Question 1

The white spots on Io's surface:

Accepted Answer

A)  are a combination of water ice and carbon dioxide ice. 
B)  are actually openings into lava tubes like those found on the Moon. 
C)  are patches of crystallized sulfur dioxide flakes. 
D)  remain a mystery. 
A)  are a combination of water ice and carbon dioxide ice. 
B)  are actually openings into lava tubes like those found on the Moon. 
C)  are patches of crystallized sulfur dioxide flakes. 
D)  remain a mystery.

Question 2

What is the Cassini division?

Accepted Answer

A)  the boundary between the bright B ring and the faint C ring in Saturn's rings 
B)  a layer of relatively clear air separating Saturn's upper cloud deck from the middle cloud deck 
C)  a wide, dark gap in Saturn's rings 
D)  the division between the two dark equatorial belts of Jupiter 
A)  the boundary between the bright B ring and the faint C ring in Saturn's rings 
B)  a layer of relatively clear air separating Saturn's upper cloud deck from the middle cloud deck 
C)  a wide, dark gap in Saturn's rings 
D)  the division between the two dark equatorial belts of Jupiter

Question 3

The three outer Galilean satellites of Jupiter-Europa,Ganymede,and Callisto-all appear to have cores of rock.In addition to rocky material,the major constituent of these satellites seems to be ices of:

Accepted Answer

A)  water. 
B)  carbon dioxide. 
C)  ammonia. 
D)  methane. 
A)  water. 
B)  carbon dioxide. 
C)  ammonia. 
D)  methane.

Question 4

Based on its average density of 2970 kg/m³ compared with that of water at 1000 kg/m³,what is the internal structure of Jupiter's moon Europa thought to be?

Accepted Answer

A)  almost entirely water in liquid form or as ice 
B)  large iron core, the rest rock 
C)  half rock, half water and ice 
D)  small metallic core of high density with one quarter of its mass composed of water and ice 
A)  almost entirely water in liquid form or as ice 
B)  large iron core, the rest rock 
C)  half rock, half water and ice 
D)  small metallic core of high density with one quarter of its mass composed of water and ice

Question 5

Which planetary satellite shows strong evidence of disruption by an impact at some time in its history and of subsequent partial reassembly and reshaping by self-gravity?

Accepted Answer

A)  Callisto 
B)  Io 
C)  Triton 
D)  Miranda 
A)  Callisto 
B)  Io 
C)  Triton 
D)  Miranda

Question 6

How thick are the cloud layers on Jupiter's visible "surface"?

Accepted Answer

A)  greater than 10,000 km, as seen through the dark ovals that represent holes in the cloud layers 
B)  about 1000 km 
C)  about 60 km 
D)  very thin, less than 10 km 
A)  greater than 10,000 km, as seen through the dark ovals that represent holes in the cloud layers 
B)  about 1000 km 
C)  about 60 km 
D)  very thin, less than 10 km

Question 7

Much of the surface of Europa resembles:

Accepted Answer

A)  the maria of the Moon. 
B)  the lunar highlands. 
C)  the oceans of Earth. 
D)  Earth's polar regions. 
A)  the maria of the Moon. 
B)  the lunar highlands. 
C)  the oceans of Earth. 
D)  Earth's polar regions.

Question 8

What causes the banded structure on Jupiter's visible "surface" as seen from Earth?

Accepted Answer

A)  "sweeping" of Jupiter's clouds through magnetic field lines from Jupiter's magnetosphere 
B)  underlying rising and falling convection pattern stretched into bands by Jupiter's rapid rotation 
C)  underlying north-south flow pattern stretched into bands by Jupiter's rapid rotation 
D)  breaking up by underlying mountain ranges of the strong eastward flow caused by Jupiter's rapid rotation 
A)  "sweeping" of Jupiter's clouds through magnetic field lines from Jupiter's magnetosphere 
B)  underlying rising and falling convection pattern stretched into bands by Jupiter's rapid rotation 
C)  underlying north-south flow pattern stretched into bands by Jupiter's rapid rotation 
D)  breaking up by underlying mountain ranges of the strong eastward flow caused by Jupiter's rapid rotation

Question 9

Which feature of Jupiter leads to the confinement of its clouds in very narrow bands around the planet?

Accepted Answer

A)  a high gravitational field 
B)  a powerful magnetic field 
C)  convection currents and upwelling in its atmosphere 
D)  rapid rotation 
A)  a high gravitational field 
B)  a powerful magnetic field 
C)  convection currents and upwelling in its atmosphere 
D)  rapid rotation

Question 10

Suppose we are viewing the rings of Saturn from Earth and they are seen edge-on.How long must we wait until the rings are again edge-on? Take the period of Saturn's motion to be 30 years.

