Deck 7: Observing the Dynamic Giant Planets

Question 1

When Jupiter is at opposition,only the Moon and Venus can outshine it in the night sky.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Saturn's clouds are more dramatic than Jupiter's.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The Cassini division is an apparent dark gap in Saturn's ring system.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The mantles of Uranus and Neptune are chemically similar to household window cleaning fluid.

Question 5

Uranus and Neptune have seemingly quiet atmospheres.

Question 6

It is likely that a large moon would be formed inside a planet's Roche limit.

Question 7

Just like Jupiter's Great Red Spot,Neptune's Great Dark Spot has been spotted on the planet for hundreds of years.

Question 8

Uranus appears as a hazy featureless disk with a faint reddish-orange tinge.

Question 9

Infrared images show that the dark-colored belts and light-colored zones are all the same temperature.

Question 10

Over 1000 Earths would fit inside Jupiter.

Question 11

Jupiter has lightning discharges in its atmosphere.

Question 12

The color differences in the Saturn ring system suggests that the icy particles do not migrate from one ringlet to another.

Question 13

Saturn has weaker surface gravity than Jupiter,so its cloud layers are more spread out.

Question 14

Huygens measurements indicated that the average annual methane rainfall on Saturn's moon Titan is about the same as the amount of water rain that falls each year at Death Valley in California.

Question 15

Like,Uranus's rings,Neptune's thin and dark rings were first detected when they passed directly in front of a distant star.

Question 16

Neptune's high-altitude clouds are probably made of frozen methane.

Question 17

Neptune's moon Triton has a very old surface with many craters from ancient impacts,similar to Earth's Moon.

Question 18

The moons of Jupiter experience differential rotation as they spin.

Question 19

In 1979,the Voyager spacecraft discovered for the first time that Jupiter spins with differential rotation.

Question 20

Uranus's rings were discovered when starlight was dimmed as the rings occulted the star as the star apparently passed behind the planet.

Question 21

The best time to observe Jupiter from Earth is when it is

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

Question 22

The interesting feature of Jupiter's rotation is that

A) it rotates in a direction opposite to that of most of the planets and opposite to its direction of revolution around the Sun.
B) its rotation rate has slowed down significantly since it was first observed through telescopes in the 1600s.
C) regions at different latitudes appear to rotate at different rates.
D) its axis of rotation lies almost in the plane of its orbit.

Question 23

The Great Red Spot is a

A) rapidly rotating large region at the north pole of Saturn.
B) hot spot on Venus detected by Russian landers and the US Magellan orbiter.
C) large,stable,circulating storm system in the atmosphere of Jupiter.
D) large red crater on Mars.

Question 24

The existence of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter has been known since

A) the 1600s.
B) the first flyby of a spacecraft,Pioneer 10,in December 1973.
C) the arrival at Jupiter of Voyager 1 with its imaging cameras in 1979.
D) first light at the 200-inch telescope on Mt.Palomar in 1948.

Question 25

The rotation periods of Jupiter and Saturn are

A) very short-on the order of 1 hour.
B) very long-several weeks because of their great size and mass.
C) long-on the order of several days.
D) relatively short-on the order of 10 hours.

Question 26

At what point in its orbit does Jupiter appear to be brightest when viewed from Earth?

A) At opposition
B) Its brightness does not vary with orbital position because of its almost circular orbit.
C) At conjunction
D) When the Earth-Jupiter line is at a right angle to the Sun-Jupiter line

Question 27

Which of the following objects in the solar system rotates quickest around its own axis?

A) Earth
B) The Sun
C) Jupiter
D) Earth's Moon

Question 28

The darker-colored bands that encircle the high atmosphere of Jupiter,which are visible through telescopes from Earth,are known as

A) rings.
B) white spots.
C) belts.
D) zones.

Question 29

Evidence of volcanism (lava outflow,etc. ),either active or ancient,is NOT found on

A) Venus.
B) Mars.
C) Earth.
D) Jupiter.

