Deck 5: The Eight Planets

Question 1

The surface temperature of Venus is 750 K, even hotter than Mercury.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The tallest volcano in the solar system is Mauna Kea, when measured from its base on the ocean floor to its highest point.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Scarps on Mercury are formed by tectonic uplift.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

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

Question 5

The Great Dark Spot on Neptune is probably as stable as Jupiter's famed Great Red Spot.

Question 6

Life is thought to be unlikely in subsurface oceans, such as those in Europa, because sunlight does not reach these oceans.

Question 7

We have found Titan's surface to be perfect living condition for earthlike life.

Question 8

Europa is the most promising of the bodies in the outer solar system for life in its salty seas.

Question 9

Jupiter's magnetic field is much stronger than Earth's, and has a magnetic tail that extends beyond the orbit of Saturn.

Question 10

Mars has a weak magnetic field.

Question 11

Jupiter puts back into space twice the energy it gets from the Sun.

Question 12

Venus' clouds are water vapor and are similar to clouds in Earth's atmosphere.

Question 13

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

Question 14

On Venus, the Coronae are volcanic features.

Question 15

Saturn's cloud layer is over twice as thick as Jupiter's cloud layer.

Question 16

Saturn has a magnetic field whose strength is similar to the Earth's.

Question 17

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

Question 18

Colors in Jupiter's clouds are largely due to helium compounds.

Question 19

Relative to the size of the planet, Mercury has the largest core of any planet.

Question 20

All 4 jovian planets have a layer of molecular hydrogen above a layer of metallic hydrogen.

Question 21

That the Tharsis region on Mars has so few craters

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

Question 22

Evidence of liquid water in Mars' distant past suggests that it had a substantial atmosphere compared to what it has presently. What happened to its water vapor?

A) The carbon dioxide in its atmosphere dissolved in the water and combined with surface rocks.
B) Its atmosphere was mostly hydrogen and helium. Mars' gravity is too weak to hold them.
C) The water vapor has frozen out into the polar ice caps and permafrost as Mars has cooled.
D) Mars initially had such a large greenhouse effect that the atmosphere became quite hot and slowly escaped.
E) It has now all been lost in space, including the carbon dioxide and water vapor.

Question 23

The main constituent of the Martian atmosphere is

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

Question 24

Uranus' rotation axis is tipped over 98 degrees, so its magnetosphere is tipped over the same amount.

Question 25

The most striking and largest valley in the solar system is

A) the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
B) Gwenivere on Venus.
C) the Discovery Scarp of Mercury.
D) Valles Marineris on Mars.
E) Valhalla on Callisto.

Question 26

Both have strangely tilted magnetic fields, but that of Uranus is even farther off the rotational axis than that of Neptune.

Question 27

Venus and Mars probably evolved differently from Earth because

A) they are slightly bigger than Earth.
B) they are more massive than Earth.
C) they have thicker atmospheres than the Earth.
D) they formed sooner than Earth.
E) they orbit at different distances from the Sun.

Question 28

The runoff channels on Mars were most likely formed by

A) melting underground ice.
B) catastrophic, but rare flooding
C) the annual melting of the polar ice caps.
D) glaciers.
E) rain that was part of a water cycle.

Question 29

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

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

Question 30

Which statement is TRUE of Venus' surface?

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

Question 31

The largest shield volcano yet discovered is

A) Maxwell Mons on Venus.
B) Kilimanjaro on Earth.
C) Olympus Mons on Mars.
D) Prometheus on Io.
E) Caloris on Mercury.

Question 32

Compare the atmospheres of Mars and Venus.

A) Both are made of hydrogen and helium, like the jovians.
B) Like Earth, nitrogen is the chief atmospheric gas.
C) Both are chiefly carbon dioxide, but at Mars it can freeze as dry ice.
D) Mars is rich in oxygen, like ours, accounting for its red surface.
E) Both are too hot for water to now exist as a liquid at the surface.

Question 33

The scarps on Mercury were probably caused by

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

Question 34

Which of the following characterizes a shield volcano?

