Deck 11: Small Bodies Orbiting the Sun

Question 1

Why do astronomers believe chondrite meteorites are about 4.6 billion years old-formed when the Solar system formed?

A) Their chemical composition suggests they are pieces broken off Mars, which is believed to have formed at that time.
B) There is no other reasonable time period in the solar system's history when any meteoroids could have formed.
C) The chemicals they are made of were only common at the formation of the solar system.
D) Radioactive dating can be used to determine their age.

Answer 1

Radioactive dating can be used to determine their age.

Question 2

Fragments that do not completely burn in the atmosphere and eventually fall on Earth are called

A) meteoroids.
B) meteorites.
C) meteors.
D) asteroids.

Answer 2

meteorites.

Question 3

Chondritic meteorites provide important clues because they are believed to

A) contain grains from the first material that condensed out of the Solar nebula.
B) contain many rare metals.
C) be the only source of the necessary amino acids required for life.
D) be the source of all coal found on Earth.

Answer 3

contain grains from the first material that condensed out of the Solar nebula.

Question 4

What is a meteor?

A) a glowing trail of hot gas and debris heated by friction as an object moves through the atmosphere
B) a space rock that survives its fall through Earth's atmosphere and reaches the ground
C) the object that causes a "shooting star," but before it passes through the atmosphere
D) any one of the large rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, primarily between Jupiter and Saturn

Question 5

What is a meteoroid?

A) a glowing trail of hot gas and debris heated by friction as an object moves through the atmosphere
B) a space rock that survives its fall through Earth's atmosphere and reaches the ground
C) the object that causes a "shooting star," but before it passes through the atmosphere
D) any one of the large rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, primarily between Jupiter and Saturn

Question 6

What is a meteorite?

A) a glowing trail of hot gas and debris heated by friction as an object moves through the atmosphere
B) a space rock that survives its fall through Earth's atmosphere and reaches the ground
C) the object that causes a "shooting star," but before it passes through the atmosphere
D) any one of the large, rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, primarily between Jupiter and Saturn

Question 7

What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?

A) A meteorite is a very tiny meteor.
B) A meteorite is the pit made on Earth or a planet when a meteor hits.
C) A meteor is the flash of light in the sky. A meteorite is the solid body ending up on the ground.
D) A meteorite is the flash of light in the sky. A meteor is the solid body ending up on the ground.
E) A meteorite comes from a comet. A meteor comes from an asteroid.

Question 8

What are the three broad categories of meteorites?

A) small, medium, and large
B) organic, inorganic, vegetal
C) iron, stony, stony-iron
D) red, yellow, and blue

Question 9

All of the Asteroids in the Asteroid Belt together have

A) a tiny fraction of Earth's mass.
B) about Earth's mass.
C) about ten times Earth's mass.
D) a mass somewhere between the mass of Mars and the mass of Jupiter.

Question 10

Infrared observations are used to determine the mass of asteroids because ___________.

A) asteroids reflect too little visible light to use optical telescopes for the measurements
B) the infrared radiation is the glow of heat from the asteroid, and larger asteroids emit more infrared light
C) the Hubble Space Telescope only has infrared cameras
D) most asteroids are made of dark minerals which are more efficient at reflecting infrared light than visible light

Question 11

How would you explain the average density of an asteroid being about 2 g/cm ³, if the density of rock is usually around 3 g/cm ³?

A) The asteroid contains an unusually large quantity of helium.
B) The asteroid contains significant quantities of icy compounds.
C) The asteroid is made of fragments only loosely held together by gravity.
D) The asteroid is of the stony type, not the iron type.

Question 12

Asteroids _________.

A) are small bodies, typically the size of a grain of sand or a boulder
B) can range in size from a few meters to many hundreds of kilometers
C) are larger objects, a few hundred kilometers in size, but not quite large enough to be classified as a planet
D) are about the same size as planets, but have not pulled themselves into a spherical shape

Question 13

Which of the following asteroids is now officially a dwarf planet?

A) Ceres
B) Itokawa
C) Ida
D) Eros
E) Mathilde

Question 14

To which compositional group do asteroids mainly belong?

A) carbonaceous
B) silicates
C) metallic iron-nickel
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 15

Planet __________ creates the gaps in the Asteroid belt called Kirkwood gaps.

A) Jupiter
B) Mars
C) Earth
D) Saturn

Question 16

The gaps created by the planet Jupiter in the Asteroid belt are called _______.

A) Asteroid gaps
B) Kepler gaps
C) Kirkwood gaps
D) Jupiter gaps

Question 17

The Trojan asteroids orbit the Sun at an average distance of _________.

A) 60 ahead
B) 60 behind
C) 5.2 AU
D) 100,000,000 miles

Question 18

How was the first asteroid discovered?

