Sample test Questions: Chaisson Chapter 04 Fall 2009 1. Density is defined as 9. The largest asteroid, and probably the only one A) mass times weight. to be a spherical "world" is B) weight per square inch. A) Eros. C) mass per unit volume. B) Vesta. D) weight divided by the planet's radius. C) Ida. E) size divided by weight. D) Gaspra. 2. Which of the following are the Jovian planets? E) Ceres. A) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune only 10. How much advance warning did we have of the B) only Jupiter close approach of asteroid 2002 MN in June C) everything past Mars and the asteroid belt 2002? D) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto A) None; it was found three days after its E) only Jupiter and Saturn closest approach. 3. Which planet by itself contains the majority of B) several weeks mass of all the planets? C) six years A) the earth D) three days B) Uranus E) four hours C) Saturn 11. The Kuiper Belt is found where in the solar D) Jupiter system? E) Venus A) beyond the orbit of Neptune 4. Planetary orbits B) between the orbits of Jupiter and Uranus A) are highly inclined to the ecliptic. C) among the orbits of the terrestrial planets B) have the Sun at their exact center. D) sixty degrees ahead or behind Jupiter C) are spaced more closely together as they get E) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter further from the Sun. 12. The tail of a comet always points D) are evenly spaced throughout the solar A) away from the Sun and disappears at system. perihelion. E) are almost circular, with low eccentricities. B) away from the Sun and becomes longest and 5. Based on its orbit, which planet behaves the brightest at perihelion. least like the others? C) in the direction of the comet's motion. A) Mercury D) toward the Sun and disappears at perihelion. B) Venus E) toward Earth and never varies. C) Uranus 13. The Oort Cloud is believed to be D) Pluto A) the great nebula found just below the belt E) Mars stars of Orion. 6. Which of the following is not icy in composition? B) a spherical cloud of cometary nuclei far A) the polar cap of Mars beyond the Kuiper Belt. B) most Jovian satellites C) the circular disk of gas around the Sun's C) rings of Saturn equator from which the planets formed. D) asteroids D) a grouping of asteroids and meteoroids E) comet nuclei between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. E) a flattened belt of cometary nuclei just 7. What is true about solar system densities? beyond the orbit of Neptune. A) In differentiated bodies, the denser materials lie near their surfaces. 14. Which of the following does not fall into the B) The denser planets lie closer to the Sun. category of interplanetary debris? C) The asteroids all have about the same A) meteoroids density. B) comets D) Saturn has the same density as water. C) rings around the jovian planets. E) Planetary density increases with increasing D) Trojan asteroids distance from the Sun. E) Kuiper Belt bodies 8. The jovian planets 15. Which of the following have an icy composition? A) all have rings around their equators. A) meteorites and most asteroids B) all lie less than 5 AU from the Sun. B) meteoroids C) are all much more dense than any of the C) most comets and the rings of Saturn terrestrials planets. D) the surface of Mars D) have satellite systems with less than 4 E) most asteroids moons. A) all spin slower than the earth. Sample test Questions: Chaisson Chapter 04 Fall 2009 16. The Trojan asteroids are found 23. Iron meteorites are believed to come from A) closer on average to the Sun than is the A) interstellar space. earth. B) debris from the Kuiper Belt. B) orbiting around the Kuiper Belt body Hector. C) the crust of a differentiated asteroid, now C) beyond Neptune, with orbits similar to broken up. Pluto's. D) a broken up cometary nucleus. D) sixty degrees ahead or behind Jupiter, E) the core of a differentiated asteroid, now sharing its orbit about the Sun. broken up. E) with the others, between Mars and Jupiter; 24. Meteor showers are their red color gives them their name. A) caused by the earth passing near the orbit of 17. The most distant objects in our solar system are an old short-period comet. A) the jovians. B) caused by the earth passing near the orbit of B) in the Kuiper Belt. an earthgrazing asteroid. C) in the Oort Cloud. C) usually annual events, as the orbits again D) the Trojan asteroids. intersect. E) short period comets. D) Both A and B are correct. 18. The first spacecraft to land on the surface of an E) Both A and C are correct. asteroid was named 25. Meteorites are important because A) NEAR. A) large ones may cause mass extinctions. B) Stardust. B) some come from the Moon and Mars, as well C) Giotto. as the astroid belt. D) Galileo. C) they contain pristine material from the solar E) Contour. nebula. 