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1 | |
Jupiter's mass is about __times that of the Earth, and its diameter is __ times the Earth's. |
| | A) | 10, 300 |
| | B) | 30, 100 |
| | C) | 300, 10 |
| | D) | 100, 30 |
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2 | |
What are the major gaseous substances that make up Jupiter and Saturn? |
| | A) | Carbon dioxide and water vapor. |
| | B) | Hydrogen, hydrogen-rich compounds, and helium. |
| | C) | Methane and ozone. |
| | D) | Nitrogen and oxygen. |
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3 | |
Which statement about Jupiter is true? |
| | A) | It may become a star in about a billion years. |
| | B) | It has a solid core of ice about 1000 km under the visible surface. |
| | C) | It is the most dense of the Giant Planets. |
| | D) | It is more massive than all other planets combined. |
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4 | |
What is the Great Red Spot? |
| | A) | A region of gas on Jupiter's surface that contains a great deal of iron. |
| | B) | A huge, spinning vortex larger than the Earth in Jupiter's atmosphere. |
| | C) | A place on Jupiter's surface where Comet Shoemaker-Levy landed in 1992. |
| | D) | It's another name for Jupiter. |
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5 | |
Why will astronauts probably never set foot on any of the Giant Planets? |
| | A) | These planets have no solid surfaces for them to land on. |
| | B) | Their clouds are so hot that any spacecraft getting near it would burn up. |
| | C) | Their gravitational attraction is so weak that they would float off. |
| | D) | Astronauts will land on the Giant Planets -- the idea is perfectly reasonable. |
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6 | |
Why is the moon Io volcanically active with a hot interior? |
| | A) | Radioactive decay of elements in Io's core heat up the rock to molten temperatures. |
| | B) | Io is very close to the Sun. |
| | C) | Io was formed later than the other Galilean satellites, so it hasn't finished cooling yet. |
| | D) | Io gets flexed between the changing gravitational pulls of Jupiter and Europa, heating it by friction. |
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7 | |
On which of Jupiter’s Moons do scientists think there may exist an ocean covered with ice? |
| | A) | Io |
| | B) | Europa |
| | C) | Ganymede |
| | D) | Callisto. |
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8 | |
What are the rings of Saturn made of? |
| | A) | Tiny particles composed of water, ice, and carbon compounds. |
| | B) | A huge sheet of ice. |
| | C) | Helium droplets. |
| | D) | Saturn does not have rings. |
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9 | |
What is the Roche limit? |
| | A) | The mass a planet must exceed to have satellites |
| | B) | The greatest distance from a planet that its satellites can orbit without falling into the Sun. |
| | C) | The distance at which a moon held together by gravity may be broken apart by the planet's gravitational attraction. |
| | D) | The distance astronomers can see into a planet's clouds. |
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10 | |
Which of the Giant Planets is tilted oddly about 90 degrees to its orbit? |
| | A) | Jupiter |
| | B) | Saturn |
| | C) | Uranus |
| | D) | Neptune |
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11 | |
Why are Uranus and Neptune so blue? |
| | A) | Hydrogen appears blue when it reflects sunlight. |
| | B) | They reflect blue light from their moons. |
| | C) | Methane in their atmospheres absorb red light and reflect blue light. |
| | D) | The planets are very hot, so their blackbody spectra peak at blue wavelengths. |
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12 | |
What are the satellites of the outer planets thought to be composed of? |
| | A) | Hydrogen and helium. |
| | B) | Hydrogen and methane. |
| | C) | Water and carbon dioxide. |
| | D) | Ice and rock. |
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13 | |
Pluto’s orbit causes it sometimes to cross the orbit of another outer planet? Which is it? |
| | A) | Jupiter |
| | B) | Saturn |
| | C) | Uranus. |
| | D) | Neptune |
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14 | |
What is Pluto mainly composed of? |
| | A) | Hydrogen and helium. |
| | B) | ice and rock. |
| | C) | Rock and iron. |
| | D) | Hydrogen and methane |
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15 | |
How did Pluto’s moon Charon help astronomers better understand this planet? |
| | A) | They were able to use Kepler's third law of planetary motion to calculate Pluto's mass. |
| | B) | They determined that Charon's orbital plane, and thus Pluto's rotation axis, are tilted steeply. |
| | C) | Eclipses of Pluto by Charon allowed them to calculate both Pluto's and Charon's diameters. |
| | D) | All of the above. |
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education