A) It collided with the Moon.
B) Galileo saw it whiz by Jupiter.
C) Piazzi found it by searching for objects at the distance suggested by Bode's law.
D) Kepler traced back the path of meteors to the Asteroid belt.
E) Newton inferred their existence by their gravitational influence on Jupiter.

Question 19

What is a typical asteroid made of?

A) water frozen into ice
B) solid carbon dioxide and other gases
C) rock and iron
D) liquid water
E) solid hydrogen

Question 20

About how big is the largest asteroid known in the Solar System?

A) about the size of Earth
B) about one-quarter the size of the Moon
C) about 50 miles
D) about 50 yards
E) about 50 feet

Question 21

The observation that there are asteroids made entirely of rock or entirely of iron suggests that _______________.

A) the early Solar System had intermediate-sized differentiated planetesimals
B) large planetesimals formed entirely out of the same material
C) asteroids made of both rock and iron are particularly fragile and are easily destroyed
D) these asteroids were formed from volcanic eruptions on early planets

Question 22

On average, a body 100 meters in diameter or larger impacts Earth every ____ years.

A) 1,000
B) 10,000
C) 100,000
D) one million
E) 10 million

Question 23

What is the Asteroid belt?

A) the place in the Solar System where most of the asteroids are found
B) a line of craters on the Moon caused by an asteroidal impact about 50 million years ago
C) a line of craters on Earth caused by an asteroidal impact about 50 million years ago
D) a term used to describe the impact of a very large asteroid with a planet
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 24

How do we know what asteroids are made of?

A) Astronomers have studied meteorites that originated in the Asteroid belt.
B) Astronomers have landed a spacecraft on one of them and analyzed its composition.
C) The spectrum of sunlight reflected from an asteroid shows absorption features, from which we can determine its composition.
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 25

Typical asteroids are irregularly shaped. Why is Ceres not so shaped?

A) Ceres is near Earth; it was shaped into a sphere by Earth's gravitational force.
B) Ceres is relatively massive; its gravitational force is strong enough to crush its material into a sphere.
C) Ceres is near the Sun; the Sun's heat melted Ceres, and it solidified into a sphere.
D) Ceres is shaped like all the other asteroids.

Question 26

The existence of asteroids is supporting evidence of the solar nebula hypothesis, in that _________.

A) the asteroids are probably fragments of a shattered planet
B) inner belt asteroids are richer in silicate and iron materials and contain fewer carbon-rich materials
C) the gaps in the asteroid belt are created by the same process that creates gaps in Saturn's rings
D) asteroids in the inner Solar System are small and rocky, while those in the outer Solar System are larger and have atmospheres

Question 27

A Dwarf Planet orbiting the Sun outside of Neptune's orbit is called a(n) _________.

A) plutoid
B) plutino
C) comet
D) Oort Cloud Object
E) neptoid

Question 28

Which of the following is not an outer planet?

A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) Uranus
D) Pluto
E) Neptune

Question 29

Which of the following are Dwarf Planets?

A) Uranus and Neptune
B) Neptune and Pluto
C) Pluto and Eris
D) Eris and Uranus
E) Mercury and Eris

Question 30

Which Trans-Neptunian Object is largest in diameter?

A) Pluto
B) Sedna
C) Makemake
D) Eris
E) Orcus

Question 31

The discovery of Charon was significant because it allowed astronomers to determine the ____ and ____ of Pluto.

A) distance; age
B) age; mass
C) mass; radius
D) radius; speed
E) speed; distance

Question 32

What is a useful result of the discovery that Charon occasionally eclipses Pluto?

A) It showed that eclipses occur in other parts of the Solar System.
B) It allowed astronomers to determine the size of Pluto and Charon more accurately.
C) It allowed astronomers to image surface features of Pluto.
D) It allowed astronomers to measure the distance between Pluto and Charon.

Question 33

Which of the following is a characteristic that Pluto shares with the Jovian planets?

A) It is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium.
B) It has a thick atmosphere.
C) It has a ring system.
D) All of these choices are correct.
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 34

A comet that has a semi-major axis of 100 AU must have a period of about

A) 10 years.
B) 20 years.
C) 100 years.
D) 1,000 years.

Question 35

At its closest approach, a particular comet is about half an AU away from the Sun, and it's about 40 AU away at its farthest point. The semi-major axis of the comet's orbit is about

A) 1/2 AU.
B) 20 AU.
C) 40 AU.
D) 60 AU.

Question 36

In the process of fluorescence, __________ is absorbed by an atom and the energy is emitted as __________.

