Outer Solar System: Moons, Asteroids, Comets, and the Sun, Exams of Nursing

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ASTRO 1 EXAM 3 NEWEST 2025 ACTUAL

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What features are abundant on Callisto and Ganymede and almost absent on Europa and Io? volcanoes markings that show the surface is made of ice impact craters lakes and pools of liquid ammonia rings impact craters When astronomers say that Ganymede is a differentiated body, they mean that it: has a northern hemisphere which is different from its southern hemisphere has more of the larger crater types than the smaller ones has a magnetic field that is not centered on its axis of rotation has a heavier core, surrounded by a lighter, icy mantle and crust has a color that is surprising among outer solar system satellites has a heavier core, surrounded by a lighter, icy mantle and crust The majority of the moons orbiting the outer (jovian) planets are:

large moons, roughly the size of Pluto or Mercury small moons orbiting in the same direction that their planet turns much warmer than the planet they orbit small moons orbiting in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction their planet turns and orbits) not in good working order, since they were made in Bayonne, New Jersey small moons orbiting in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction their planet turns and orbits) When astronomers say that Ganymede is a differentiated body, they mean that it: has a northern hemisphere which is different from its southern hemisphere has more of the larger crater types than the smaller ones has a magnetic field that is not centered on its axis of rotation has a heavier core, surrounded by a lighter, icy mantle and crust has a color that is surprising among outer solar system satellites has a heavier core, surrounded by a lighter, icy mantle and crust What features are abundant on Callisto and Ganymede and almost absent on Europa and Io? volcanoes markings that show the surface is made of ice impact craters lakes and pools of liquid ammonia rings impact craters

Which element plays the same role on Titan as water does on Earth (existing as gas, liquid, and solid)? carbon dioxide methane ammonia hydrogen cyanide propane methane The moon Triton orbits which of the planets? Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Neptune Which of the following worlds does NOT have a ring? Jupiter Saturn Uranus Pluto Neptune Pluto The rings of the outer planets consist of sheets of ice that stretch in round planes millions of miles wide around each planet billions of chunks (of various sizes) that all orbit the equator of each planet many large moons, about the size of Jupiter's moon Io, all

crowded together subatomic charged particles, all kept in line by each planet's magnetic field millions of alien spacecraft, some of which occasionally make it to the Earth and pick up humans to experiment on billions of chunks (of various sizes) that all orbit the equator of each planet How were the rings of Uranus discovered? They were seen through a small telescope at the same time the planet was They were discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope They were discovered by the Voyager 2 spacecraft when it flew by Uranus Through the radio waves given off as they interact with the magnetic field by using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (the telescope aboard an airplane) to observe Uranus moving in front of a distant star by using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (the telescope aboard an airplane) to observe Uranus moving in front of a distant star A main difference between asteroids and comets is that asteroids are mostly made of rock and comets are mostly made of: metals carbon compounds ice vapor (gas) you can't fool me, astronomers don't really know what comets are made of ice

If there are at least a million asteroids, how did spacecraft like Galileo survive their trip through the asteroid belt? NASA sends its spacecraft above and below the orbits of the asteroids in the belt to avoid collisions spacecraft use a magnetic repulsion tool to make sure asteroids do not come too close although there are many asteroids, they are widely spaced (there is lots of space between them) the known asteroids are typically less than a centimeter across, so they do not represent a danger to spacecraft you can't fool me, NASA has lost over a dozen spacecraft to collisions with asteroids although there are many asteroids, they are widely spaced (there is lots of space between them) Halley's Comet was given that name because Edmond Halley was the first person to ever see that comet the scientist who pointed out that the orbit of the comet was such that it should return every 76 years or so the chief scientist who designed the probe that flew by the comet the first person to be hurt by pieces falling off the comet prime minister of England at the time the comet was discovered the scientist who pointed out that the orbit of the comet was such that it should return every 76 years or so Which part of a comet is the DENSEST? the nucleus the atmosphere (coma) the dust tail

