Deck 7: The Terrestrial Planets: a Study in Contrasts

Question 1

Although it has no liquid water, Mercury has a tidal bulge.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The surface temperature of Venus is 730K, even hotter than Mercury.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Mars appears red in color because of refraction of light by its atmosphere, much like the color of the totally eclipsed Moon.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

No evidence of impact craters has been found on Venus.

Question 5

Venus can appear as a crescent through the telescope.

Question 6

The polar caps and dust storms of Mars can be seen with Earth- based telescopes.

Question 7

Compared to Earth, Venus spins very rapidly on its axis.

Question 8

Mars has larger volcanoes than Earth's Hawaii.

Question 9

The surface of Mars is surprisingly smooth and featureless.

Question 10

We now know of polar caps on Mercury, the Moon, Earth, and Mars.

Question 11

The scarps on Mercury are extremely similar to the cratered lunar highlands in appearance.

Question 12

Venus' rotation period is longer than its period of revolution around the Sun.

Question 13

The Moon's far side is more ancient and heavily cratered; on Mars, the same is true of its southern hemisphere.

Question 14

There is new evidence that water has flowed as mud on Mars in recent times.

Question 15

Mercury's rotation and revolution are an example of a 3:2 resonance.

Question 16

Mercury, Venus, and Earth have similar densities.

Question 17

Mercury has the widest variation in surface temperatures between night and day of any planet in the solar system.

Question 18

Venus' surface temperature cools off at night, much like Mercury's does.

Question 19

Atmospheric pressure on Mars is roughly half that of Earth's at sea level.

Question 20

The density of Mars is very similar to that of the other terrestrial planets.

Question 21

Because of its axial tilt and more elliptical orbit, Mars' polar caps change size even more than the Earth's do.

Question 22

Which three worlds have almost identical densities?

A) Earth, Moon, and Mars
B) Mercury, Earth, and Mars
C) Mercury, Venus, and Earth
D) Deimos, Phobos, and our Moon
E) Mercury, Mars, and our Moon

Question 23

Mars has a weak magnetic field.

Question 24

Venus' rotation on its axis

A) is the fastest of the terrestrial planets.
B) prevents us from seeing all of its surface features.
C) shows it is tidally locked in its orbit around the Sun.
D) is highly tilted to its orbital plane, causing large seasonal changes.
E) is clockwise, unlike most other solar system objects.

Question 25

Which planet shows the widest range of surface temperatures between day and night?

A) Earth
B) Mars
C) Mercury
D) Venus
E) Uranus

Question 26

Which of these gets so bright as to be seen in daylight at times?

A) Jupiter
B) Mars
C) Venus
D) Saturn
E) Mercury

Question 27

Carbon dioxide is the predominant atmospheric gas on Venus.

Question 28

Running water played a major role in shaping Mars in ancient times.

Question 29

Venus and Mercury both have magnetic fields similar to Earth's.

Question 30

How does Mercury's rotation relate to the Sun?

A) Its rotation rate is 2/3 as long as its year, due to tidal resonances.
B) It always keeps one face tidally locked toward the Sun, as our Moon does with us.
C) Its day is the same length as its year.
D) Its year is much shorter, only 88 days, than its slow rotation of 243 days on its axis.
E) It does not spin at all, being tidal stopped by the solar tides.

Question 31

The Mars Rover found undisputed microfossils, proving life once existed on Mars.

Question 32

Mercury has an unusually small core.

Question 33

Mercury presents the same side to the Sun

A) all the time, just like our Moon.
B) every other orbit.
C) twice every orbit.
D) every 12 hours.
E) every third orbit.

Question 34

Running water continues to be the major erosive factor of Mars today.

Question 35

Winds on Mars give rise to planet- wide dust storms.

Question 36

Mercury's magnetic field is generated by the same dynamo effect as Earth's.

Question 37

The giant Borealis basin around the Martian north pole may have formed due to an impact with an asteroid twice the size of Ceres.

