite, the far side is more heavily cratered, the far side is mostly all rough terrain

The lunar highlands have more craters than the maria because

the maria are much younger than the highlands

The central peak of a crater is formed by

the upward rebounding of compressed rock

The Moon contains small amounts of frozen water that is mixed in with its rocks

true

Until we sent missions to the Moon, no one on Earth had seen the far side of the Moon.

true

The distance between the Earth and the Moon

varies as the Moon orbits about the Earth.