the gas tail the hydrogen cloud the nucleus The large reservoir of comet nuclei far beyond Pluto, from which we believe new long-period comets come into the inner solar system, is called: the Lowell reservoir the Oort Cloud the Kohoutek Cloud the Alvarez belt Bayonne, New Jersey the Oort Cloud The typical meteor is: about the size of a small one-family house made of evaporated ices a small solid particle, no bigger than a pea visible only from above the Earth's atmosphere the result of magnetic activity in the upper atmosphere of the Earth a small solid particle, no bigger than a pea When a chunk of cosmic material the size of a golf ball or a baseball hits the Earth's atmosphere it makes a: meteor shower radiant fireball meteorite which breaks into pieces when hitting the ground trail so faint, there is no chance of our seeing it on the ground fireball

How can astronomers measure the age of a meteorite that fell from the skies? Just like for planets, we measure the age by counting the number of craters on the meteorite Meteorites all contain metals and the metal conducts electricity better and better as it ages They measure the amount still left of radioactive materials in the meteorite, and how much has turned into decay products The age of a meteorite can be found from the angle at which it enters the Earth's atmosphere; so scientists can only get the ages of meteorites they observe falling There is no way to measure the age of any meteorites They measure the amount still left of radioactive materials in the meteorite, and how much has turned into decay products Which of the following is not a characteristic that worlds in our solar system have in common: that the planets all revolve around the Sun in the same direction that most of the planets spin in the same direction that they revolve that many of the larger moons go around their planets in the same direction that the planets' orbits lie in roughly the same plane that all the planets have solid surfaces on which we can see impact craters that all the planets have solid surfaces on which we can see impact craters Astronomers now believe that the differences in composition among the planets reflect what characteristic in the early solar system:

orbital speed temperature whether or not a planet had rings the age of the material none of the above temperature A type of planet that our surveys of exoplanets are revealing around other stars, but we don't have any examples of around the Sun are: terrestrial planets jovian (giant) planets Super-Earth's dwarf planets you can't fool me, we have examples in the solar system of all the types of planets our exoplanet surveys are revealing Super-Earth's Today we realize that the source of energy for the Sun is a process called nuclear fusion Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction mechanical to thermal energy conversion radioactivity dilithium crystal moderation nuclear fusion In the formula E=mc2, the letter c stands for the speed of sound the speed of an electron around the nucleus the amount of energy contained in one hydrogen nucleus

the energy of a neutrino emerging from the Sun the speed of light the speed of light Where in the Sun does fusion of hydrogen occur? only in the core only near the photosphere (its visible surface layer) pretty much throughout the entire body of the Sun only in the layer where there is a lot of convection going on nowhere only in the core The material inside the Sun is in the form of a solid liquid plasma ball of iron atoms none of the above plasma When energy is first produced by fusion deep in the core of the star, that energy moves outward mostly by what process? convection radiation conduction theoretical modeling none of the above radiation You are out on the beach, enjoying the warm sunshine with friends. As you glance up at the Sun (only briefly we hope), the part of the Sun that you can see directly is called its:

corona photosphere chromosphere core heliopause photosphere Loops of ionized plasma that connect sunspot pairs are called coronae spicules plages flares prominences prominences Sunspots are darker than the regions of the Sun around them because they consist of different elements than the rest of the Sun they are located in the corona and not on the photosphere they move much faster around the Sun than other material and thus heat up they are the shadows of the planets and asteroids seen on the bright surface of the Sun they are cooler than the material around them (although still very hot compared to Earth temperatures) they are cooler than the material around them (although still very hot compared to Earth temperatures) Astronomers now realize that active regions on the Sun are connected with the dark regions between the bright granulation cells on the

photosphere loops of magnetic field emerging from the surface of the Sun the absence of sunspots during a solar minimum great tropical storm systems in the Earth's atmosphere changes in the gravitational pull of the Sun over different parts of its photosphere loops of magnetic field emerging from the surface of the Sun When an astronomer rambles on and on about the luminosity of a star she is studying, she is talking about: what color the star is the total amount of mass in the star the star's apparent size (the size seen from Earth) how much energy the star gives off each second the elements she can see in the star's spectrum how much energy the star gives off each second Which of the following looks the brightest in the sky? a star with magnitude 10 a star with magnitude 1 a star with magnitude 6 a star with magnitude - 1 you can't fool me, all of the above look equally bright from Earth a star with magnitude - 1 Which of the following types of star is the coolest (has the lowest surface temperature)? O A M