A) It is dormant.
B) It can erupt only briefly before being dragged off the hot spot.
C) It sits above a hot spot in the planet's crust or mantle.
D) It forms along a plate boundary.
E) It cannot grow very large, for it has a very short span of eruption.

Question 35

The outflow channels on Mars indicate a flood period in the history of Mars. During this time, based on the width and depth of the remaining riverbed, it is thought that the flow rate must have been

A) just a small trickle, barely more than a stream of water.
B) moderate, about the flow rate of the Ohio River.
C) fairly large, about the flow rate of the current Colorado River.
D) significantly large, about the flow rate of the Amazon River.
E) enormous, as much as 100 times the flow rate of the Amazon River.

Question 36

What is the result of the Greenhouse effect on the surface environment of Venus?

A) It has little or no effect.
B) Its effect is about the same as on Earth.
C) It has reduced the surface temperature by about 30 degrees Celsius.
D) It has raised the surface temperature by hundreds of degrees Celsius.
E) It causes the surface temperature of Venus to become hotter than the Sun.

Question 37

What is the composition of the clouds of Venus?

A) Water, like Earth's clouds
B) Frozen carbon dioxide, as on Mars
C) A combination of ammonia and methane, like Uranus
D) Sulfur and sulfuric acid droplets
E) Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia

Question 38

What is the main constituent of the atmosphere of Venus?

A) Oxygen
B) Nitrogen
C) Hydrogen
D) Carbon dioxide
E) Sulfuric acid

Question 39

Mercury's surface most resembles that of which other body?

A) Earth
B) Moon
C) Venus
D) Mars
E) Io

Question 40

The atmospheric pressure on Venus

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

Question 41

Which planet had the Great Dark Spot in 1989, but had lost it by 1995?

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

Question 42

Neptune and Uranus have a bluish tint because

A) at their distances, the Sun appears blue, the red absorbed by dust in the ecliptic.
B) they are far away and distance makes objects appear bluish.
C) their atmospheres contain methane, which absorbs red light.
D) their atmospheres contain hydrogen and helium.
E) ammonia ice reflects blue light better than any other color.

Question 43

The belts of Jupiter are best described as follows

A) regions of downward moving material and low pressure.
B) regions of upward moving material and low pressure.
C) regions of upward moving material and high pressure.
D) regions of downward moving material and high pressure.
E) turbulent regions with no organized circulation pattern.

Question 44

Saturn's bands, oval storm systems, and turbulent flow patterns are powered by

A) convective motion and rapid rotation.
B) the greenhouse effect.
C) a liquid metallic hydrogen interior.
D) the fusion in Saturn's core.
E) the tides of Titan.

Question 45

What two properties of Mercury imply that it is differentiated?

A) Its size and magnetic field
B) Its large average density and its surface features
C) Its surface features and its size
D) Its large average density and its magnetic field
E) Its magnetic field and its surface features

Question 46

Alternating zones of rising and sinking gas in Jupiter's atmosphere

A) create light and dark bands.
B) cause Jupiter's magnetic field to ripple.
C) produced the ring system discovered by Voyager.
D) generate their own magnetic fields.
E) circle the planet from pole to pole.

Question 47

Evidence of liquid water has not been seen on which of these jovian moons?

A) Titan
B) Ganymede
C) Europa
D) Mimas

Question 48

Together which two gases make up 99% of Jupiter's atmosphere?

A) Ammonia and methane
B) Water vapor and methane
C) Helium and ammonia
D) Hydrogen and ammonia
E) Hydrogen and helium

Question 49

Mars' magnetic field is so weak because

A) it spins much slower than Earth does.
B) it core may no longer be molten.
C) its core contains less iron than our own.
D) Both B and C are probable.
E) All of the above are correct.

Question 50

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

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

Question 51

How does Mercury's magnetic field compare to our own?

A) Like Venus, Mercury has no detectable magnetic field.
B) Like Mars and the Earth, it too has undergone polarity reversals.
C) It is much weaker than Earth's, but does deflect the solar wind to some degree.
D) It is amazingly strong, comparable to our own.
E) It was predicted from Mercury's rapid rotation and molten core.