Question 30

Compared to that of Earth,the mass of Jupiter is

A) several thousand times larger.
B) about 11 times as large.
C) about 300 times larger.
D) about 1/300 as large.

Question 31

When viewed from Earth,the apparent angular diameter of Jupiter varies with time because

A) the distance between Jupiter and Earth varies.
B) of tidal influence of the four massive moons of Jupiter.
C) the fluid planet pulsates with a long natural oscillation period.
D) Jupiter's gaseous atmosphere expands and contracts as the strength of sunlight varies because of the planet's elliptical orbit.

Question 32

One distinctive feature that is visible on the "surface" of Jupiter through a telescope from Earth is

A) the Cassini division.
B) Maxwell Montes.
C) Olympus Mons.
D) the Great Red Spot.

Question 33

Detailed observations of Jupiter's rotation suggest that it

A) is not a rigid object because equatorial regions rotate faster than polar regions.
B) rotates in two separate parts,equatorial regions rotating in a direction opposite to polar regions.
C) is slowing down noticeably at the present time.
D) rotates like a solid body,with equatorial and polar regions having the same rotational period.

Question 34

At what point in its orbit would Jupiter appear to be faintest when viewed from Earth?

A) At conjunction
B) When the line from Earth to Jupiter is at a right angle to the line from Jupiter to the Sun
C) Its apparent brightness does not vary with orbital position because it has an almost circular orbit.
D) At opposition

Question 35

The brown ovals seen in Jupiter's atmosphere are

A) upwelling ammonia and methane gas that condenses to form clouds in the cold upper atmosphere.
B) vortices of a similar nature to the Great Red Spot,but smaller and with shorter lifetimes.
C) ammonia ice crystals over high-pressure systems.
D) holes in Jupiter's cloud cover,through which we can see deeper layers of the atmosphere.

Question 36

For someone standing on the surface of Jupiter,tomorrow's weather forecast is

A) sunny,possible thin,high clouds.
B) sunny and clear because Jupiter has no atmosphere in which clouds can form.
C) overcast,possible rain with snow at higher elevations.
D) The question is meaningless because there is no solid surface on which to stand.

Question 37

Saturn's sidereal period around the Sun is approximately 29 years.The time interval between viewing Saturn at opposition and next viewing it again at opposition is

A) 1 year.
B) slightly less than1 year.
C) slightly more than1 year.
D) approximately 29 years.

Question 38

Compared to that of Earth,the diameter of Jupiter is

A) several thousand times larger.
B) about 11 times as large.
C) about 300 times larger.
D) about 1/300 as large.

Question 39

The lighter-colored bands that encircle the high atmosphere of Jupiter,which are visible through telescopes from Earth,are known as

A) belts.
B) white spots.
C) rings.
D) zones.

Question 40

The presence of helium in the atmosphere of Jupiter was first established by

A) careful observation of the spectrum of hydrogen by spacecraft.
B) precise spectrophotometry of infrared emission lines of helium from Earth.
C) detection of weak absorption bands of molecular helium by the Ulysses spacecraft.
D) direct sampling of Jupiter's atmosphere by the Galileo probe.

Question 41

What does Uranus look like from space?

A) Perpetually covered with yellowish,sulfur-rich clouds
B) Blue-green and featureless
C) Blue-green with white,high-altitude clouds,and dark storms
D) Reddish belts and light zones,parallel to the equator

Question 42

Other than hydrogen and helium,the major components of the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn have been found to be

A) H₂O (water)and CO₂ (carbon dioxide).
B) N₂ (nitrogen),O₂ (oxygen),and CO₂ (carbon dioxide).
C) dust and iron oxides.
D) CH₄ (methane),NH₃ (ammonia),and H₂O (water).

Question 43

What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?

