ASTRO 001 - Penn



ASTRO 001.101 SUMMER 2002 EXAM 3

NAME (print): _____________________________________ID# _______________________

Multiple-Choice. In each case, please chose the one best response. [2 pts each]

1. Which of the following processes has the greatest role in shaping the surface of Earth’s moon?

a) Recent volcanic activity, which has produced a large number of mountain ranges.

b) Erosion by wind.

c) Impacts of bodies of a wide variety of sizes.

d) Motion of crustal plates.

e) Upwelling of the mantle, creating bulges and cracking in the crust.

2. Liquid water cannot now exist on the surface of Mars because __________.

a) the surface temperature is too low.

b) the surface temperature is too high.

c) Mars’ soil is very dry, so any liquid water would soon be absorbed.

d) the atmospheric pressure is too high.

e) the atmospheric pressure is too low.

3. A new planet is discovered orbiting the sun: Its diameter is 7.0 Earth diameters; its mean density is 1.4 g/cm3. How would this planet be classified?

a) Earth-like (Terrestrial)

b) Jupiter-like (Jovian)

c) Pluto-like

d) Asteroid-like

e) Comet-like

4. What is differentiation in planetary geology?

a) The process by which gravitational settling inside Earth (and other planets) separates materials according to density.

b) Any process operating on the surface of a planet that results in the geographical separation of different landforms.

c) The process of repeated cycles of melting/freezing, that occurs only in icy bodies, and that results in the separation into liquid and solid layers.

d) Any process in planetary formation that results in the planet having different chemical composition that its moon(s).

e) Any erosion process on a planet’s surface that acts differently on rocks of different density.

5. As the rotating solar nebula collapsed to form the Solar System, it also flattened into a thin disk. This flattening occurs because __________.

a) material collapsing perpendicular to the rotation axis ‘feels’ less resistance than material falling along the nebula’s rotation axis

b) material collapsing perpendicular to the rotation axis ‘feels’ more resistance than material falling along the nebula’s rotation axis

c) the powerful solar wind from the protosun is strongest in the directions perpendicular to the nebula’s rotation axis

d) a disk is the shape that gives the cloud the least amount of gravitational potential energy

6. In the early solar system, accretion was the process of __________.

a) the break-up of very large chunks of rock and ice into planet-size pieces.

b) assembly of small bits of rock and ice into larger bodies, thence into planets.

c) rapid collapse of the initially spherical solar nebula into a thin, disk-shaped cloud

d) condensation of solid particles of rock and ice out of the gas of the solar nebula

e) expulsion of dense rocky material from the inner parts to the outer parts of the solar nebula

7. Auroras on Earth are caused by __________.

a) ultraviolet radiation from the Sun ionizing atoms in Earth’s atmosphere

b) the reflection of sunlight from Earth’s polar ice into the polar skies

c) charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere colliding with atoms in Earth’s atmosphere

d) volcanic activity near Earth’s poles

e) collisions between dust particles expelled from the Moon and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere

8. Which of the following planets is MOST likely to retain an atmosphere?

a) A cool planet with strong gravity.

b) A warm planet with strong gravity.

c) A cool planet with weak gravity.

d) A warm planet with weak gravity.

9. The oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere __________.

a) was gathering by Earth from interplanetary gas

b) results mainly from the activity of living organisms

c) was deposited on Earth by comets

d) is mainly due to volcanic activity

10. Comet nuclei are believed to be __________.

a) pieces of dirty ice ejected from Jupiter’s icy satellites by asteroid impacts

b) pieces of dirty ice left over from the formation of the solar system

c) pieces of rock chipped from asteroids by impacts with other asteroids

d) pieces of dirty ice that condensed out of Jupiter’s cold atmosphere

e) chunks of carbon ignited to incandescence by solar ultraviolet radiation

11. Jupiter, being the most massive planet, is also the densest planet.

a) True

b) False

12. The mechanism of the ‘greenhouse effect,’ which has resulted in very high temperatures on the surface of Venus (and moderate temperatures on Earth) may be described as __________.

a) solar infrared radiation heating the planet’s surface, which then emits visible radiation which is trapped by CO2 in the atmosphere

b) solar visible radiation heating the planet’s surface, which then emits infrared radiation which is trapped by CO2 in the atmosphere

c) absorption of solar visible and ultraviolet radiation by the clouds, triggering chemical reactions which generate heat

d) absorption of solar visible radiation by CO2 in the atmosphere (before the radiation reaches the ground), which heats the atmosphere

13. What happened in 1908, in the Tunguska region of Siberia?

a) A small black hole collided with Earth.

b) A large meteoroid (or asteroid) from space hit the ground, leaving a large crater.

c) A large meteoroid (or asteroid) from space exploded above ground, leaving no crater.

d) A Soviet nuclear weapon accidentally exploded.

e) An alien spaceship crashed to Earth; in Russian, Tunguska means “little gray aliens buried here.”