19. Which statement about asteroids is not true? D) All of the above are true. A) Their images become blurry due to E) None of the above are true. outgassing as the Sun heats them up. 26. A meteor is B) Most stay between the orbits of Mars and A) a chunk of space debris that has struck the Jupiter. ground. C) They vary considerably in composition, B) a streak of light in the atmosphere. reflectivity, and size. C) an irregularly shaped body, mostly found D) Some have satellites of their own. orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. E) Earthgrazers can cross not only our orbit, D) an icy body with a long tail extending from but even those of Venus and Mercury. it. 20. The most detailed look we've had of an asteroid E) a chunk of space debris orbiting the Earth. comes from 27. A meteorite is A) high-altitude UV spectroscopy. A) an icy body with a long tail extending from B) spacecraft sent to an asteroid. it. C) ground based radar images. B) a chunk of space debris that has struck the D) ground based optical images.. ground. E) Earth orbital x-ray images. C) an irregularly shaped body, mostly found 21. Before it arrived in orbit about Eros, the NEAR orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. spacecraft visited D) a chunk of space debris orbiting the Earth. A) the asteroid Gaspra. E) a streak of light in the atmosphere. B) Venus. 28. Long-period comets are believed to originally C) Mars. come from D) the Moon. A) the asteroid belt. E) the asteroid Mithilde. B) the interstellar medium. 22. Relative to the comet, the direction of the ion C) the Oort cloud. tail tells us D) the satellite system of Jupiter. A) the velocity of the comet. E) the Kuiper belt. B) where the ecliptic is.. 29. The orbits of most comets C) the direction the comet is traveling. A) lie almost entirely beyond the orbit of D) where the comet came from. Neptune. E) the direction of the Sun. B) are open, going out into interstellar space, and thus never return. C) have perihelions inside the orbit of Mercury. D) have aphelions in the Kuiper belt. E) are smaller than the orbit of Comet Halley, with a 76-year period. Sample test Questions: Chaisson Chapter 04 Fall 2009 30. Objects in the Kuiper belt 37. According to the Solar Nebula theory, planets A) are the sources of long-period comets. A) should be extremely rare. B) lie beyond the orbit of Neptune and B) will revolve opposite the star's rotation. perpendicular to the ecliptic. C) should orbit perpendicular to their star's C) are dense, like the iron meteorites. equator. D) lie beyond the orbit of Neptune, and close to D) should be randomly oriented to their star's the ecliptic. equator. E) are in random orbits at all inclinations to the E) should be a common result of star ecliptic. formation. 31. Which of these bodies are most likely to break 38. As a rotating gas cloud contracts, it spins up over time? A) slower due to a decrease in angular A) Kuiper Belt bodies momentum. B) Jovian satellites B) slower due to conservation of angular C) asteroids in the main belt momentum. D) Trojan asteroids C) at a constant rate. E) comet nuclei D) faster due to conservation of angular 32. The Manicouagan reservoir near Quebec is an momentum. example of E) faster due to an increase in angular A) cometary debris. momentum. B) a large meteorite impact. 39. The larger terrestrial planets have surface C) Earth's interaction with a comet's dust tail. features that tend to be D) a volcanic event. A) younger E) a micrometeorite impact. B) more cratered 33. The nucleus of a comet is typically C) older A) a few kilometers in size, and very low in D) more rocky density. E) more icy B) a few hundred kilometers across, and bright, 40. So far, beyond the solar system the extrasolar shiny white from its ices. planets found have been mostly C) very durable, made of iron. A) large jovians with terrestrial-type orbits. D) located between the orbits of Mars and B) brown dwarfs much more massive than Jupiter. Jupiter. E) a few meters in diameter. C) terrestrials very close to their star, and 34. If a comet's ion tail is pointing perpendicular to transiting its disk. it's direction of travel, the comet is D) large jovians orbiting solar-type stars about A) moving away from the Sun. where our jovians are found. B) moving closer to the Sun. E) terrestrials with very elongated, distant C) close to or at apehelion. orbits like comets. D) close to or at perihelion. 41. Most of the extrasolar planets found so far were E) A comet's tail never points perpendicular to detected by its motion. A) noting the drop in the star's light as the 35. As the solar nebula contracts it planet transits its disk. A) spins faster due to conservation of angular B) imaging them with the HST in the infrared, momentum. where they are easier to stop. B) reverses it direction of rotation. C) detecting the oxygen in their atmospheres C) loses angular momentum. spectroscopically. D) flattens out into the ecliptic plane around D) receiving radio transmissions from them, the Sun's poles. much like Jupiter emits. E) cools due to condensation. E) noting the Doppler shifts of the star as the planet orbits it from side to side. 36. In terms of composition A) the jovian planets are made only of ice, and 42. Which statement about extrasolar planets found the terrestrials only of rock. to date is true? B) all planets condensed from the same nebula, A) All lie more than 2 A.U. from their star. and have similar compositions. B) Most have orbital periods of more than a C) the jovian planets are more like the Sun year. than are the terrestrials. C) Few are found by Doppler shifts of their D) the Sun is unique, made of nothing but stars, due to their gravity. hydrogen and helium. D) Some are so close to their stars that their E) the terrestrials are more like the Sun, since periods are just a few days. they formed close to it. E) All are terrestrials, comparable in size to Earth.