Accepted Answer

A)  6 months 
B)  one year 
C)  15 years 
D)  30 years 
A)  6 months 
B)  one year 
C)  15 years 
D)  30 years

Question 11

The rings of Saturn orbit the planet as:

Accepted Answer

A)  a solid body. 
B)  five separate, solid rings. 
C)  individual particles, all with periods shorter than the periods of the large moons of Saturn. 
D)  individual particles, all with periods longer than the periods of the large moons of Saturn.. 
A)  a solid body. 
B)  five separate, solid rings. 
C)  individual particles, all with periods shorter than the periods of the large moons of Saturn. 
D)  individual particles, all with periods longer than the periods of the large moons of Saturn..

Question 12

Which planets are believed to have a thick layer of water mixed with ammonia and methane in their interiors?

Accepted Answer

A)  Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune 
B)  Saturn and Neptune 
C)  Uranus and Neptune 
D)  Saturn and Uranus 
A)  Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune 
B)  Saturn and Neptune 
C)  Uranus and Neptune 
D)  Saturn and Uranus

Question 13

The unusual surface terrain on Uranus' satellite Miranda is believed to have originated:

Accepted Answer

A)  in tectonic plate motion. 
B)  when an impactor struck the body and remained embedded. 
C)  in a powerful internal explosion that occurred early in Miranda's history. 
D)  when large blocks of ice and rock were lifted off the surface in an impact and settled back. 
A)  in tectonic plate motion. 
B)  when an impactor struck the body and remained embedded. 
C)  in a powerful internal explosion that occurred early in Miranda's history. 
D)  when large blocks of ice and rock were lifted off the surface in an impact and settled back.

Question 14

When is the BEST time to observe Jupiter from Earth?

Accepted Answer

A)  when Jupiter is high above our southern horizon at sunrise or sunset 
B)  when Jupiter is at maximum eastern or western elongation and farthest away from the Sun in Earth's sky at sunrise or sunset 
C)  when Jupiter is at opposition and hence the closest to Earth 
D)  when Jupiter is at conjunction and hence at its brightest because it appears closest to the Sun 
A)  when Jupiter is high above our southern horizon at sunrise or sunset 
B)  when Jupiter is at maximum eastern or western elongation and farthest away from the Sun in Earth's sky at sunrise or sunset 
C)  when Jupiter is at opposition and hence the closest to Earth 
D)  when Jupiter is at conjunction and hence at its brightest because it appears closest to the Sun

Question 15

Jupiter is sometimes described as a "failed star," suggesting that,if it had more mass,it would have developed as a star rather than as a planet and that we would live in a binary star system.Is this possible? How many times more massive would Jupiter have to be for this development to have taken place?

Accepted Answer

A)  Yes. Jupiter would need only about double it present mass. 
B)  Yes. Jupiter would need slightly less than 100 times its present mass. 
C)  Yes, but Jupiter would need thousands of times its present mass. 
D)  No. No amount of extra mass could make a planet into a star. 
A)  Yes. Jupiter would need only about double it present mass. 
B)  Yes. Jupiter would need slightly less than 100 times its present mass. 
C)  Yes, but Jupiter would need thousands of times its present mass. 
D)  No. No amount of extra mass could make a planet into a star.

Question 16

Which planet in our solar system has the FASTEST rotation?

Accepted Answer

A)  Mercury 
B)  Uranus 
C)  Jupiter 
D)  Earth 
A)  Mercury 
B)  Uranus 
C)  Jupiter 
D)  Earth

Question 17

Kepler's third law for orbits around the Sun is a³ = P²,where the semi-major axis a is in AU and the period P is in years.(See section 2-5 in Discovering the Essential Universe,6th ed.).For objects in orbit around Jupiter we must use a³ = 0.001 P² because the mass of Jupiter in solar masses is approximately 0.001.The period for Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in its orbit around Jupiter was about two years.What was its maximum distance from Jupiter in this orbit (in AU)?

Accepted Answer

A)  0.05 
B)  0.16 
C)  0.32 
D)  0.48 
A)  0.05 
B)  0.16 
C)  0.32 
D)  0.48

Question 18

Jupiter's ring system was discovered by:

Accepted Answer

A)  visual observations by Galileo. 
B)  momentary occultation of starlight as the planet and the rings moved in front of a star. 
C)  direct ground-based photography. 
D)  spacecraft photography. 
A)  visual observations by Galileo. 
B)  momentary occultation of starlight as the planet and the rings moved in front of a star. 
C)  direct ground-based photography. 
D)  spacecraft photography.

