Deck 9: Moons, Rings, and Plutoids: Small Worlds Among Giants

Question 1

Triton and Pluto both probably originated in the Kuiper Belt.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Two of the Galilean moons of Jupiter are the size of Mercury, and the two others are about as big as our own Moon.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Like Jupiter's other icy moons, Europa is covered with craters.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The large, dark mare on Ganymede were created by water that erupted from within the moon.

Question 5

It appears that while they are similar in size, Ganymede is much more differentiated than Callisto.

Question 6

Like our Moon and most others, all four large Jovian satellites have one side constantly fixed toward Jupiter as they revolve and rotate.

Question 7

Io's internal heat is due to tidal interactions with Jupiter and Europa.

Question 8

Io's surface volcanism is driven by phase changes of sulfur and its compounds.

Question 9

In terms of composition and density, the atmosphere of Titan is closer to our own than any other place we have found in the solar system.

Question 10

Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system.

Question 11

The Cassini probe Huygens made a soft landing on Titan.

Question 12

Of all the Galilean satellites, the surface of Europa is the youngest in age.

Question 13

The processes which produced Ganymede's groove terrain are on- going, according to the latest Galileo images.

Question 14

While Ganymede and Callisto are about the same size, the surface of Callisto is much younger, with considerable tectonic reformation.

Question 15

All four of Jupiter's big moons, like most moons in the solar system, revolve clockwise (retrograde) around their planet's equator.

Question 16

Alone of all the Galilean moons, Callisto shows no sign of plate tectonics.

Question 17

Besides Mars, exobiologists find Europa also a good candidate for life.

Question 18

The surface of Io looks most like the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean of Earth.

Question 19

Due to tidal stresses, it is likely most of Io is molten, with a relatively thin solid crust.

Question 20

The weak magnetic field of Europa may originate from a rapidly rotating liquid iron core.

Question 21

Titan's surface has been mapped using Earth based visual telescopes.

Question 22

The F- ring is held in place around Saturn by two shepherd moons.

Question 23

The surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus is the most reflective of any in the solar system, suggesting very fresh ice is exposed.

Question 24

Two sets of rings around Jovian planets were found by Earth- based observers, while two others were first imaged by the Voyagers.

Question 25

Probably the next satellite to get turned into ring debris will be Neptune's backward moon, Triton.

Question 26

All four ring systems orbit the equators of Jovian planets outside their Roche limits.

Question 27

Saturn's rings are thick, perhaps a few thousand kilometers.

Question 28

A resonance with Mimas clears out the ring particles from Cassini's Division.

Question 29

Saturn's rings appear to be brighter and younger than the dirty, dark rings around Uranus and Neptune.

Question 30

Methane drives the weather of Titan, for there it can be liquid, solid, or gas.

Question 31

Spacecraft have imaged erupting volcanoes on Io and Triton.

Question 32

At its equinoxes, Saturn's rings are most open and double the planet's brightness.

Question 33

The retrograde orbit of Triton dooms it to spiral inward toward Neptune, perhaps someday to make a ring system.

Question 34

Because the probe came so close, Voyager 1 sent back high resolution photos of detail on the surface of Titan in 1980.

Question 35

Alone among all the large moons, Triton orbits Neptune retrograde, and also at a 20 degree inclination to Neptune's equator.

Question 36

The haphazard terrain of Miranda suggests it was broken up by impact after it had differentiated, then fell back together as a jumbled maze.

Question 37

The rings of Uranus were discovered when it passed in front of a star, and the dark rings occulted the star several times for brief intervals.

Question 38

Cassini's probe Huygens returned images of what may have been a shoreline on Saturn.

Question 39

The tectonic surface features we see on Triton are similar to the grooves of Ganymede.

Question 40

Like Titan, Triton has a nitrogen atmosphere.

Question 41

Which element is critical to the formation of the volcanic surface of Io?

A) silicon
B) phosphorus
C) sulfur
D) carbon
E) iron

Question 42

Both Pluto and Charon are tidally locked to always keep the same faces toward each other, rotating and revolving around their common center of mass every 14.2 hours.

Question 43

The weak magnetic fields around Europa and Ganymede were found during flybys of

A) Pioneer 10.
B) Galileo.
C) Stardust.
D) Voyager 1.
E) Cassini.

Question 44

Pluto is visible to the naked eye on extremely dark nights.

Question 45

Neptune has a single, broad ring that is extremely thin.

Question 46

The particles in Saturn's E ring probably come from volcanic eruptions on Enceladus.

Question 47

Pluto is smaller than many moons in the solar system.

Question 48

Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.

Question 49

Because of its small size, the surface of Pluto was found by New Horizons to be old and geologically dead.

Question 50

In size and density, both Io and Europa resemble

A) Pluto.
B) Mars.
C) our Moon.
D) Charon.
E) Mercury.

Question 51

Which are the four Galilean moons of Jupiter?

A) Europa, Ganymede, Io, and Triton
B) Io, Titan, Triton, and Charon
C) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto
D) Europa, Titan, Ganymede, and Callisto
E) Io, Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan

Question 52

Saturn's rings are extremely old, possibly older than four billion years.

Question 53

Based on our current knowledge of the motions of Uranus and Neptune, it is obvious that Pluto's discovery was a triumph of physics, on par with Adams and Leverrier's work in finding Neptune.