F

G

M

Most of the stars we can see with the unaided eye from Earth are intrinsically fainter than the Sun very close to us (among the closest stars) more luminous (intrinsically brighter) than the Sun only visible to our eyes because they actually consist of three or more stars blending their light together undergoing some sort of explosion which makes their outer layers unusually bright more luminous (intrinsically brighter) than the Sun Which law do astronomers use to determine the masses of the stars in a spectroscopic binary system? Wien's Law Kepler's Third Law Stefan-Boltzmann Law Hubble's Law Jenny Craig's Law Kepler's Third Law Where on the H-R Diagram would we find stars that look red when seen through a telescope? only near the top of the diagram and never near the bottom only near the left side of the diagram and never near the right only on the right side of the diagram and never on the left only near the bottom of the diagram and never near the top anywhere in the diagram

only on the right side of the diagram and never on the left Which of the following worlds does NOT have a ring? Jupiter Saturn Uranus Pluto Neptune Pluto Which of the following statements about Saturn's rings is TRUE? There is really only one ring, which looks unbroken from Earth The structure of the rings is completely independent of Saturn's moons The rings are made of billions and billions of individual "moonlets" (small chunks) The rings are made of particles no bigger than the particles that make up smoke If the rings were put on Earth, they would stretch from about New York to Boston The rings are made of billions and billions of individual "moonlets" (small chunks) The majority of the moons orbiting the outer (jovian) planets are: large moons, roughly the size of Pluto or Mercury small moons orbiting in the same direction that their planet turns much warmer than the planet they orbit small moons orbiting in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction their planet turns and orbits)

not in good working order, since they were made in Bayonne, New Jersey small moons orbiting in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction their planet turns and orbits) When two objects in orbit have periods of revolution that are simple ratios of each other (such as 1 to 2 or 1 to 3) we say that we have: an occultation a conjunction a resonance a tidal stability limit a traffic problem a resonance 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 eccentric orbits)? These moons were likely formed elsewhere and captured by the giant planets These moons are fragments of a much larger moon around each planet that exploded These moons were expelled by volcanoes on the surfaces of the giant planets These moons had an early interaction with the rings of the giant planets and were moved to strange orbits as a result Astronomers have no idea about why these irregular moons exist; it's a complete mystery These moons were likely formed elsewhere and captured by the giant planets

Saturn's ring particles are composed mainly of: silicate rocks frozen carbon dioxide droplets of very cold methane carbon that has been compressed until it is highly reflective water ice water ice The world in the solar system that is most active volcanically is: Earth Neptune Io Mars Ganymede Io The moon Triton orbits which of the planets? Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Neptune If there are at least a million asteroids, how did spacecraft like Galileo survive their trip through the asteroid belt? NASA sends its spacecraft above and below the orbits of the asteroids in the belt to avoid collisions spacecraft use a magnetic repulsion tool to make sure asteroids do not come too close although there are many asteroids, they are widely spaced

(there is lots of space between them) the known asteroids are typically less than a centimeter across, so they do not represent a danger to spacecraft you can't fool me, NASA has lost over a dozen spacecraft to collisions with asteroids although there are many asteroids, they are widely spaced (there is lots of space between them) Which part of a comet is the DENSEST? the nucleus the atmosphere (coma) the dust tail the gas tail the hydrogen cloud the nucleus Between 1992 and today, astronomers using large telescopes have discovered many icy pieces that orbit in the same region as the orbit of Pluto. These are believed to be members of the asteroid belt (which have escaped) Kuiper belt Oort cloud ring around Pluto the rock and roll band called Bill Haley and the Comets Kuiper belt More than 75% of the known asteroids: cross the Earth's orbit at least once as they revolve around the Sun are made of icy material that is highly reflective were once part of a planet as large as Jupiter