A) A large,long-lived,counterclockwise rotating storm maintained by high-speed wind and circulation in Jupiter's atmosphere
B) The point where charged particles from the satellite Io collide with Jupiter's cloud tops
C) A region over the south pole of Jupiter where ammonia compounds have condensed in the colder atmosphere
D) Clouds above the summit of a large volcanic mountain

Question 44

The overall interior structure of Jupiter and Saturn is expected to be

A) three-layered: a large,solid,inner core of rock,a liquid outer core of "ices," and an extensive gaseous,hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
B) four-layered: a solid iron inner core,a liquid iron outer core,a partially molten mantle of rock,and a solid crust.
C) a ball of hydrogen and helium of gradually increasing density inward from gas to liquid to solid.
D) four-layered: a rocky inner core,a liquid outer core of "ices," a mantle of liquid hydrogen and helium,and an extensive gaseous atmosphere.

Question 45

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is probably a(n)

A) continent.
B) storm.
C) optical illusion.
D) hole in the clouds.

Question 46

Even through a large,backyard telescope,both Uranus and Neptune look like

A) Jupiter and its moons.
B) large disks with rings and moons.
C) small blue dots.
D) Saturn and its ring system.

Question 47

Where in the solar system would you look for liquid hydrogen?

A) Nowhere,because it is not cold enough anywhere in the solar system to liquefy hydrogen
B) At the polar regions of the Moon
C) In the deep interiors of Jupiter and Saturn
D) On the polar caps of Mars

Question 48

What was the most surprising discovery of the Galileo probe when it penetrated the atmosphere of Jupiter?

A) It measured only traces of the NH₃,NH₄SH,and water vapor cloud layers that are easily measured spectroscopically from Earth.
B) It found no evidence of hydrogen at all in the atmosphere of Jupiter.
C) It hit a hard surface just under the cloud layers,contrary to our understanding of Jupiter's atmospheric structure.
D) It measured vast quantities of invisible water vapor above the cloud layers.

Question 49

The brown ovals that are seen in Jupiter's atmosphere appear bright in an image taken in infrared radiation.Why is this?

A) The ovals are moving toward us,and the Doppler blueshift makes them appear brighter.
B) The ovals are moving away from us,and the Doppler redshift makes them appear brighter.
C) The ovals are high up in the Jovian atmosphere.
D) The ovals are deep within the Jovian atmosphere.

Question 50

The white ovals seen on Jupiter appear to be

A) vortices (whirlpools)created between regions of oppositely directed winds.
B) upwelling gas that then descends in the brown ovals.
C) descending masses of gas within the dark belts.
D) clouds of ammonia ice crystals that condense when Jupiter's atmosphere flows over fixed obstacles such as mountains.

Question 51

How does Saturn's size (e.g. ,diameter)compare to that of Jupiter?

A) Slightly larger,because Saturn is rotating much faster then Jupiter
B) Significantly larger,because Saturn contains a greater proportion of hydrogen than Jupiter
C) About the same,because Saturn is less massive and less compressed
D) Significantly smaller,because Saturn has only about 1/10 the mass of Jupiter

Question 52

Jupiter's Great Red Spot has

A) remained virtually unchanged during the three and a half centuries it has been observed.
B) disappeared (for decades at a time)and then re-emerged several times in the past three and a half centuries.
C) changed color dramatically more than once,becoming white or brown.
D) changed its size significantly during the past three and a half centuries.

Question 53

The spacecraft that successfully photographed Uranus on a 1986 flyby mission was

A) Viking.
B) Voyager.
C) Magellan.
D) Galileo.

Question 54

How does the composition of Saturn's atmosphere compare to that of Jupiter,which is the same as that of the Sun?

A) Saturn's atmosphere contains less helium than does that of either Jupiter or the Sun.
B) They are almost equivalent,with the same proportions of hydrogen,helium,and heavier elements.
C) Saturn's atmosphere contains far more heavy elements than does that of either Jupiter or the Sun.
D) Saturn's atmosphere has far less hydrogen than does that of either Jupiter or the Sun.

Question 55

Saturn's atmosphere does not show the same colorful contrast that we see in Jupiter's atmosphere.This is because

A) Saturn's clouds and circulation pattern resemble those of Earth (individual cyclones and anticyclones)rather than those of Jupiter.
B) Saturn's features are obscured by an upper cloud deck of methane ice crystals,whereas Jupiter has too high a temperature for methane ice.
C) Saturn has a similar circulation pattern to Jupiter,but it is obscured by a much deeper atmosphere.
D) Saturn has counter-flowing eastward and westward winds like Jupiter but lacks the three differently colored cloud levels.

