Question 1

The one orbital characteristic both short- and long-period comets share is:

Accepted Answer

A) mostly prograde orbits 
B) orbits with completely random tilts 
C) mostly retrograde orbits 
D) orbital periods longer than any planet 
E) highly eccentric orbits 
A) mostly prograde orbits 
B) orbits with completely random tilts 
C) mostly retrograde orbits 
D) orbital periods longer than any planet 
E) highly eccentric orbits E

Question 2

Asteroids are primarily composed of:

Accepted Answer

A) hydrogen and helium 
B) ice and dust 
C) rock 
D) iron 
E) methane 
A) hydrogen and helium 
B) ice and dust 
C) rock 
D) iron 
E) methane C

Question 3

Do icy cometary nuclei melt and move from solid to liquid phase as they are warmed by the radiation from the Sun?

Accepted Answer

No,they sublimate.Their ices change from solids directly into gases without ever going through the liquid stage because the material is under very low pressure.

Question 4

Pluto is the most massive member of the Kuiper Belt.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

Which group of meteorites represents the conditions in the earliest stages of the formation of the Solar System?

Accepted Answer

A) chondrites 
B) achondrites 
C) icy meteorites 
D) iron meteorites 
E) stony-iron meteorites 
A) chondrites 
B) achondrites 
C) icy meteorites 
D) iron meteorites 
E) stony-iron meteorites

Question 6

A recent estimate finds that approximately 800 meteorites with mass greater than 0.1 kg strike the surface of the Earth each day.If a house covers an area of roughly 100 m2,then what is the probability that your house will be struck by a meteorite in your 100-year lifetime? Note that the radius of the Earth is 6,400 km.

Accepted Answer

A) 1 in 1 × 104 
B) 1 in 2 × 105 
C) 1 in 4 × 106 
D) 1 in 6 × 107 
E) 1 in 8 × 108 
A) 1 in 1 × 104 
B) 1 in 2 × 105 
C) 1 in 4 × 106 
D) 1 in 6 × 107 
E) 1 in 8 × 108

Question 7

Astronomers can use the speed and direction of a cometary meteor's flight to identify its parent comet.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

List the names of the known dwarf planets and their approximate location in the Solar System.

Accepted Answer

As of printing,there are five

Question 9

The mass of all the known asteroids combined is approximately equal to:

Accepted Answer

A) half the mass of Earth 
B) three times the mass of Earth 
C) twice the mass of Mars 
D) the mass of Mars 
E) one-third the mass of the Moon 
A) half the mass of Earth 
B) three times the mass of Earth 
C) twice the mass of Mars 
D) the mass of Mars 
E) one-third the mass of the Moon

Question 10

If you can model the mass in Comet Halley as a sphere 5 km in radius,what is its density if it has a mass of 1014 kg? How does that density compare to that of water (1,000 kg/m3)?

Accepted Answer

The volume of a sphere 5 km in

Question 11

All of the zodiacal dust in the Solar System combined is roughly equal in mass to:

Accepted Answer

A) a meteoroid 
B) a comet 
C) Jupiter 
D) the Moon 
E) a terrestrial planet 
A) a meteoroid 
B) a comet 
C) Jupiter 
D) the Moon 
E) a terrestrial planet

Question 12

Identify the object in the picture below.

Accepted Answer

A) an active comet 
B) a meteor shower 
C) a meteorite 
D) an asteroid 
E) zodiacal dust 
A) an active comet 
B) a meteor shower 
C) a meteorite 
D) an asteroid 
E) zodiacal dust

Question 13

In 1994,dozens of fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with:

Accepted Answer

A) Jupiter 
B) the Earth 
C) Neptune 
D) the Moon 
E) Saturn 
A) Jupiter 
B) the Earth 
C) Neptune 
D) the Moon 
E) Saturn

Question 14

The dwarf planet Eris has a moon called Dysomia,which is much smaller in mass than Eris.If Dysomia has an orbital period of 16 days and orbits Eris at a distance of 40,000 km,then what is the mass of Eris?