lie farther out from the Sun than the orbit of Saturn can be found in a belt between Mars and Jupiter can be found in a belt between Mars and Jupiter A main difference between asteroids and comets is that asteroids are mostly made of rock and comets are mostly made of metals carbon compounds ice vapor (gas) you can't fool me, astronomers don't really know what comets are made of ice Why do astronomers today think that we have an asteroid belt and not a planet between Mars and Jupiter? a planet exploded and broke apart Io's volcanoes produced asteroids Jupiter's gravity prevented material in that zone from getting together the Sun's wind stops "blowing" there the solar system needed fashion accessories Jupiter's gravity prevented material in that zone from getting together The large reservoir of comet nuclei far beyond Pluto, from which we believe new long-period comets come into the inner solar system, is called: the Lowell reservoir the Oort Cloud

the Kohoutek Cloud the Alvarez belt Bayonne, New Jersey the Oort Cloud Comets change as they approach the Sun in their orbits. Which of the following statements about a comet approaching the Sun is FALSE? the solid water ice in a comet begins to evaporate just beyond the orbit of Mars comets close to the Sun can evaporate enough material to become as large or larger than Jupiter the gravity of the comet nucleus holds on to the evaporated material, and it all eventually freezes back into the nucleus when the ice evaporates, some dust frozen into the ice is freed up to join the comet's coma and tail the evaporation is not always even, but can occur in spurts (where jets of material are seen moving away from the comet nucleus) the gravity of the comet nucleus holds on to the evaporated material, and it all eventually freezes back into the nucleus The Murchison meteorite that was found in Australia in 1969 is important to scientists because it contained organic materials, such as amino acids more metal than any other meteorite large flecks of gold radioactive elements which we do not have on the Earth the decomposed bodies of small yellow aliens who were clearly intelligent organic materials, such as amino acids

One region on Earth that has become a rich source of new meteorites in recent decades (including the meteorite from Mars that got famous because some scientists claimed they had found evidence for the building blocks of life on Mars) is: the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico Bayonne, New Jersey the Great Salt Lake Australia the Antarctic the Antarctic Astronomers call the vast, rotating cloud of vapor and dust from which the solar system formed: the Oort Cloud the Kuiper Belt the proto-Sun the solar nebula Bayonne, New Jersey the solar nebula Which of the following is not a characteristic that worlds in our solar system have in common: that the planets all revolve around the Sun in the same direction that most of the planets spin in the same direction that they revolve that many of the larger moons go around their planets in the same direction that the planets' orbits lie in roughly the same plane that all the planets have solid surfaces on which we can see impact craters

that all the planets have solid surfaces on which we can see impact craters One of the best proofs that our theory of how the solar system formed is correct is that astronomers now observe Pluto's orbit, which is not in the plane (or disk) that the other planets orbit in disks around other stars which show evidence of gaps where planets may be forming planets that are called "hot Jupiters" no water in the inner solar system UFO's with alien astronomy textbooks inside, discussing the same theories disks around other stars which show evidence of gaps where planets may be forming Which of the following pieces of observational evidence does our modern "solar nebula" theory of the formation of the solar system NOT explain directly? the fact that all the planets revolve around the equator of the Sun in the same direction the difference in the composition of the terrestrial and jovian planets the ages of the oldest rocks on Earth, the Moon, and meteorites the plane of the orbit of Pluto the existence of comets in the outer solar system made mainly of frozen gases the plane of the orbit of Pluto Some years some meteor showers, such as the Leonids, feature many more meteors than at other times. What is the cause of these "meteor storms"?