A) an ultraviolet photon; at least one visible light and one or more lower energy photons
B) a visible light and one or more lower energy photons; an ultraviolet photon
C) an ultraviolet and one or more lower energy photons; a visible light photon
D) a visible light photon; at least one ultraviolet and one or more lower energy photons

Question 37

The tails streaming from a comet's coma are caused by

A) the comet leaving the material behind it as it travels forward.
B) explosive forces from the hot nucleus ejecting the gas.
C) radiation pressure and the particle wind from the Sun pushing them out.
D) the comet's magnetic field channeling and ejecting the particles of the tail.

Question 38

Which spacecraft launched a probe that smashed into comet Tempel 1?

A) Stardust
B) Deep Impact
C) Hayabusa
D) NEAR

Question 39

A meteor shower occurs when the leftover debris of a(n) _______ intersects with our atmosphere to produce the beautiful streaks of light.

A) star
B) Asteroid belt
C) comet
D) planet

Question 40

Comets belong to the _________.

A) Asteroid belt and Kuiper belt
B) Kuiper belt and Oort cloud
C) Oort cloud and dwarf planets
D) Dwarf Planets and Asteroid belt
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 41

Comets are rich in __________.

A) water
B) carbon monoxide (CO)
C) carbon dioxide (CO₂)
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 42

The short-period comets originate in _______ and the long-period comets originate in _______.

A) Kuiper belt; Oort cloud
B) Oort cloud; Kuiper belt
C) Kuiper belt; Asteroid belt
D) Asteroid belt; Kuiper belt

Question 43

The radiant is the common point from which __________ seem(s) to diverge.

A) comets
B) asteroids
C) a Meteor shower
D) meteorites

Question 44

Meteor showers are generally named

A) after the Greek gods and goddesses.
B) after the constellation from which they appear to diverge.
C) after the comet to which they belong.
D) after the planet from which they seem to come to Earth.

Question 45

What proves the existence of the Kuiper belt?

A) the existence of short-period comets
B) the fact that many comets orbit on the ecliptic
C) the fact that comets are icy objects
D) Objects of the Kuiper belt were detected by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Question 46

What is the evidence for the existence of the Oort cloud?

A) Objects of the Oort cloud were detected by the Hubble Space Telescope.
B) The fact that new comets continue to appear indicates that a distant reservoir of icy bodies must exist.
C) the fact that many comets orbit on the ecliptic
D) the fact that some comets have retrograde orbits

Question 47

The Leonid meteor shower occurs in mid-November. Which of the following statements regarding the Leonids is true?

A) The radiant of the meteor shower is in the constellation of Leo.
B) The shower occurs when Earth crosses the path of an old comet.
C) The shower is best observed very early in the morning, before dawn.
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 48

_____ travel(s) the farthest from the Sun.

A) Pluto
B) Comets
C) Asteroids
D) Charon

Question 49

The tail of a comet always points ________.

A) forward
B) backward
C) away from the Sun
D) toward the Sun

Question 50

The typical size of a comet's nucleus is _____.

A) 10 m
B) 10 km
C) 100 km
D) 1,000 km
E) 1 AU

Question 51

What is the Kuiper Belt?

A) a swarm of comet nuclei in a huge shell surrounding the Sun and planets
B) a large belt containing asteroids in a gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
C) a disklike swarm of icy objects that lies from near the orbit of Neptune to past Pluto's orbit
D) an enormous aggregate of gas and dust from which the Solar System was formed

Question 52

Why are there two tails to some comets?

A) The "gas tail" is formed by solar radiation pressure. The "dust tail," is pushed out by the solar wind.
B) The "dust tail" is formed by solar radiation pressure. The "gas tail," is pushed out by the solar wind.
C) Comets contain dense material which is attracted by the Sun's gravity, forming a tail which points toward the Sun.
D) The statement is false: comets have only one tail.

Question 53

In what direction does a comet's tail point?

A) toward the Sun, pulled by its gravity
B) away from the Sun
C) trailing the comet in its orbit
D) perpendicular to the comet's orbit
E) along the comet's orbit in the direction the comet is moving

Question 54

A comet's tail _________.

A) is gas and dust pulled off the comet by the Sun's gravity
B) always trails behind the comet
C) is gas and dust expelled from the comet's nucleus by the Sun's heat and radiation pressure
D) is composed mainly of captured particles from the solar wind

Question 55

The tail of a comet _________.

A) points toward the Sun on its way into the Solar System, and away from the Sun on its way out
B) always points away from the Sun
C) trails behind the comet, pointing away from the Sun as the comet approaches it, and toward the Sun as the comet moves out of the inner Solar System
D) always points toward the Sun

Question 56

Comet nuclei typically have an average density of 0.5 g/cm³. This suggests a(n) _________ composition.