Question 52

The most abundant component of the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune is

A) hydrogen.
B) helium.
C) methane.
D) ammonia.
E) nitrogen.

Question 53

How does the heat Jupiter radiates compare to the energy it receives from the Sun?

A) They are equal, as you would expect for a highly reflective planet.
B) Jupiter's dark belts absorb most of the solar radiation, so it is cooler in the infrared.
C) Jupiter radiates back into space about twice the energy it gets from the Sun.
D) Jupiter is a brown dwarf, about a hundred times less luminous than the Sun.
E) Jupiter is a red dwarf, about a tenth the Sun's luminosity.

Question 54

Saturn's cloud surface appears more uniform than Jupiter's because

A) there is a thick outer cloud covering of water ice overlying the colorful ices.
B) due to Saturn's lower gravity, the colorful cloud layers escaped.
C) it is composed of completely different gases than Jupiter's.
D) the cloud layers are thicker, allowing fewer holes to see the colorful layers.
E) due to Saturn's greater distance from the Sun, the colorful cloud layers are just not visible.

Question 55

The most striking "cloudmark" in Jupiter's atmosphere is the

A) Great Dark Spot.
B) Cassini Division.
C) Great Red Spot.
D) Black Hole.
E) Brown Dwarf.

Question 56

The atmosphere of Saturn is composed mostly of

A) methane and ammonia.
B) carbon dioxide and ethane.
C) hydrogen and helium.
D) hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
E) nitrogen and oxygen.

Question 57

In addition to Mars, which jovian moon shows some promise of life, with a surface not that different from the Arctic Ocean?

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

Question 58

In 1989, Neptune was found to have a huge storm named the

A) South Tropical Disturbance.
B) Great Red Spot.
C) Great Dark Spot.
D) Hellas Basin.
E) Galileo Regio.

Question 59

Essentially, the Great Red Spot is

A) Neptune's largest atmospheric feature.
B) a large cyclonic storm (hurricane).
C) always located within 10 degrees of Jupiter's north pole.
D) composed primarily of iron oxide.
E) traveling north and south across Jupiter's face.

Question 60

If jovian moons harbor life, this life is likely to resemble what terrestrial organisms?

A) Bacteria
B) Extremophiles
C) Dolphins
D) Moss
E) Dinosaurs

Question 61

What is the source of Jupiter's intense magnetic field?

A) Charged particles trapped in Jupiter's solid iron core similar to Earth
B) Liquid metallic hydrogen swirling in the rapidly spinning mantle
C) The ionized sulfur ejected into a torus around Jupiter by Io
D) The auroral displays in the polar regions, just like with the Earth
E) A liquid iron and nickel outer core, just like the Earth's magnetic field

Question 62

Most of Mars' water is now locked in a ________ layer below the surface.

Question 63

The largest volcano in the solar system, ________, is found on Mars.

Question 64

The ________ hemisphere of Mars is lower, smoother, and younger than the other one.

Question 65

Which statements about the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune is FALSE?

A) Neither fits the Dynamo model very well.
B) Uranus' field is tilted 60 degrees off its already tilted rotational axis.
C) Neptune's field is tilted 47 degrees to its more conventional rotational axis.
D) Both pass directly through the cores of their planets, like all other fields.
E) Both may have ammonia water replacing the liquid metallic hydrogen.

Question 66

What is TRUE of Jupiter's magnetosphere?

A) Although its surface field is greater, since the planet is larger the total field is actually weaker than Earth's.
B) It does not trap protons and electrons, as Earth's Van Allen belts do.
C) It has a tail that extends at least to Saturn's orbit.
D) It is most extensive on the sunward side of the planet.
E) It is only slightly stronger than Saturn's.

Question 67

An important structural feature of Jupiter and Saturn, that is not found in Uranus and Neptune, is

A) a large core with a composition similar to a terrestrial planet.
B) a hydrosphere.
C) plate tectonics.
D) a thick layer of metallic hydrogen.
E) a thick layer of molecular hydrogen.