Question 38

The low surface gravity helps Martian volcanoes grow to great heights.

Question 39

The seasonal polar caps on Mars, which grow and shrink over the year, are primarily carbon dioxide.

Question 40

The Phoenix lander on Mars failed to confirm the presence of water ice under the surface.

Question 41

What is true of Mars?

A) Its atmosphere is mostly water vapor.
B) Iron oxide on the surface is responsible for its reddish color.
C) Its magnetic field is stronger than Earth's.
D) A pool of water was discovered by the Mars Rover.
E) Definite microfossils have been found.

Question 42

The name of the NASA mission(s) that landed on Mars in 1976 was

A) Voyager.
B) Venera 14.
C) Magellan.
D) Viking I and II.
E) Galileo.

Question 43

The deepest depression found on the surface of Mars is the

A) Valles Marineris rift.
B) Mare Crisium.
C) Caloris basin.
D) Hellas Basin.
E) Mariana Trench.

Question 44

Valles Marineris is the most striking example of a(n)

A) scarp.
B) shield volcano.
C) rift valley.
D) impact crater.
E) oceanic trench.

Question 45

Which of the following characterizes a shield volcano?

A) It cannot get as high as Mt. Everest before the thin crust starts slumping.
B) It sits above a hot spot in the planet's mantle.
C) It is formed by moving tectonic plates.
D) It can erupt only briefly before being dragged off the hot spot.
E) It cannot grow very large, for it has a very short span of eruption.

Question 46

Which body has the densest atmosphere?

A) Earth
B) Mars
C) Mercury
D) our Moon
E) Venus

Question 47

Mercury's surface most resembles which of these?

A) Mars' deserts
B) Venus' polar regions
C) the lunar mare
D) the lunar far side
E) the Earth's deserts

Question 48

Our most detailed maps of Venus come from

A) Earth- based radio telescopes.
B) the Magellan space probe.
C) the Hubble Space Telescope.
D) manned landings.
E) direct observation from Earth- based optical telescopes.

Question 49

What is the main constituent of the atmosphere of Venus?

A) carbon dioxide
B) hydrogen
C) oxygen
D) sulfuric acid
E) nitrogen

Question 50

We have not yet found meteoroids and meteorites derived from

A) Mars.
B) comets.
C) the Moon.
D) Venus.
E) asteroids.

Question 51

The surface of Venus can be observed with

A) most amateur telescopes.
B) the Hubble Space Telescope.
C) radar observations.
D) the Mt. Wilson 100" telescope.
E) All of these have provided detailed observations about the surface of our sister planet.

Question 52

Which statement is true of Venus' surface?

A) Atmospheric pressure is very low.
B) It has remained unchanged for billions of years.
C) There are two continent sized uplands.
D) There are no shield volcanoes.
E) There is an extensive hydrosphere.

Question 53

What percentage of the surface of Venus could be characterized as continental- sized highlands?

A) less than 10%
B) about 30%, like the Earth
C) 45%
D) 75%
E) 100%

Question 54

The scarps on Mercury were probably caused by

A) the crust cooling and shrinking.
B) volcanism.
C) meteorite bombardment.
D) a tidal bulge.
E) tectonic activity.

Question 55

The atmospheric pressure on Venus

A) causes variations in surface temperature.
B) is much higher than on Earth.
C) shows an extreme change with the seasons.
D) is much lower than on Earth.
E) is about the same as on Mercury.

Question 56

Like Olympus Mons, volcanoes on Venus

A) are much larger than typical volcanoes on Earth.
B) are shield volcanoes.
C) have been extinct for billions of years.
D) only form at the equator.
E) form where continental plates collide.

Question 57

What did radar astronomers find in the polar regions of Mercury?