Question 56

Which of the following spacecraft did NOT visit Jupiter?

A) Galileo
B) Pioneer 10
C) Viking
D) Voyager 1

Question 57

The circulation pattern in and around the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is

A) clockwise between two sets of winds flowing in the same direction but with different speeds.
B) from west to east,rising and falling like air flowing over a mountain.
C) outward (away from Jupiter's center)inside the Great Red Spot and back down (into Jupiter's interior)outside it,like a convection cell.
D) counterclockwise between two sets of winds flowing in opposite directions.

Question 58

Which is the least dense planet in the solar system?

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

Question 59

The composition of the clouds that we see on Jupiter is

A) very different from Earth clouds-composed almost entirely of ammonia and ammonium hydrosulfide crystals with almost no water.
B) similar to Earth clouds through the whole atmosphere-water droplets and crystals of frozen water.
C) similar to Earth clouds (water droplets and crystals of frozen water)in the higher levels but very different (e.g. ,ammonia crystals)in the lower levels.
D) similar to those of Earth (water droplets and crystals of frozen water)in the lower levels but very different (e.g. ,ammonia crystals and other chemicals)in the higher levels.

Question 60

The major constituent of Saturn is

A) rock.
B) carbon dioxide.
C) hydrogen.
D) nitrogen.

Question 61

Which planetary satellites are known to have plumes of gas escaping through their surfaces?

A) Europa and Oberon
B) Ganymede and Umbriel
C) Io and Triton
D) Io and Callisto

Question 62

The atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune consist mostly of

A) methane,with small quantities of hydrogen and helium.
B) hydrogen and helium,with significant amounts of methane,ammonia,and water vapor.
C) carbon dioxide,with a small amount of nitrogen.
D) hydrogen and helium,with significant amounts of methane and water vapor but very little ammonia.

Question 63

Neptune's high cirrus clouds consist of

A) crystals of water ice.
B) droplets of sulfuric acid.
C) ammonia ice crystals.
D) methane ice crystals.

Question 64

What are the most abundant gases in the atmosphere of Uranus?

A) Hydrogen and helium
B) Carbon dioxide and nitrogen
C) Nitrogen and ammonia
D) Methane and water

Question 65

Uranus and Neptune are similar in size and have similar atmospheres,but Neptune is significantly farther away from the Sun than is Uranus,by a ratio of about 30/19.What conclusion can be reached,therefore,from the fact that Neptune's temperature is about the same as Uranus's?

A) Neptune's atmosphere must contain a more effective greenhouse gas to maintain more solar energy.
B) Neptune must have a significant source of internal energy or heat.
C) The solar wind is able to penetrate to Neptune's cloud tops and deposit energy there,whereas Uranus's magnetic field deflects the solar wind.
D) Neptune is being distorted,therefore heating more than Uranus by tidal effects from Jupiter and Saturn.

Question 66

Which one of the following four statements applies to all four of the Jovian planets?

A) Liquid metallic hydrogen makes up a large part of their interiors.
B) Their spin axes are approximately perpendicular to their orbital planes.
C) They are almost entirely hydrogen and helium: Only about 1% of their mass is made up of heavier elements.
D) They are all thought to have a substantial rocky core.

Question 67

What features characterize the visible surface of Triton,Neptune's largest moon?

A) Lava flows,volcanoes,and sulfur dioxide frost
B) Ice,heavily cratered by ancient impacts
C) Relatively smooth areas surrounding "islands" of chaotic terrain
D) Wrinkled surface,frozen lakes,and plumes of nitrogen gas

Question 68

As a result of the Huygens-Cassini mission,which one of the following was detected on the surface of Titan?