Question 19

The "snow" that falls continuously on the surface of Io,the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter,is composed of:

Accepted Answer

A)  ammonia crystals. 
B)  water crystals. 
C)  sulfur and sulfur dioxide. 
D)  methane crystals. 
A)  ammonia crystals. 
B)  water crystals. 
C)  sulfur and sulfur dioxide. 
D)  methane crystals.

Question 20

What is the typical thickness of Saturn's rings?

Accepted Answer

A)  150 km 
B)  15 km 
C)  300 m 
D)  2 km 
A)  150 km 
B)  15 km 
C)  300 m 
D)  2 km

The white spots on Io's surface:

What is the Cassini division?

The three outer Galilean satellites of Jupiter-Europa,Ganymede,and Callisto-all appear to have cores of rock.In addition to rocky material,the major constituent of these satellites seems to be ices of:

Based on its average density of 2970 kg/m³ compared with that of water at 1000 kg/m³,what is the internal structure of Jupiter's moon Europa thought to be?

Which planetary satellite shows strong evidence of disruption by an impact at some time in its history and of subsequent partial reassembly and reshaping by self-gravity?

How thick are the cloud layers on Jupiter's visible "surface"?

Much of the surface of Europa resembles:

What causes the banded structure on Jupiter's visible "surface" as seen from Earth?

Which feature of Jupiter leads to the confinement of its clouds in very narrow bands around the planet?

Suppose we are viewing the rings of Saturn from Earth and they are seen edge-on.How long must we wait until the rings are again edge-on? Take the period of Saturn's motion to be 30 years.

The rings of Saturn orbit the planet as:

Which planets are believed to have a thick layer of water mixed with ammonia and methane in their interiors?

The unusual surface terrain on Uranus' satellite Miranda is believed to have originated:

When is the BEST time to observe Jupiter from Earth?

Which planet in our solar system has the FASTEST rotation?

Jupiter's ring system was discovered by:

The "snow" that falls continuously on the surface of Io,the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter,is composed of:

What is the typical thickness of Saturn's rings?

Discovering the Night Sky

Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets

Light and Telescopes

Formation of the Solar System and Other Planetary Systems

Exoplanets

The Terrestrial Planets and Their Moons

Vagabonds of the Solar System

The Sun: Our Extraordinary Ordinary Star

Characterizing Stars

The Lives of the Stars From Birth Through Middle Age

The Deaths and Remnants of Stars

The Galaxies

Cosmology

Astrobiology

Filters

Exam 7: The Outer Planets and Their Moons

The white spots on Io's surface:

What is the Cassini division?

The three outer Galilean satellites of Jupiter-Europa,Ganymede,and Callisto-all appear to have cores of rock.In addition to rocky material,the major constituent of these satellites seems to be ices of:

Based on its average density of 2970 kg/m³ compared with that of water at 1000 kg/m³,what is the internal structure of Jupiter's moon Europa thought to be?

Which planetary satellite shows strong evidence of disruption by an impact at some time in its history and of subsequent partial reassembly and reshaping by self-gravity?

How thick are the cloud layers on Jupiter's visible "surface"?

Much of the surface of Europa resembles:

What causes the banded structure on Jupiter's visible "surface" as seen from Earth?

Which feature of Jupiter leads to the confinement of its clouds in very narrow bands around the planet?

Suppose we are viewing the rings of Saturn from Earth and they are seen edge-on.How long must we wait until the rings are again edge-on? Take the period of Saturn's motion to be 30 years.

The rings of Saturn orbit the planet as:

Which planets are believed to have a thick layer of water mixed with ammonia and methane in their interiors?

The unusual surface terrain on Uranus' satellite Miranda is believed to have originated:

When is the BEST time to observe Jupiter from Earth?

Which planet in our solar system has the FASTEST rotation?

Jupiter's ring system was discovered by:

The "snow" that falls continuously on the surface of Io,the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter,is composed of:

What is the typical thickness of Saturn's rings?

Discovering the Night Sky

Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets

Light and Telescopes

Formation of the Solar System and Other Planetary Systems

Exoplanets

The Terrestrial Planets and Their Moons

Vagabonds of the Solar System

The Sun: Our Extraordinary Ordinary Star

Characterizing Stars

The Lives of the Stars From Birth Through Middle Age

The Deaths and Remnants of Stars

The Galaxies

Cosmology

Astrobiology

Filters