Accepted Answer

A) 2 × 1013 kg 
B) 2 × 1022 kg 
C) 2 × 1028 kg 
D) 2 × 1032 kg 
E) 2 × 1035 kg 
A) 2 × 1013 kg 
B) 2 × 1022 kg 
C) 2 × 1028 kg 
D) 2 × 1032 kg 
E) 2 × 1035 kg

Question 15

Most asteroids are closest in shape to:

Accepted Answer

A) a potato 
B) a banana 
C) a hot dog 
D) a stick 
E) a baseball 
A) a potato 
B) a banana 
C) a hot dog 
D) a stick 
E) a baseball

Question 16

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are fragments of which type of asteroid?

Accepted Answer

A) A-type 
B) C-type 
C) M-type 
D) Q-type 
E) S-type 
A) A-type 
B) C-type 
C) M-type 
D) Q-type 
E) S-type

Question 17

The meteoroids in the Leonids meteor shower,which occurs every November,come from:

Accepted Answer

A) dust in the star-forming Leo nebula 
B) dust melted off Comet Tempel-Tuttle 
C) debris from the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 
D) zodiacal dust 
E) dust blown off of Earth's surface 
A) dust in the star-forming Leo nebula 
B) dust melted off Comet Tempel-Tuttle 
C) debris from the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 
D) zodiacal dust 
E) dust blown off of Earth's surface

Question 18

The darkest asteroids are:

Accepted Answer

A) M-type 
B) S-type 
C) C-type 
D) A-type 
E) Q-type 
A) M-type 
B) S-type 
C) C-type 
D) A-type 
E) Q-type

Question 19

The most common type of meteorites are:

Accepted Answer

A) stony meteorites 
B) iron meteorites 
C) achondrite meteorites 
D) stony-iron meteorites 
E) carbonaceous chondrite meteorites 
A) stony meteorites 
B) iron meteorites 
C) achondrite meteorites 
D) stony-iron meteorites 
E) carbonaceous chondrite meteorites

Question 20

Consider a small comet nucleus,whose diameter is 1 km and mass is 5 × 1011 kg,hitting the Earth head-on,traveling at a speed of 1,000 m/s.How many times larger or smaller is the comet's kinetic energy compared to that of a typical train pulling 20 boxcars whose total mass is 2 × 106 kg and speed is 25 m/s?

Accepted Answer

Kinetic energy is equal to 1/2

Exam 12: Dwarf Planets and Small Solar System Bodies

The one orbital characteristic both short- and long-period comets share is:

Asteroids are primarily composed of:

Do icy cometary nuclei melt and move from solid to liquid phase as they are warmed by the radiation from the Sun?

Pluto is the most massive member of the Kuiper Belt.

Which group of meteorites represents the conditions in the earliest stages of the formation of the Solar System?

Astronomers can use the speed and direction of a cometary meteor's flight to identify its parent comet.

List the names of the known dwarf planets and their approximate location in the Solar System.

The mass of all the known asteroids combined is approximately equal to:

If you can model the mass in Comet Halley as a sphere 5 km in radius,what is its density if it has a mass of 1014 kg? How does that density compare to that of water (1,000 kg/m3)?

All of the zodiacal dust in the Solar System combined is roughly equal in mass to:

Identify the object in the picture below.

In 1994,dozens of fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with:

The dwarf planet Eris has a moon called Dysomia,which is much smaller in mass than Eris.If Dysomia has an orbital period of 16 days and orbits Eris at a distance of 40,000 km,then what is the mass of Eris?

Most asteroids are closest in shape to:

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are fragments of which type of asteroid?

The meteoroids in the Leonids meteor shower,which occurs every November,come from:

The darkest asteroids are:

The most common type of meteorites are:

Why Learn Astronomy

Patterns in the Skymotions of Earth

Motion of Astronomical Bodies

Gravity and Orbits

Light

The Tools of the Astronomer

The Birth and Evolution of Planetary Systems

The Terrestrial Planets and Earths Moon

Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets

Worlds of Gas and Liquid the Giant Planets

Planetary Adornments Moons and Rings

Taking the Measure of Stars

Our Starthe Sun

Star Formation and the Interstellar Medium

Evolution of Low-Mass Stars

Evolution of High-Mass Stars

Relativity and Black Holes

The Expanding Universe

Galaxies

The Milky Waya Normal Spiral Galaxy

Modern Cosmology

Large-Scale Structure in the Universe

Life

Filters

If you can model the mass in Comet Halley as a sphere 5 km in radius,what is its density if it has a mass of 10¹⁴ kg? How does that density compare to that of water (1,000 kg/m³)?