Question 68

How does the magnetic tilt of Jupiter compare with our field?

A) Both are exactly perpendicular to our equator, aligned with our rotation axis.
B) Jupiter's lies perpendicular to the ecliptic, while ours is tilted 23.5 degrees.
C) Both are tilted about 10 degrees, but Jupiter is opposite in polarity.
D) Both are tilted about 27 degrees, much like Saturn's.
E) Like Uranus, Jupiter is flopped over on its side.

Question 69

Why does Saturn radiate even more excess energy than Jupiter?

A) Saturn is still radiating heat left over from its formation.
B) Saturn's thick cloud layer contributes to a larger greenhouse effect.
C) Helium rain gives off heat as it differentiates toward Saturn's center.
D) Saturn's atmosphere contains much methane, creating a large greenhouse effect.
E) Saturn can fuse hydrogen into helium in its core, like the Sun.

Question 70

How large is Jupiter's magnetosphere?

A) It is about as large as the Earth's.
B) It is so large it extends out to the orbit of Io.
C) It is a million times the volume of the Earth's, extending beyond the orbit of Saturn.
D) It extends inward to the orbit of Mars.
E) It envelopes even the Sun and rest of the solar system.

Question 71

What is thought to lie at the center of Jupiter?

A) A hot sea of liquid metallic hydrogen
B) A solid core of crystalline helium
C) A massive core of rocky materials with some iron mixed in
D) Gaseous hydrogen and helium, for Jupiter is not differentiated like Earth
E) A fusion core like the Sun's, with hydrogen being turned into helium

Question 72

While it has some high volcanoes, most of Venus is relatively ________ in elevation.

Question 73

In strength, the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune are

A) very different, with flopped over Uranus having no field, and Neptune a strong one.
B) similar, with both about 100 times stronger than our own.
C) even stronger than that of Jupiter.
D) perfect fits for the Dynamo theory.
E) like Jupiter and Saturn, due to mantles of liquid metallic hydrogen.

Question 74

The greenhouse effect on Venus is due to ________ in its atmosphere.

Question 75

What is the source of Jupiter's excess energy?

A) Helium rain falling through its interior
B) The decay of radioactive elements in its dense core
C) Nuclear fusion in its hot, sunlike core of hydrogen
D) The slow escape of gravitational energy released during the planet's formation
E) The tidal stresses of the large Galilean moons

Question 76

At the surface of Saturn's atmosphere the strength of the magnetic field is

A) about the same as Mercury's magnetic field at its surface.
B) about the same as Venus' magnetic field at its surface.
C) about the same as Earth's magnetic field at its surface.
D) about the same as Mars' magnetic field at its surface.
E) about the same as Jupiter's magnetic field at its atmospheric surface.

Question 77

The magnetic field tilts of which two bodies are the most unusual?

A) Mercury and Earth
B) Jupiter and Saturn
C) Uranus and Neptune
D) Saturn and Venus
E) Mars and Saturn

Question 78

What do our magnetic field and Jupiter's share?

A) Similar field strength
B) Same polarity
C) Auroral displays in the polar regions
D) Fields that extend inward all the way to the Sun
E) Fields that extend outward past Pluto

Question 79

Why does the atmosphere of Saturn appear to have only half the helium content of Jupiter?

A) Because Saturn is so much colder, helium does not show up as strongly in its spectrum.
B) Saturn was formed farther from the helium rich Sun.
C) A red dwarf, Jupiter has fused some of its hydrogen into helium, whereas Saturn, a colder planet, has not.
D) Much of Saturn's helium has differentiated towards its center.
E) Much of Saturn's helium has reacted with water and formed helium oxide.

Question 80

Compared to its rotational axis, Jupiter's magnetic field

A) is exactly in alignment.
B) lies about 10 degrees off, much like our own rotation and magnetic field.
C) is tilted about 23.5 degrees, much like our own axial tilt.
D) is tilted 98 degrees, much like the case of Uranus.
E) has yet to be detected.