Formation of the Solar System

Which of the following is NOT a correct way that jovian (giant) planets differ from the terrestrial planets in the solar system?

Jovians (being larger) rotate significantly more slowly than terrestrials.

A planet whose composition resembles that of our Sun is...

Jupiter

The largest planet in our solar system is 1. Saturn. 2. Pluto. 3. Uranus. 4. Jupiter.

Jupiter

Which of the following is NOT a terrestrial planet? 1. Jupiter 2. Venus 3. Mercury 4. Earth 5. Mars

Jupiter

You are the captain of an interplanetary tour ship and a wealthy tourist from Texas asks you to take him to see only the "largest darn planets" in the solar system. Which of the following would you NOT include in your tour? 1. Saturn 2. Neptune 3. Mercury 4. Uranus 5. Jupiter

Mercury

All except one of the planets orbit in the same place (and are thus easier to reach by spacecraft). The exception (which typically is located above or below this plane) is 1. ALL of the planets orbit in the same plane in our solar system. 2. Earth. 3. Pluto. 4. Venus. 5. Mercury.

Pluto.

According to modern astronomical thinking, where did the majority of the water that we now see on Earth and (frozen) on Mars come from?

The water was brought by icy comets that collided with the planets in great numbers during the early history of the solar system.

On which of the planets (other than Earth) could a human being step out of a spacecraft and survive without any protective gear (special suit, oxygen tanks, etc.)?

There is no other planet on which we could survive unprotected.

Which one of the following objects is most like the planetesimals that formed in the solar nebula? 1. the sun 2. Saturn 3. asteroids 4. Earth 5. Venus

asteroids

The small rocky and metallic bodies (most of which orbit between Jupiter and Mars) are called...

asteroids.

The small bodies in the solar system composed mainly of ices (frozen gases) that usually orbit far from the Sun are called...

comets.

Some of the early planetesimals that formed the solar system still survive today. Where would you find such planetesimals?

in the asteroid and Kuiper belts

The inner planets are made mostly of rock and metal because...

it was so hot when the inner planets formed that the lighter materials evaporated.

What would astronomers call material that would eventually make all of the major bodies in our solar system gather together as small pieces?

planetesimals

When the solar system was forming, the building blocks from which the protoplanets gathered together were...

planetesimals (a few km to tens of km wide).

The planets all lie in nearly the same plane resulting in a disk-like structure for the solar system. This disk-like structure is believed to exist because...

planetesimals settled into the plane of rotation of the solar nebula.

In the future, a visiting tourist from another planetary system asks to see the most massive object in our solar system. Where would you take him/her/it?

the Sun

Our best evidence and theoretical calculations indicate that the solar system began with a giant spinning system of gas and dust called...

the solar nebula.

The large planetesimals would have grown faster than the smaller planetesimals because 1. they were moving faster in their orbits than the smaller planetesimals. 2. there was more material located near them that could be accreted. 3. the smaller planetesimals were covered by a layer of material that was lost during collisions. 4. All of these 5. their stronger gravity would pull in more material.

their stronger gravity would pull in more material

A fellow student asks you along to watch a meteor shower. What exactly are you being invited to?

watching the debris of a dead comet burn up by friction as the pieces hit the Earth's atmosphere

A future interplanetary tourist whose parents kept him too warm as a baby asks for your help to find a "really cold place" in the solar system. Which of the following would be the best place to take him?

the moons of Neptune

The age of the solar system is believed to be approximately 4.6 billion years based on the data from 1. None of these 2. samples of meteorites. 3. samples of lunar rocks. 4. All of these 5. samples of Earth rocks.

All of these

Which of the following planets do NOT have an atmosphere? 1. Neptune 2. All of these have an atmosphere. 3. Jupiter 4. Earth 5. Venus

All of these have an atmosphere.

The fourth planet in our solar system is 1. Mars. 2. Earth. 3. Venus. 4. Jupiter.

Mars

The third planet in our solar system is 1. Earth. 2. Jupiter. 3. Venus. 4. Mars.

Earth.

Which of the following characteristics do all four terrestrial planets have in common? 1. They all have thick atmospheres. 2. They all have liquid water on their surfaces. 3. They all have solid surfaces with signs of geological activity on them. 4. They all rotate in 24 hours or less. 5. They all have one or more moons.

They all have solid surfaces with signs of geological activity on them.

Of the following planets, which one does NOT have satellites (moons)? 1. Mars 2. Jupiter 3. Venus 4. All planets have satellites. 5. Earth

Venus

On which planet (besides the Earth) do we still see a high level of geological activity on the surface today?

Venus

What is the single most important reason that astronomers have learned more about our planetary system in the last 30 years than all of history before then?

We have been able to send spacecraft to visit many planets and satellites.

The typical meteor is...

a small solid particle, no bigger than a pea.

One piece of evidence that can help astronomers sort out how the planets in our solar system formed is...

finding circumstellar disks of material around nearby stars.

In figuring out how our solar system formed, astronomers in the last decade have had the benefit of a major series of discoveries. Which of these discoveries have been the most helpful for astronomers working on the problem of the formation of our solar system?

finding planets and planetary systems around other stars

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the terrestrial planets? 1. small diameters 2. very few satellites 3. craters in old surfaces 4. orbits inside the asteroids 5. low average density

low average density

Chunks of solid material that survive passing through the Earth's atmosphere and are found on the Earth's surface are called...

meteorites

All the planets (without exception)...

revolve (orbit) around the Sun in the same direction.

If everything in the solar system is moving around, why do the Perseid meteors repeat regularly around August 11th or so?

The Earth's orbit intersects the same swarm of meteor particles at the same time each year.

Which of the following pieces of observational evidence does our modern "solar nebula" theory of the formation of the solar system NOT explain directly? 1. the ages of the oldest rocks on Earth, the Moon, and meteorites 2. the plane of the orbit of Pluto 3. the difference in the composition of the terrestrial and jovian planets 4. the fact that all of the planets revolve around the equator of the Sun in the same direction 5. the existence of comets (composed mainly of frozen gases) in the outer solar system

the plane of the orbit of Pluto