A) A heavily cratered surface
B) Numerous lakes of liquid hydrocarbons
C) Evidence of methane rainfall
D) Running streams of hydrocarbons

Question 69

A striking characteristic on Triton,the largest satellite of Neptune,is

A) a crater so large that the impact that created it must have come close to shattering the satellite.
B) plumes of dark material driven upward from fissures by nitrogen gas,as a result of either solar or internal heating.
C) a brightness variation,with one hemisphere being as bright as ice and the other hemisphere as dark as asphalt.
D) an interconnecting network of parallel grooves,indicating tectonic activity in geologically recent times.

Question 70

What gives Uranus its blue-green coloration?

A) Absorption of blue and green sunlight by ammonia gas
B) Emission of spectral lines in the blue and green by ethane and propane,excited by solar UV radiation
C) Continuous emissions from aurorae in the upper planetary atmosphere
D) Absorption of the red sunlight by methane gas

Question 71

The spacecraft that successfully photographed Neptune on a 1989 flyby mission was

A) Pioneer.
B) Viking.
C) Voyager.
D) Magellan.

Question 72

The atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn have many zonal bands moving in alternate directions parallel to the equator,but Uranus's atmosphere appears to have only a few.What is believed to be the reason for this difference?

A) Uranus is significantly smaller than Jupiter or Saturn.
B) Because of the extreme tilt of Uranus's rotation axis,the planet's equatorial regions are not always facing the general direction of the Sun.
C) There is little internal heating on Uranus to influence motions in its atmosphere.
D) The rotation of the core of Uranus is opposite that of the atmosphere.

Question 73

How would "Interplanetary Travel" advertise a holiday to Neptune's satellite Triton?

A) The largest number of volcanoes for your travel dollar anywhere in the solar system!
B) Hot and dry-never rains-beautiful sulfurous skies!
C) Skate on frozen nitrogen lakes all morning-bask beside nitrogen geysers in the afternoon!
D) Exquisite ethane lakes-hydrocarbons beyond your wildest dreams!

Question 74

The composition of the atmosphere of Titan,a satellite of Saturn,is mostly

A) methane with small quantities of other gases.
B) nitrogen,methane,and other hydrocarbons.
C) carbon dioxide with small quantities of other gases.
D) methane,ammonia,and water vapor.

Question 75

Several of the Jovian planets appear to be emitting more energy than they absorb from solar radiation.What is the reason for this?

A) Rapid rotation is generating excess energy by friction between the planetary atmospheres and the interplanetary medium.
B) Excess energy comes from impact energy of meteoroids hitting the planetary atmospheres.
C) The solar wind deposits energy into the planetary atmospheres,and this energy is reradiated.
D) They are still cooling and contracting from their original formation.

Question 76

Uranus and Neptune are about the same size,yet Neptune shows spots and bands in its atmosphere,whereas Uranus is almost featureless.Why this difference?

A) Uranus and Neptune are at vastly different distances from the Sun,and the resulting difference in temperature causes the atmospheres to behave very differently.
B) The two planets,although of similar size,have atmospheres that differ vastly in composition.
C) The difference can be traced to the fact that Uranus is lying with its rotation axis almost in the plane of its orbit and Neptune is not.
D) Neptune is still contracting and giving out energy,which warms the lower layers of its atmosphere,but Uranus is not.

Question 77

The Great Dark Spot on Neptune

A) has been visible through telescopes as far back as 1665.
B) disappeared sometime between the Voyager 2 flyby and when the Hubble Space Telescope photographed Neptune in 1994.
C) was the short-lived result of a comet crash in 1995.
D) came into existence sometime between the Voyager 2 flyby and when the Hubble Space Telescope photographed Neptune in 1994.

Question 78

Saturn's moon Titan is different from all other moons of planets because

A) lakes of water with floating icebergs are seen on its surface.
B) it possesses a thick atmosphere.
C) its orbit carries it directly over both poles of the planet.
D) continuously erupting volcanoes are observed on it.

Question 79

Triton,the largest satellite of Neptune,has

A) no measurable atmosphere.
B) a very thin atmosphere of nitrogen gas.
C) a dense atmosphere of methane and ammonia.
D) a dense atmosphere of nitrogen with methane clouds.

Question 80

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

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