Exam 11: Mercury, Venus, and Mars: Terrestrial, yet Unique

We have seen that our best Earth-bound views of Mercury and Venus occur when these planets are at their greatest elongations. Where is Mars when we have our best Earth-bound view of it?

Carbonate rocks result from:

The initial and very rapid recession of the edge of the white polar cap region toward the poles in springtime is caused by:

One nineteenth-century observation, which convinced many of the existence of at least plant life on Mars, was the behavior of the polar caps and the dark areas. This means that the:

What can you determine from the topographic map of Mars in Figure 11-17? ​ ​

The composition of the polar ice caps of Mars has been determined by each of the following methods EXCEPT one. Which one has NOT been used?

Why did the Venera series of spacecraft survive for only a few minutes on Venus's surface?

The surface of the planet Venus:

Does Mars have a planet-wide magnetic field?

The tilt of the spin axis of Mars to the perpendicular to its orbital plane:

One of the striking features of the overall surface of Mars is the:

The methane content of Mars's atmosphere is not constant but variable. All of the following processes could be responsible EXCEPT one. Which does NOT produce methane?

Mars Odyssey was unsuccessful in detecting evidence of large bodies of frozen water well below the Martian surface. This is not surprising because:

The greenhouse effect, which heats a planet's surface above the predicted equilibrium surface temperature for the planet without an atmosphere, is far less effective on Mars than on Earth. Why is this?

What is the difference in temperature between the equator and the poles on Venus?

The surface temperature of Venus was first measured by:

What can be said about the presence of water on Venus?

Mars rotates toward the east and takes about 24 1/2 hours for one rotation. Phobos, the inner satellite of Mars, revolves around Mars toward the east and requires about 7 1/2 hours to circle the planet once. Viewed from the surface of Mars, how long does it take Phobos to traverse the 180° across the sky from rising to setting (in hours)?

Deimos remains over almost the same spot on Mars' surface. To remain over the same spot it must:

What was required to obtain a visible-light image of the surface of Venus?