CHAPTER 11/12 URANUS, NEPTUNE, OTHER MINOR PLANETS

Pluto is larger than Earth's Moon.

FALSE

Uranus and Neptune are comparable in size and are larger than the other two jovian planets.

FALSE

Two worlds in the outer solar system that seem remarkably similar to each other are:

Pluto and Triton

During the northern summer of Uranus, an observer near the north pole would observe the Sun high and almost stationary in the sky.

TRUE

Most of the moons of Uranus have orbits that share the tilt of the planet.

TRUE

Uranus and Neptune have very similar rotation rates.

TRUE

Which of the following statements about the geysers on the moon Triton is true?

They involve plumes of nitrogen on the sunlit side of Triton

The satellite which has the thickest atmosphere (so thick that it's quite a surprise for a satellite) is:

Titan

The planet that orbits "on its side" (i.e. has its rotation axis perpendicular to the plane of its orbit) is:

Uranus

Which of the following characteristics 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

The bluish color that makes the atmosphere of Neptune so beautiful to the human eye is caused by the interaction of sunlight with what gas?

methane

The upper clouds in the atmosphere of Neptune are composed of:

methane

Which element plays the same role on Titan as water does on Earth (existing as gas, liquid, and solid)?

methane

The mountains on Pluto are made of frozen water, which at Pluto's temperatures, is as hard as a rock. Pluto also has a smooth, round basin that could be thought of as a frozen sea. What material is in the basin (nicknamed Sputnik) likely to be made of?

nitrogen

Our modern understanding of Pluto is that it is a member of

the Kuiper Belt (of trans-Neptunian objects)

What makes the rings of Neptune different from those of other planets we know?

they are clumpy (or bulging) in places