14. A meteor shower results from __________.

a) Earth passing through the debris field of a comet

b) material re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after being ejected into space by violent volcanic eruptions on Earth

c) an asteroid breaking-up into smaller pieces as it enters Earth’s atmosphere

d) Earth passing through especially dense parts of the solar wind

e) material entering Earth’s atmosphere after being ejected from the Moon’s surface by the impact of an asteroid on the Moon.

15. We observe that Venus’ surface has very few impact craters relative to the surfaces of the Moon and Mercury. What should we conclude from this observation?

a) Venus’ surface is quite young.

b) Venus’ surface is very old.

c) Rainfall on Venus rapidly erodes craters.

d) Venus’ craters must be hidden by dense vegetation.

e) Space aliens have camouflaged the craters.

16. The best estimate for the time of formation of most craters on the Moon __________.

a) is the first few hundred million years after formation

b) is relatively recently, about 4 billion years after formation

c) is about halfway through the Moon’s history – about 2.3 billion years ago

d) Crater formation on the Moon has proceeded at a constant rate since its formation.

e) is during the early morning hours of Dec 4, 1953

17. What causes the banded structure on Jupiter’s visible ‘surface’ as seen from Earth?

a) An underlying north-south flow pattern stretched into bands by Jupiter’s rapid rotation.

b) An underlying rising and falling convection pattern, stretched into bands by Jupiter’s rapid rotation

c) The sweeping of Jupiter’s clouds through the lines of Jupiter’s magnetic field

d) The break-up of a strong eastward flow due to Jupiter’s rapid rotation, by underlying mountain ranges

18. According to the videotape And Then There Was Voyager, how many Voyager spacecraft explored the Jovian planets?

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

19. Apart from a rocky core, the interior of Jupiter is divided into two zones. These zones consist of __________ and __________.

a) liquid molecular hydrogen; liquid metallic hydrogen

b) water ice; liquid molecular hydrogen

c) methane “slush;” liquid molecular hydrogen

d) solid iron; liquid iron

e) solid hydrogen; liquid hydrogen

20. Astronomers now seriously entertain the possibility of finding life on Jupiter’s moon Europa because of the discovery __________.

a) that early in its history Europa possessed a thick atmosphere

b) that a liquid water ocean may lie below its icy surface

c) that patches of its surface near its active volcanoes may be warm enough to support life

d) that its polar ice caps periodically completely melt

21. More than 99% of the mass of the solar system is accounted for by __________.

a) the combined mass of the nine planets

b) Jupiter alone

c) the Sun

d) the combined mass of the Jovian planets

22. As it sped by Neptune’s moon Triton in 1989, Voyager 2 spotted __________ on Triton’s surface.

a) Water geysers.

b) Nitrogen geysers.

c) Many active volcanoes depositing sulfur on Triton’s surface.

d) Large lakes of liquid ethane.

e) A base built by space aliens from Zeta Reticuli. Yikes! :)

23. We know that Earth’s core is partly liquid because __________.

a) volcanoes frequently eject lava (liquid rock)

b) certain kinds of seismic waves do not pass through Earth’s center

c) Earth’s rotation rate is slowly speeding up due to convection in the liquid interior

d) we know crustal plate motion would be much faster than is currently observed if Earth’s core were completely solid

e) if you put your ear to the ground, you can hear faint “sloshing” sounds

24. The outer three of Jupiter’s four large moons differ from Io, the innermost of the large moons, by having surfaces consisting of __________.

a) iron oxide

b) sulfur

c) silicate rock

d) ice

e) volcanic cinders

25. Which of the following could not be a weather report from present-day Mars?

a) Sunny and cold all day.

b) Dry and windy, with blowing and drifting dust developing into large-scale dust storms.

c) Rain early, tapering to intermittent showers by noon.

d) Clear and cold during the early evening hours, with the possibility of dry-ice (frozen carbon dioxide) frost forming after midnight.

26. Mars’ surface at present appears to be tectonically dead. The most likely explanation for this circumstance is that __________.

a) Mars is too far from the Sun to be tectonically active

b) Mars is too close to the Sun to be tectonically active

c) Mars is no longer leaking much heat from its interior

d) Mars is at present leaking heat from its interior at a very high rate

e) Mars’ magnetic field is too weak to cause tectonic activity

27. In which of the following ways are both Venus and Mars alike, and yet both are markedly different from Earth?

a) They are both perpetually covered in clouds.

b) The both have either active or extinct volcanoes on their surfaces.

c) Their surface temperatures are both much higher than Earth’s surface temperature.

d) Their surface temperatures are both much lower than Earth’s surface temperature.

e) Their atmospheres both consist primarily of carbon dioxide.