A) icy and gaseous
B) icy and loosely packed
C) icy and rocky
D) gaseous and rocky
E) gaseous

Question 57

Astronomers think that most comets come from _________.

A) interstellar space
B) material ejected by eruptions on the icy moons of the outer planets
C) a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
D) small icy bodies in the extreme outer parts of the Solar System that are disturbed into orbits that bring them closer to the Sun

Question 58

What is the Kuiper belt?

A) a prize given to the person who discovers the most asteroids in a given year
B) a region beyond Neptune in which a large number of small icy objects orbit
C) a ring around Jupiter in which comets are captured
D) a halo of light seen around some bright comets
E) streaks seen in the tails of some comets

Question 59

What is the Oort cloud?

A) gas around a comet's head
B) the glowing light around a meteor as it burns up
C) a region in the outer Solar System from which comets come
D) a zone between the Sun and Mercury where comets burn up and release their gases
E) the gas boiled off a comet that forms its tail

Question 60

What are comets made of?

A) mostly iron, rock, and hydrogen
B) mostly ice and frozen gases
C) mostly hydrogen and helium
D) mostly oxygen and uranium
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 61

Annual meteor showers such as the Perseids in August are caused by _________.

A) the breakup of asteroids that hit our atmosphere at predictable times
B) Earth passing through the debris left behind by a comet as we cross its orbit
C) nuclear reactions in the upper atmosphere triggered by meteoritic particle storms
D) passing asteroids triggering auroral displays

Question 62

What evidence supports the assumption that a large number of living species disappeared about 65 million years ago due to a catastrophic impact?

A) the existence of a thin iridium layer of comparable geological age
B) the existence of a thin layer of soot of comparable geological age
C) the Chicxulub crater
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 63

What evidence do we have that an impact played a role in the extinction of the dinosaurs?

A) The dinosaurs, as well as large numbers of other animals and plants, disappeared rather suddenly.
B) There is iridium (rare on Earth, but abundant in meteors) and soot (evidence of widespread fires) in a layer of clay laid down 65 million years ago.
C) Astronomers have found evidence for a 65-million-year-old impact crater in the Yucatán.
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 64

Why can a rather small meteorite make such a big crater when it hits?

A) It is so hot from its passage through the air that it melts the surroundings.
B) Air pressure on the leading side of the meteorite forms a shock wave that blows out the crater.
C) Meteorites are much harder than the surface of the planet, and punch through it easily.
D) It is traveling so fast that it has a very large kinetic energy even with small mass.

Question 65

Why do astronomers suspect 'Oumuamua is not from our solar system?

A) It came from the direction of the constellation Lyra.
B) Its shape is too elongated compared to asteroids in the solar system.
C) Its composition is too different from the Sun's.
D) It is moving too fast to be in orbit around the Sun.

Question 66

Why do astronomers suspect there may be a ninth planet beyond Neptune?

A) Neptune's orbit extends closer to the Sun than expected.
B) Pluto has more moons than it should.
C) Several Trans-Neptunian Objects have elongated orbits yet are all currently closest to the Sun.
D) The Kuiper Belt is not in the expected position.

Question 67

A dwarf planet orbiting the Sun outside of Neptune's orbit is called a(n) _________.

A) plutoid
B) plutino
C) comet
D) Oort Cloud Object
E) neptoid

Question 68

Which of the following are dwarf planets?

A) Uranus and Neptune
B) Neptune and Pluto
C) Pluto and Eris
D) Eris and Uranus
E) Mercury and Eris

Question 69

The existence of amino acids in carbonaceous chondrites proves that life on Earth originated in space.

Question 70

Astronomers believe that most of the meteorites come from broken up asteroids and comets, but some of the meteorites are fragments from the Moon or Mars.

Question 71

The combined mass of all of the asteroids is probably less than 1/1,000 the mass of Earth.

Question 72

Some asteroids have peculiar orbits that do not obey Kepler's laws.

Question 73

In the inner part of the Asteroid belt one is more likely to find silicate-rich asteroids, while the carbon-rich asteroids are more abundant in the outer parts of the Asteroid belt.

Question 74

Astronomers believe that Pluto was pulled into the Solar System by Neptune. The hypothesis is supported by the fact that Pluto and Neptune have a 3:2 orbital period ratio.

Question 75

The dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon are unique in the Solar Systems in that the orbital period of Charon equals the rotation period of Pluto. The synchronous rotation is the result of tidal interaction between them.

Question 76

The coma around the nucleus of a comet can be 10 times the size of Earth.

Question 77

Comets consist primarily of water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

Question 78

Halley's comet orbits the Sun approximately every 76 years, therefore it is a short-period comet.

Question 79

The Oort cloud was probably formed by planetesimals that were tossed to the outer parts of the Solar System by the planets.