Exam 6: Formation of Planetary Systems: Our Solar System and Beyond

The terrestrial planets are made almost entirely of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. According to modern science, where did these elements come from?

The astrometric technique of planet detection works best for

The Moon probably formed at the same time that Earth formed, rather like the formation of a double planet.

Suppose the entire solar nebula had cooled to a very low temperature before the solar wind cleared it away. Do you think Earth would be the same? Why or why not?

If a radioactive isotope that was injected into your bloodstream has a half life of 5 hours, how many hours do you have to wait before the amount of this isotope in your body is $\frac{1}{16}$ its original amount?

Which of the following is not true of Mercury?

Pluto is different from the other outer planets in all of the following ways except which one?

Which planet listed below has the most extreme seasons?

You discover that a nearby star, very similar to the Sun, has a velocity curve that has a period of 6 months, induced by the orbit of a planet. You infer that:

Observations of young stars (as well as theory) tell us that when the Sun was young, the solar wind

Which planet, other than Earth, has visible water ice on it?

Suppose you discovered a meteorite that contains small amounts of potassium-40, which has a half-life of 1.3 billion years, and its decay product argon-40. You determine that 1/16 of the original potassium-40 remains; the other 15/16 has decayed into argon-40. How old is the meteorite? Based on your answer, where is this meteorite probably from?

Planets detected via the Doppler technique have been mostly

Which is the densest planet in the solar system?

Most of the planets discovered around other stars

All of the following hypothetical planets orbit a star with the same mass as the Sun (one solar mass). Which one has the shortest orbital period? (If two objects would have the same orbital period to within a difference of less than 1% consider them as having identical periods.)

Briefly describe the three most commonly used methods of indirect planet detection.

Which of the following types of material can condense into what we call ice at low temperatures?

Earth's atmosphere resulted from the impact of icy planetesimals that originated in the outer regions of the Solar System.

Astronomers have discovered more extrasolar planets around other stars than the number of planets in our own Solar System.