28. The particles in Saturn’s rings are composed of __________.

a) rock coated with carbon

b) ice or rock coated with ice

c) fine particles the size of smoke particles

d) a mixture of iron and nickel

e) green eggs and ham

29. The portion of the videotape Doomsday Asteroid viewed in class featured a discussion of __________.

a) methods for deflecting an asteroid on collision course with Earth

b) the feasibility of mining nearby asteroids

c) theories of the origin of the Oort Cloud

d) a meteor that exploded over the South Atlantic in 1957

e) the origin of Meteor Crater (Barringer Crater) in Arizona

30. The tails of a comet generally __________ as a result of __________.

a) point away from the sun; radiation pressure and the solar wind

b) point toward the sun; radiation pressure and the solar wind

c) point in a direction opposite to the comet’s direction of motion; pressure exerted by particles of interplanetary dust

d) point in the same direction as the comet’s direction of motion; pressure exerted by particles of interplanetary dust

31. Asteroids in the solar system are found mainly __________.

a) between Earth and the sun

b) beyond Pluto

c) between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn

d) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

e) within a broad zone extending from near Neptune’s orbit out to a distance of at least 50 AU

32. Venus’ atmosphere contains a large quantity of carbon dioxide, yet Earth’s atmosphere contains only a small quantity of this gas. What accounts for this difference?

a) Earth’s atmosphere never contained very much carbon dioxide.

b) Carbon dioxide in Earth’s early atmosphere was absorbed by abundant liquid water; liquid water was never available on Venus due to its high temperature.

c) Carbon dioxide in Earth’s early atmosphere escaped into space due to Earth’s relatively weak gravity.

d) Impacts of large bodies with Earth destroyed Earth’s early carbon dioxide atmosphere.

e) Carbon dioxide reacts readily with ice, which was abundant on the early Earth, but not on the much hotter Venus.

33. Saturn’s moon Titan is unusual because it __________.

a) is very cold

b) shows evidence of active geysers

c) is much larger than any other moon in the solar system

d) has a dense atmosphere

e) has frozen carbon dioxide clouds

34. The movement of lithospheric plates on Earth’s surface fundamentally results from __________.

a) the effect of the Moon’s gravity on Earth

b) Earth’s magnetism

c) ‘sloshing’ of water in Earth’s ocean basins

d) the escape of heat from Earth’s interior

e) heating and cooling (thus expansion and contraction) of surface rocks as the seasons change

35. Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed?

a) Nuclear reactions inside the protosun produced energy that heated the nebula.

b) Light from other nearby stars heated the nebula.

c) The solar nebula was heated when it collided with other clouds of interstellar material.

d) As the nebula shrank, its gravitational potential energy was converted into the random kinetic energy of the nebula’s molecules.

e) Collisions among planetesimals generated heat.

36. The Oort Cloud __________.

a) lies between Neptune and Pluto

b) is a cloud of hydrogen surrounding the sun

c) consists of billions of comet orbiting many thousands of AU from the sun

d) is a swarm of asteroids on collision course with Earth

e) is another name for the large ring particles orbiting Saturn

37. What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?

a) The place where reddish particles expelled from Io collide with Jupiter’s clouds.

b) A large mountain peak poking up through the clouds.

c) A region of unusually intense aurora on Jupiter.

d) A long-lived cyclonic storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

38. Nights on Mars tend to be very cold because __________.

a) Mars’ interior has cooled off since its formation 4.5 billion years ago.

b) Mars’ thin atmosphere acts as a poor barrier to the escape of heat from the surface.

c) Mars’ rotation period is exceptionally long.

d) Mars’ sandy soil possesses little ability to store heat absorbed during the day.

e) Thick clouds in Mars’ atmosphere reflect sunlight very efficiently.

Match each of the statements 39 - 44 with one of these worlds:

a) The Moon

b) Venus

c) Mercury

d) Mars

e) Earth

39. The nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere found here is unique among these worlds. [e]

40. Among all of these worlds, the highest surface temperatures are found here. [b]

41. The great tectonic feature Tharsis Bulge is found here. [d]

42. The dark lava flood plains of this world we now call the maria. [a]

43. The great scarps, or cliffs, that extend for hundreds of kilometers across the surface of this world, are believed to have resulted from cooling of this world’s interior early in its history. [c]

44. The surface of this world shows evidence that water once flowed in the liquid state. Now, it’s extremely dry. [d]

[pic] [pic]

[pic] [pic]

[pic]

45. This would be a comet. [c]

46. The most massive planet in the solar system (by far). [e]

47. This would be a view of part of the surface of Mars. [d]

48. A very volcanically active world, at the present time. [b]

49. This would be Neptune. [a]

50. Among other features here, we see a bunch of extinct (dead) volcanoes. [b and d marked correct]

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(c)

(b)

(a)

Please match one of the five beautiful pix above [(a) – (e)] with each of the following statements.

(e)

(d)

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