Question 54

Like Saturn's more famous ring system, Jupiter's ring is also made of ice, just older and dirtier than the bright fresh material at Saturn.

Question 55

What is thought to be the cause of Io's volcanoes?

A) solar radiation focused by Jupiter's gravity
B) energy emitted by Jupiter
C) Jupiter's magnetosphere and its charged particles
D) radioactive decay in Io's interior
E) gravitational tidal stresses from both Jupiter and Europa

Question 56

Which of the Galilean moons is densest and most geologically active?

A) Callisto
B) Titan
C) Ganymede
D) Europa
E) Io

Question 57

Pluto is no longer classified as a planet.

Question 58

The initial prediction by Percival Lowell of Pluto's position was close to the place it was, in fact, found by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.

Question 59

Pluto has only a single moon, Charon.

Question 60

The surface of Europa is most like the Earth's

A) South Pole.
B) deserts.
C) Himalayan peaks.
D) Arctic Ocean.
E) tundra.

Question 61

Which of these moons are most interesting to exobiologists?

A) Triton and Charon
B) Titan and Triton
C) Europa and Miranda
D) Io and Titan
E) Europa and Enceladus

Question 62

Of the Jovian satellites, which shows the oldest, most cratered surface?

A) Miranda
B) Enceladus
C) Callisto
D) Ganymede
E) Triton

Question 63

What statistic below has changed the most in the last decade?

A) the densities of the larger moons
B) the number of known Jovian moons
C) the masses of the Galilean moons
D) the compositions of moons of Uranus
E) the rotational period of the Jovian moons

Question 64

A moon with a smooth, uncratered surface would imply

A) the moon lies within the planet's Roche Limit.
B) a strong magnetic field surrounds the moon.
C) the surface is completely liquid.
D) the surface is very young.
E) meteorites have never struck the moon.

Question 65

The Huygens probe of the ESA made a successful landing on

A) Europa.
B) Titan.
C) Saturn.
D) Mars.
E) Triton.

Question 66

Which moon of Saturn shows the largest impact crater, relative to its size?

A) Titan
B) Enceladus
C) Miranda
D) Mimas
E) Callisto

Question 67

At Titan, the lakes are made mostly of liquid

A) nitrogen.
B) water.
C) methane.
D) metallic hydrogen.
E) carbon dioxide.

Question 68

The erupting geysers of nitrogen gas on Triton

A) produced the large liquid oceans.
B) are increasing the moon's rotation rate.
C) are caused by a not yet determined internal energy source.
D) produced the frozen nitrogen surface.
E) can be viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Question 69

For a moon the same density as its planet, the Roche limit lies at times the radius of its planet.

A) 1.4
B) 2.5
C) 3.6
D) 5.2
E) 7

Question 70

In terms of dark, smoother maria and cratered highlands, which Jovian moon most resembles the near side of our own?

A) Titan
B) Europa
C) Triton
D) Ganymede
E) Io

Question 71

Which Jovian moon shows the most diverse terrain, suggesting a violent impact broke it into many pieces, some of which reformed it as a jumbled puzzle?

A) Miranda
B) Enceladus
C) Ganymede
D) Triton
E) Io

Question 72

The brightest and probably youngest surface of any moon of Saturn belongs to

A) Iapetus.
B) Titan.
C) Mimas.
D) Enceladus.
E) Tethys.

Question 73

The grooves and ridges on Ganymede are thought to

A) be due to the moon's rapid rotation.
B) be due to crustal tectonics motion (plate tectonics).
C) have formed within the last thousand years.
D) be part of an ongoing volcanic process.
E) have grown considerably larger since the Voyager spacecraft discovered them.

Question 74

Which of these moons has the densest atmosphere?

A) Triton
B) Titan
C) Io
D) Europa
E) Callisto

Question 75

Voyager 1 was unable to image Titan's surface because

A) of "smog" in Titan's atmosphere.
B) volcanic activity spewed sulfur clouds, obscuring the surface.
C) the moon was in shadow during the mission.
D) of Titan's high reflectivity.
E) the cameras were damaged by Saturn's magnetic field.

Question 76

The atmosphere of Titan is composed mostly of

A) carbon dioxide.
B) nitrogen.
C) methane.
D) oxygen.
E) hydrogen.

Question 77

The maria on Ganymede were formed by

A) basalt erupting onto the surface.
B) water erupting and spreading over the surface.
C) gravitational interactions with Callisto and Europa.
D) sulfur spewed from volcanoes.
E) plate tectonics.

Question 78

What is true of Titan's atmosphere?

A) It is oxygen rich.
B) It is primarily hydrogen.
C) It was discovered by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.
D) It has produced a runaway greenhouse effect.
E) It is roughly similar to Earth's in composition and density.

Question 79

Why are the rings of Saturn so bright?

A) Light reflected off of gigantic Titan reinforces the sunlight.
B) They are made of glassy beads expelled by the volcanoes of Enceladus.
C) They are made of frozen metallic hydrogen.
D) They are made of young, fresh water ice.
E) They are made of metallic iron, never rusted by exposure to oxygen.

Question 80

The largest moon in the solar system, bigger but NOT as massive as Mercury, is

A) Triton.
B) Europa.
C) Titan.
D) Ganymede.
E) Callisto.