the dust freed from some comets is clumpy and not evenly distributed along its orbit how many meteors we see in a given year depends one which side of the Sun we are on we get meteor storms at the same time and for the same reason we have more hurricanes on Earth meteor storms happen when Halley's Comet is near the Earth in its 76-year orbit no one has any idea about why meteor storms happen; they are a mystery the dust freed from some comets is clumpy and not evenly distributed along its orbit Chunks of solid material that survive passing through the Earth's atmosphere and are found on the Earth's surface are called meteorites asteroids meteors meteor showers comets meteorites One way to find a new meteorite is to: patrol the block on which you live carefully each night for a few years look for a bright comet in the sky and look where its tail is pointing search the area beneath or close to the point where a bright fireball was seen to burn out look near the Earth's equator where our planet's magnetic

attraction is the greatest taste the meatloaf in the college cafeteria late in the week search the area beneath or close to the point where a bright fireball was seen to burn out Astronomers estimate that about 25 million meteors strike the Earth's atmosphere each day. How come we haven't run out of meteors in the long history of the Earth? meteors come from dust from the Earth's surface that winds have blown high into the atmosphere; the Earth is so big it has lots of dust meteors are pieces of dirt left over from the formation of our solar system and from old comets; there is a huge supply of small dirt particles from both sources meteors are caused by electrical sparking in the Earth's atmosphere and there is a lot of static electricity up there meteors have only been hitting the Earth's atmosphere recently; they are the result of human pollution of space this is an unsolved problem in astronomy that has a lot of astronomers mystified meteors are pieces of dirt left over from the formation of our solar system and from old comets; there is a huge supply of small dirt particles from both sources If everything in the solar system is moving around, why do the Perseid meteors repeat regularly around August 11th or so? Because the Earth does not move relative to the meteor particles Because the Earth in its orbit intersects the same swarm of meteor particles at the same time each year Because the Perseids are not in space at all, but in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere

Because August 11th is when the Sun's rays are the warmest, and thus tend to move the meteor particles toward us at the fastest speed Only astrologers can explain this regularity; astronomers do not understand it Because the Earth in its orbit intersects the same swarm of meteor particles at the same time each year The first technique that allowed astronomers to find exoplanets involved: photographing the planets using infrared waves looking for the decrease of light from the star during a transit of the planet across its disk sending a very small spacecraft to the exoplanet to take close-up images measuring changes in the radial velocity (Doppler shift) of the star caused by the pull of orbiting planets simply taking a visible light photo of the planet around the nearest star; it wasn't that hard measuring changes in the radial velocity (Doppler shift) of the star caused by the pull of orbiting planets A type of planet that our surveys of exoplanets are revealing around other stars, but we don't have any examples of around the Sun are: terrestrial planets jovian (giant) planets Super-Earth's dwarf planets you can't fool me, we have examples in the solar system of all the types of planets our exoplanet surveys are revealing

Super-Earth's The telescope in space that allowed astronomers to find thousands of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates by making very careful measurements during a planet transit was called: Kepler Voyager Transitor New Horizons InSight Kepler Why did it take astronomers until 1838 to measure the parallax of the stars? because most stars are too faint to see without a good telescope because the stars are so far away that their annual shift of position in the sky is too small to see without a good telescope because detecting parallax requires measuring a spectrum, which only became possible in the 1830's because cepheid variable stars had not been discovered earlier because no one before then could conceive of the Earth moving around the Sun because the stars are so far away that their annual shift of position in the sky is too small to see without a good telescope A light curve for a star measures how its brightness changes with time distance mass radial velocity age

time How did Henrietta Leavitt "calibrate" her period-luminosity relationship for Cepheid variable stars? In other words, how did she make the general idea into a numerical rule? by finding cepheids in star clusters whose distance was known in another way because the star closest to us is a Cepheid variable and we know its distance by noting that the period was related to the luminosity in all stars by measuring the Doppler shift in the spectral lines of Cepheids as they pulsated by assuming that the Cepheids that appeared the brightest in the sky were closest to us by finding cepheids in star clusters whose distance was known in another way According to the formula E=mc2, mass has to travel at the speed of light before it can produce any energy energy can travel much faster than light (in fact its speed can be the speed of light squared) a little bit of mass can be converted into a substantial amount of energy when two masses collide, we always get a lot of light Einstein was a male chauvinist twice over a little bit of mass can be converted into a substantial amount of energy Today we realize that the source of energy for the Sun is a process called