A) polar caps of dry ice that vary seasonally, much like Mars
B) auroral displays much like Earth's
C) temperatures cold enough to allow thin sheets of water ice
D) rift valleys
E) large mare basins, such as near our Moon's south pole

Question 58

Why are Mars' seasons more extreme than those of the Earth?

A) Mars' orbit is more eccentric than our almost circular one.
B) Mars' weather is affected by evaporation from the polar ice in its summer.
C) Mars' seas dried up long ago.
D) Mars' axial tilt is slightly more than our 23.5 degrees.
E) All of these contribute to the huge seasonal changes that Mars experiences.

Question 59

One of the effects of Mercury's very slow spin is

A) an intensely powerful magnetic field.
B) extreme variations in its surface temperature.
C) large variations in the size of its polar cap.
D) tectonic activity.
E) wind patterns that are slow, but global in size.

Question 60

The main constituent of the Martian atmosphere is

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

Question 61

The largest difference between Mars' northern and southern hemispheres is that

A) the northern has all the outflows and must have been much hotter.
B) the southern has a polar cap, but none ever forms in the north.
C) the northern is higher overall, despite some high volcanoes in the south.
D) the southern appears older, with more impact craters.
E) the southern is much darker, with large mare- like basaltic lava flows.

Question 62

While featureless in visible light, we can see some detail in Venus' clouds using

A) ultraviolet light.
B) radio waves.
C) infrared radiation.
D) X- rays.
E) gamma rays.

Question 63

The most effective wavelengths to see through the clouds of Venus to the surface are

A) ultraviolet.
B) radio.
C) gamma rays.
D) infrared.
E) X- rays.

Question 64

The Sun's tidal pull has slowed Mercury's rotation down to a period that of its year.

Question 65

The surface of Mercury looks very similar to .

Question 66

The planet _ has the least variation in temperatures on the surface between day and night.

A) Mars
B) Mercury
C) Venus
D) Earth

Question 67

Of all the planets known in antiquity, is the hardest to observe visually.

Question 68

The clouds on Venus are made primarily of .

Question 69

Of all the planets, the axial tilt and rotation period of is most like our own.

A) Mercury
B) Earth
C) Venus
D) Mars
E) our Moon

Question 70

The planet which shows us the widest range of surface temperatures between day and night is

A) Venus.
B) our Moon.
C) Earth.
D) Mars.
E) Mercury.

Question 71

Much of the water on Mars

A) is locked in the seasonal ice cap.
B) is in the form of clouds.
C) lies in shallow pools near the poles.
D) is thought to be in a layer of permafrost just below the surface.
E) is found in deep pools near the equator.

Question 72

Because of their low surface gravities, the Moon and Mercury lack .

Question 73

The presence of a Mercurian magnetic field surprised the planetary scientists on the Mariner 10 team because

A) Mercury lacks an iron core.
B) the dynamo theory predicted that Mercury was spinning too slowly for one.
C) it's still too hot for its core to have differentiated.
D) Mercury is low in iron.
E) Mercury spins too rapidly to produce a stable dynamo.

Question 74

Hollows are peculiar pits found at the center of some craters on

A) Venus.
B) our Moon.
C) Mercury.
D) Mars.
E) Earth.

Question 75

are great wrinkle marks on Mercury's crust, due to its core contracting.

A) Hollows
B) Craters
C) Rilles
D) Scarps
E) Chaotic terrain

Question 76

Smooth rolling plains, modest highlands and lowlands, and no water describes the surface of _.

Question 77

That the Tharsis region on Mars has so few craters

A) is due to annual flooding and water erosion.
B) suggests it is at the center of a particularly strong magnetic field.
C) suggests it is the youngest region on the planet.
D) is due to the very low elevation of the region.
E) proves tectonic activity is taking place.

Question 78

The only two planets which can transit the Sun are _ _.

Question 79

The direction of the rotation of Venus is exceptional because it is in a(n) direction.

Question 80

Compared to the orbits of Venus and Earth, the orbits of both Mercury and Mars have much eccentricity.