The Giant Planets & Rings, Moons, and Pluto: CH 11-12

The Red Spot of Jupiter is:

all of these answers are correct

When astronomers say that Ganymede is a differentiated body, they mean that it:

has a heavier core, surrounded by a lighter, icy mantle and crust

The four large moons of Jupiter were first discovered by:

Galileo with his early telescope

The world in the solar system that is most active volcanically is:

Io

the Jovian (gas-giant) planet that has the longest year (period of revolution/orbital period) is:

Neptune

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

Pluto and Triton

What do astronomers think is the origin of the many irregular moons around the outer planets (irregular meaning they are orbiting "backwards" and/or have very eccentric orbits)?

These moons were likely formed elsewhere and captured by the giant planets

Which of the following is NOT a correct statement about the ways the Jovian planets differ from the terrestrial planets?

all of the Jovians have satellites around them and the terrestrials do not

The primary clouds in the upper atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn are composed of:

frozen ammonia crystals

The element that can act like a metal when it is under tremendous pressure and is probably responsible for the strong magnetic fields around Jupiter and Saturn is:

hydrogen

What features are abundant on Callisto and Ganymede and almost absent on Europa and Io?

impact craters

Which of the following characteristics distinguishes Uranus from every other planet in our solar system?

it rotates on an axis tilted almost 90 degrees relative to the plane of its orbit

Which of the Jovian planets has the shortest period of rotation on its axis (the shortest day)?

jupiter

one way to measure how long Jupiter takes to rotate is to watch the giant storms in its atmosphere go around. A more fundamental way to measure this rotation is to:

measure the changes in the planet's radio waves, which are controlled by its magnetic field

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

Which material plays the same role on Saturn's moon Titan as water does on Earth (existing as gas, liquid, and solid)?

methane

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

the Kuiper Belt (trans-Neptunian objects)

What allowed the Voyager 2 spacecraft to make a "tour" of all four of the Jovian planets in the late 1970's and the 1980's?

the four planets were approximately aligned on one side of the Sun and we used the gravity of each planet to speed up the spacecraft to get to the next one in its path

What is the cause of its many volcanic/geyser-like eruptions on the moon Io (pronounced eye-oh)?

the gravitational stress (tidal force) of being so close to Jupiter and its other large moons heats Io's inside

What evidence can you give that indicates the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa must be relatively young?

we see very few craters compared to the surfaces of Callisto and Ganymede